Psalm 33:1-5

We may not have been blessed with a great singing voice. We may not have been blessed with the gifts to play a musical instrument or the gift of writing beautiful praise lyrics. We can still praise and sing joyfully!

Take a walk on a quiet morning when the world is waking up for a new day. Stop and listen to the beautiful sounds God has blessed us with in nature – the birds and their song, the rustling of the tree leaves, the flowing water in a stream. What beautiful sounds of praise. Just picture it!

The birds sing their song effortlessly and do not worry about the day ahead. We can certainly learn from them. They do not worry where their next meal comes from. God will provide. God, who is the Creator of all things and created man in His image, will certainly not leave us on our own. So sing and sing loud! All the majesty we see around us is worthy of praise. Don’t worry about the pitch or tune. Just praise Him for the love, care, and promise of salvation that we have in Him. We sing, serve, and live in the power of Christ’s blood. In an imperfect world, He is our perfection and Redeemer.

The Word of God is true and He is faithful in all He does. We do not have to fear. Take it all to God and the burden will be lifted.

As we place our faith and trust in God, we can all be thankful that God holds us in the palm of His hand and gives us what He knows is best for us. So, when trials come, step back and know God’s plan is perfect. Stay in the Word. Take care of yourself to be Well. Use your words and life as a Witness. ‘In All Things,’ God is faithful.

Remember each day – Christ loves you and holds you close.

Serving the Master Teacher,

Lois Stewart

Keith Wilharm is the School Accreditation Coordinator for the LCMS Northern Illinois District. As Coordinator, he also serves as the National Lutheran School Accreditation District Consultant for schools and for validation teams and represents the NID as Commissioner to the National Accreditation Commission. In his position, he is inspired by the directive in Habakkuk 2:2. “Write down the vision; clearly inscribe it on tablets so one can easily read it.”

Sue Green is the District Services Coordinator, responsible for coordinating various District events and for working on aspects of the rostering of our Commissioned Ministers. She is blessed to call the District Office her work home for the past 20 years. Sue is married to Dan, a Lutheran School Administrator serving in a Chicago school. Sue’s favorite verse is Numbers 11:23. “The Lord answered Moses, ‘Is the Lord’s arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you.’”

On Monday, October 25, 2021, we gathered in the Chapel of Our Lord at Concordia University Chicago to celebrate and give thanks for the 40th (plus 1) anniversary of the Concordia Deaconess Program. NID serving Deaconesses and the current ladies studying to serve as a Deaconess were present, prayed for, and congratulated. A reception following chapel gave us all a chance to celebrate this milestone.

After consultation with Dr. Rebecca Schmidt, Director of School Ministry, there has been an extension granted for reporting. The deadline to collect 2021-2022 school year statistics has been extended to January 7, 2022. Please contact Rosters.Stats@lcms.org or by calling the Church Information Center at 888-843-5267 to obtain your login information if it has been misplaced. Let’s get 100% for the NID!!

If you are an active Commissioned Minister on Candidate or Emeritus Status, please consider serving as a non-voting advisory delegate to the Synodical Convention from July 28 to August 3, 2022. The convention will be held in Milwaukee, WI. Watch for a nomination form and informational letter in the coming School Newsletters.

Here are a few reminders and bits of information for accredited schools:

Keith Wilharm

847-529-8614

“Empower Illinois works closely with NID and Lois Stewart to help Lutheran schools use the Illinois Tax Credit Scholarship program. Helping Lutheran schools is a high priority for us, and we want to do whatever we can to be of assistance. Part of that is providing the promotional documents that you need to publicize the program. Attached to this email are a few examples that you can use/modify as you see fit.

There are currently over 300 students on our waitlist to attend Lutheran schools and they might not be able to without your help! As a reminder, we will use funds received up to November 30, 2021 to fund students for the 2021-22 school year. Starting on December 1, 2021, we will carry donations forward into the 2022-23 school year. Students will be able to make their reservation for the 2022-23 school year starting January 12, 2022 at 6:30 p.m. If you would like to schedule a follow-up meeting with the Empower Illinois team, please reach out to Bobby Sylvester at bobby@empowerillinois.org”

Early Childhood Coordinator, Amy Cimarusti, hosted an in person meeting with Early Childhood Directors in her District region. Light refreshments, casual conversations, and the sharing of ideas were beneficial for all in attendance. All attendees were grateful for the opportunity to meet and can't wait to do it again. Please watch for information on our next in person meeting on February 12, 2022.

Please remember that your staff must do the sexual harassment training again this year. After they do the online training, please put their certificate of completion in their personnel file.

As the school year continues, please know, once again, that professional development credit is available through Concordia University Chicago. Administrators are asked to contact Catherine Nessling at Catherine.Nessling@cuchicago.edu. Catherine is the person you will want to contact in order to request professional development credits be offered for your in-house PD. This might be related to: student growth, curriculum development, etc. related to state standards. Please make sure to contact her at least a month ahead of time.

We are blessed to be a blessing. May we use our blessings this year to support the education of children in Belize. The 2021-2022 NID ‘Hearts for Jesus’ program is dedicated to supporting the Scholarship Program in Belize. Please consider making this a ministry that you support.

Click here and tell us to remove "School Newsletter"