"Making Jesus Real" is a series of online training modules that grew out of needs expressed by congregations of the Pacific Southwest District to inform, acculturate and equip teachers for Lutheran early childhood center careers. This course focuses on: 1) Lutheran thought and teaching (theology); 2) Nurturing the faith (faith development); 3) A distinctively Lutheran education (history of Lutheran education); 4) Methods and materials for teaching the faith to the young child.
The training answers the following questions: What is a Lutheran school, specifically a Lutheran early childhood center? How are Lutheran schools unique? What do Lutherans believe? What is the heritage of the Lutheran schools? What are the characteristics of the Lutheran teacher?
Available from the PSD website, each module comes with a video, discussion guide, and reflection exercise. The program achieves our goals of making information available in a way that is accessible, attractive, affordable, applicable, and authentic. And, our sixth module will be out in January of 2025, focusing on the partnership between our early childhood centers and churches to reach our families with the Gospel message.
Christ, Huntington Beach, CA, uses "Making Jesus Real" as an onboarding tool for new educators joining their community. Their director Desiree Robles shares, "Going through the course as a team of educators has reminded us that ordinary moments with children are an extraordinary opportunity to teach about the love, forgiveness, and patience Jesus has for us all. Whether provisioning our classrooms with altars or planning curriculum for spiritual development, we are always blessed with the opportunity to connect children to Jesus."
Melissa Payne, director at Christ in La Mesa, CA, takes groups of 3-4 staff through the program during naptime once a week for several weeks. They watch the videos and walk through the discussion guides and reflections together. Her staff have gained a more profound sense of vocation and calling to their work as missionaries at Christ Lutheran Preschool to the children and families they serve as a result of the "Making Jesus Real" program.
Since its release in 2019, we have received tremendous feedback of God at work in and through the program nationwide. Last month, one of our Lutheran schools in St. Louis, Missouri, shared, "Just wanted to share the awesome day our staff had. We adapted the PSD's "Making Jesus Real" program for our whole staff P2-8th grade. It was incredible to observe 50 Lutheran educators and pastors, called and contracted, walk through the unchanging foundation of our Lutheran faith. This was their last professional development day before school starts on Wednesday and each one expressed the value they found in what we did today. That's a big deal when you are that close to the start of school. Our theme this year is ‘Fix Our Eyes on Jesus’ and the ‘Making Jesus Real’ program did exactly that."
PSD continues to equip and connect our early childhood educators through faith development resources available from our website at Early Childhood | School Ministries. We are proud to continue our Lutheran legacy of Christ-centered excellence in education in the PSD through programs like "Making Jesus Real!" Truly we are Connected in Christ!
Enable more stories of transformed lives through Jesus
Untold thousands are still in darkness, lost like “sheep that have gone astray”. But this is exactly the mission our Lord has created His Church for – reaching the lost for Jesus’ sake in as many ways as necessary. This is the purpose for which our 300 churches and 150 schools were founded in their many contexts. And “the fields are ripe for the harvest” right now!
Your gifts are critical and enable us to continue and expand our shared work together, fulfilling the PSD mission of effectively resourcing congregations and schools for transforming lives and making the Great Commission REAL!
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