Do Not be Afraid

The angel said to the woman, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay." Mark 28:5-6

Jesus is victorious over sin, death, and the devil for you! He lives, and we live in Him. Praise be to God!

The disciples were fearful when Jesus breathed his last on the cross. They wanted answers and reassurances of their safety. They saw his body hang lifeless on the cross and didn’t understand what would lie ahead for them. What were they to do? They hid…fearful for their lives. Have you ever felt hopeless?

We want reassurance that we, our state, the country, and the world will all be OK. There are uncertainties everywhere we look, but take heart. God holds it all in the palm of His hands. Jesus defeated the sin in the world, and we have the promise and hope of everlasting life. He knows you and your situation.

Jesus met their fears and their enemies and took our punishment. No wonder the angel says, “Do not be afraid.” Jesus says, “Peace be with you.” He was victorious over the grave! We are assured of that as we focus on the empty tomb and the resurrection of our Lord and Savior.

SHINE! 2024 is right around the corner. How will you serve? No matter what our age, we can serve. There are so many opportunities each and every day. All we need to do is open our eyes and heart. God will provide the opportunity. As we serve with a willing heart, we are also WITNESSING our faith.

As we place our faith and trust in God (no matter what stresses we face), we can all be thankful that God holds us in the palm of His hand and gives us what he knows we need. Stay in the WORD. Take care of yourself to be WELL. Use your words and life as a WITNESS.

What better way to do all three as you share your love for Christ as you serve. 

Serving the Master Teacher,

Lois Stewart

Mission Facilitator for Schools

National Lutheran School Accreditation Deadlines

All accredited schools should have received an invoice for the Annual District Accreditation Fee which is due April 15, 2024. Checks should be made payable to "LCMS Northern Illinois District" in the amount of $150. Failure to submit this fee jeopardizes school accreditation.

DO NOT SEND THE CHECK TO THE DISTRICT!

Send all payments to:

Keith Wilharm

NLSA Coordinator - NID

207 N. Walnut St.

Elmhurst, IL 60126

Also, Cumulative Annual Reports are due April 15, 2024. No report is due from schools hosting a Validation Team visit in 2023-2024. Reports must be e-mailed to Keith.Wilharm@nidlcms.org. If you need a copy of the report template, contact Keith. Failure to submit the report may lead to revocation of accreditation.

Please contact Keith with any questions.

SHINE! 2024

Your Northern Illinois District staff held our SHINE! event on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. What a joy to be out in the community serving!

Don't forget to take pictures of your SHINE! event and upload them HERE.



Caesura

The next edition of Caesura will be generated in the near future. Please see the attached information from Professor Andy Pederson from Concordia University Chicago.

Retirements

Administrators: If you have a Rostered Worker planning to retire at the end of the current school year, please inform me (lois.stewart@nidlcms.org), so that we may process roster status change paperwork. Please make sure to let your workers know they must also contact the Education Office. Informing Concordia Plans does not take care of roster paperwork. We would also like to know if contracted teachers are retiring.

Curriculum Mapping

If your school has not gone through the curriculum mapping training that is offered by Concordia University Chicago Education Professors, you have another opportunity on Thursday, June 6, 2024. Please email Lois at lois.stewart@nidlcms.org, if you would like to have your teaching staff or representatives attend.

Time to Update

It is that time of year! If you are a Rostered Worker in the NID, please access your Commissioned Minister Information Form (CMIF) and review it for updates. You may access the form at https://cwu.lcms.org. If you need your Worker ID#, please reach out to lois.stewart@nidlcms.org or sue.green@nidlcms.org. Thank you in advance for helping us with this important duty!

Save the Date - Parish Professionals

All Parish Professionals are encouraged to put September 26-28, 2024 on their calendars for the Illinois Parish Professional Retreat at Camp CILCA in the Central Illinois District.

The retreat will be led by David Reuter, and focus will be on the topic "Growing Young." He will be discussing the six core commitments that research through the Fuller Youth Institute has found in common across congregations who are demographically growing younger. The overarching goal for our time together is to begin the development of a plan to aid the LCMS congregations in the Illinois districts to grow young together through the leadership of, and assistance to, the districts' DCEs.

This retreat would be great for pastors, DCEs, deaconesses, lay youth leaders, or anyone serving their congregation in the area of youth ministry. Look for the email that came out earlier this week!

Save the Date - Back-to-School Worship



It might be early, but planning begins. Save the date for the August Back-to-School Worship and Keynote. On Wednesday, August 7, 2024, we will meet at St. Peter in Schaumburg for our gathering. This is a great opportunity to worship, reconnect, and be inspired as the new school year begins. Our speaker will be Dr. Bernard Bull. He serves as the president of Concordia University Nebraska and will energize us with his keynote titled, “Hustle with Heart."

Save the Date - 2024 NID Educators' Conference

The 2024 NID Educators’ Conference will be held at Concordia University Chicago on Friday, October 18, 2024. Watch for details in the future.

2024-2025 LCMS Theme

The dates for next year's National Lutheran Schools Week are January 26 - February 1, 2025, and the theme is "Endure" (Hebrews 12:1-3).

Here are a few thoughts from Dr. Alan Freeman, Director of LCMS School Ministry:

"While this may seem like an interesting theme of, enduring the school year, enduring the ...It is a theme of recognizing what Christ endured for us on the Cross. It is a theme of recognizing the Great Cloud of Witnesses. It is a theme of ridding ourselves of the sin which entangles us so that we can run with endurance the race that is set before us. 

We look forward to seeing how Lutheran school educators will develop the theme to use in their classrooms, the bulletin boards that will be displayed, and the discussions on identifying the faith witnesses that have been put in our lives."

CPDUs

Concordia University Chicago has developed a new process for receiving continuing education credits if your school does staff development/professional development. Please access Professional Development - College of Education: Office of Field Experience - LibGuides at Concordia University Chicago (cuchicago.edu) to request forms. You may also email Katie Pece at katie.pece@cuchicago.edu.

Early Childhood, Elementary and High School Administrators

The next gathering for Early Childhood Educators will be Saturday, April 13, 2024. This event will be an in-person gathering beginning at 9:00 a.m. Our presenter will be Bev Gruenwald. She will share more details related to the 4th module of the Spiritual Nurture resources. Check your email for information that was previously sent out.

On Tuesday, May 7, 2024, our Elementary and High School Administrators will meet at Concordia University Chicago at 9:00 a.m. Our presenters will be Dr. Alan Freeman (LCMS Director of School Ministry) and Will Vann (LCMS Manager of On-Line Support and Services, School Ministry). Topics will include the state of LCMS schools across the Synod and all things social media, artificial intelligence, and more.