I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of

Jesus Christ. -Philippians 1:3-6

Please join us in praying and thanking God for the following schools this week:

Concordia Lutheran Preschool and Childcare, Chula Vista, CA

St. John’s Lutheran School and Early Childhood Center, Hemet, CA

St. Mark Christian Preschool, Phoenix, AZ

Below are photos from Concordia Lutheran Preschool and Childcare,

Chula Vista, CA:

Costume parade for October

Christmas program animals - 2s class

Chapel with palm leaf hosannas

Below are photos from St. Mark Christian Preschool, Phoenix, AZ:

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! We want to celebrate our educators! Share the name and school of a fellow PSD educator that you'd like to honor on this morning's Teacher Appreciation Week post on our School Ministries Facebook page by 4:00 p.m. this Friday, May 6, and that person will be entered into a drawing for a $40 gift card to a place of their choice! One entry per person, please. Entrants must be current PSD school employees. The winner will be announced via our Facebook page Friday at 5:00 p.m.!

“Children just don’t fit into a ‘to do’ list very well… It takes time to introduce them to good books - it takes time to fly kites and play punch ball and put together jigsaw puzzles. It takes time to listen, once more, to the skinned-knee episode…These are the building blocks of esteem, held together with the mortar of love.” -Dr. James C. Dobson 

Save the Date for our PSD Administrators Leadership Conference - July 20-22, 2022, at the Hyatt Regency Indian Wells! Pastor Travis Ferguson from Christ, La Mesa, CA, will be our worship leader and will also lead our two Bible studies. More details coming soon!

Read all about how God is at work (raising money for Hearts for Jesus!) at Circle of Love Preschool, Manhattan Beach, CA, in the latest #AroundthePSD article.

The May devotion is now up on our website. It is titled Chosen to be an Imitator and written by Stefanie Hinrichs, teacher at Bethany Lutheran School in Long Beach, CA. Click here to read it! Thank you, Stefanie, for reminding us to strive to imitate our Savior’s great example of love for others in all that we do.

Don't forget to mark your calendars for these upcoming PSD meetings:

Admissions Directors

Please join us for this school year’s last Admissions Director Network meeting on Tuesday, May 17, starting at 10 a.m. at Hephatha Lutheran Church and School in Anaheim, CA. Deena Knudsen will lead a discussion on the five strategies of “Managing Change.” Please RSVP your attendance to [email protected] by Friday, May 13.

Early Childhood Network

Our next Zoom meeting is on Wednesday, May 18, from 1-2 p.m. The Zoom link will be sent out Monday, May 16.

Last week, Rev. Kurt Hellwig and Vicars Kevin Sharp, Jared Rudolph, and Robert Doughty received their first call and vicarage assignments in the Pacific Southwest District! We pray for their ministry and the congregations they will serve.

Pastor Hellwig - Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, Phoenix, AZ

Vicar Sharp - Searchlight Lutheran Ministries, Fullerton, CA

Vicar Rudolph - First Lutheran Church, Lake Elsinore, CA

Vicar Doughty - Faith Lutheran Church, Capistrano Beach, CA

Every PSD school - preschool, elementary, middle school, and high school - can still find powerful and creative ways to partner with World Mission in this important mission endeavor before the end of this school year. We urge you to get involved!  

Click here to read an amazing update from World Mission. Please utilize World Mission's website to find specific resources for your student body! The cost to create, record and distribute a single Treasure is $50. If each school committed to raising funds for five treasures ($250), our PSD schools could provide the opportunity for over 102,000 people to hear God’s Word for the first time! 

There is still time for your school to make a $250 contribution if you haven’t already. Thank you so much to the schools who have already made their contributions! We are at 415 Treasures to date - just over halfway to our 708 Treasure goal!

MISSION IGNITION COMPETITION! Give your 2022-23 chapel offering program a jump start! Garuna Ministries is offering a $50 “Rev It Up” Grant to your school, class, or leadership group! Enter the 2022-23 race for your team’s most creative, high octane, mission fundraising project in support of the Garuna Kids in Cambodia, using the $50 grant to help with promotion or supplies. Perhaps it’s a car wash, a bake sale, or an even more creative idea generated by your students or leadership groups! See how a small idea can result in a huge win for missions and for your students’ mission engagement! All project proceeds will benefit the nearly 1,300 Cambodian K-6th graders enrolled at the 7 Garuna Christian (Lutheran) Schools who are hearing about Jesus for the first time in their lives. Interested? Contact Cheryl Ehlers by June 1 to reserve your place in the line up! ([email protected]) Mission Ignition participants will have a chance to share their stories and results after the checkered flag is raised at the conclusion of the challenge.

Have you secured your spot(s) for Season 14 2022-2023 TEC21 cohorts?

In the countdown to the end of the school year, don’t forget to save your spots for Season 14 2022-2023 TEC21 cohorts. We will soon set workshop dates and determine how many facilitators to assign, but rest assured you can make and finalize your registrations up to the first workshop day in September. 

We are so excited about the plans on the table for next season and thank God for the privilege of supporting our church workers!

Hold seats with just your (principal's) name at tec21connect.com/registration/ and pay for the workshop program's registration fee later—in September—using Title money, EANS funding, support from a donor in your church or school, or monies budgeted for professional development. 

Register in minutes for this powerful professional learning community and look out for next season! We’ll head to the TEC21 summer facilitators’ academy in June to explore new and innovative ways to support the broad community of church workers while we continue to train, equip, encourage and support schoolteachers in our Season 14 cohorts! Register today!

Call season is in full swing in the PSD!

The following are reminders that help the district office keep track of educator changes, especially called workers. We appreciate knowing the changes of all workers, but especially if workers are on the LCMS roster of commissioned ministers.

• Please advise when a call to your school is accepted so we can prepare installation authorization paperwork and the needed paperwork is processed for the worker.
• Please advise the district office of called workers who are leaving your staff. If a called worker is retiring, please advise the effective date and if special recognition is planned. Lutheran educator retirements are a special event. 
• Please use the current call document, version 4.9.3. If you need preparation or download information, please contact Ellen at [email protected] or Kim at [email protected] in School Ministries.

2023 LCMS Special Events in St. Louis for Springtime Student Trips. 

Each Spring, many LCMS schools and congregations plan trips to St. Louis. In 2023, the LCMS Office of National Mission is planning student and youth activities in collaboration with other LCMS entities for the last week of April. One featured event will be a large LCMS contingent in the March on the Arch on April 29. Mark your calendars and plan to bring your group to St. Louis the last week of April in 2023. Email [email protected] for more information and watch for additional details in upcoming months.

Register today for Junior High Camp at Tonto Rim Christian Camp in beautiful northern Arizona! This year's theme is Problem Solved. We'll be spending the camp walking with students through how Jesus solved our sin problem, how He actively walks with us daily, and how He equips us to manage and solve problems and struggles in our lives. The camp is from May 26-29 and includes memorable experiences like paintball, bubble balls, color wars, water Olympics, great food, authentic Christian community, and more. Please register your students and chaperones ASAP so we can get an accurate head count to the camp. Thank you!

• We are so thankful for all of YOU during Teacher Appreciation Week. You are SO appreciated!
• As we celebrate the National Day of Prayer tomorrow, we thank God for all the blessings of life, including the freedom we have to pray in our Lutheran schools!
• A prayer request from St. Mark Christian Preschool, Phoenix, AZ: Pray for our continued good health for teachers and students, for our students who are going to kindergarten next fall and for the families that God will bring us next year.
• Join us in praying for congregations, high schools, elementary schools, and early childhood centers searching for administrators, directors, teachers, and staff for the 2022-23 school year.
• We pray for peace in Eastern Europe, that the Lord may bring an end to the war and restore peace and freedom to the people of Ukraine.

Schools we are praying for the week of May 8:

Christ Lutheran School and Preschool, Brea, CA

Mt. Olive Lutheran Preschool, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA

Gethsemane Christian Academy, Tempe, AZ

Each week, prayers of thanksgiving and prayers for teachers, administrators, support staff, pastors, students, and families of the Lutheran schools, early childhood centers, and churches of the Pacific Southwest District are listed. To include names on the list, please send information to [email protected] by noon on Tuesdays.