God be with you and grant you a wonderful, joy-filled Christmas! Take time during this special season to be refreshed and renewed because YOU are loved and appreciated! I thank the Lord for you and for your teaching, leading, and ministry in the Pacific Southwest District! I look forward to seeing you in the New Year! ~Rachel Klitzing

Students at Zion, Victorville, CA, with their Advent calendar

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

Light of Christ Lutheran Preschool, Irvine, CA

St. Paul’s Lutheran Preschool, Long Beach, CA

St. Paul’s Lutheran School & Early Childhood Development Center, Orange, CA

Below are photos from Light of Christ Lutheran Preschool, Irvine, CA:

The two year olds are decorating their pumpkin for fall!

Three year old class getting ready for their Thanksgiving Feast

The four year old class is building

Below are photos from St. Paul’s Lutheran School & Early Childhood Development Center, Orange, CA:

Teachers and staff competing in the blow up costume race after our Turkey Trot fundraiser!

Our kindergarten class had a special visit from Santa

as their mystery reader!

Students who participated in the recent Art Academy with Mrs. K!

Hanging in the Bungalow (our infant/toddler deck)

Beginners Christmas Program (2’s)

Preschool Christmas Program (3’s-5’s)

This is the last issue of Connections for 2024. We will take a two week break and resume on Wednesday, January 8, 2025. Have a blessed Christmas and Happy New Year! 

THANKOFFERING

Thank you so much to all who have generously given to the Thankoffering. A total of $3,483.52 so far will go toward children of PSD church workers pursuing an undergraduate church work degree at one of our Concordia Universities. We are extending the time to give until the end of the year! Click here for the Thankoffering PayPal page. Thank you for your generosity!

Please join us for our Resource Roundtable on Friday, January 17, 2025. 

Understanding Special Education

Description: This presentation is designed to help Lutheran school educators navigate the complex landscape of special education. Special education laws and regulations can be challenging even for veteran public-school administrators, so it’s no surprise that Lutheran educators may face similar difficulties. Participants will learn how they can access assessment services for students and the criteria for qualifying for Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). This session will provide clear guidance and practical resources to ensure that Lutheran schools are better equipped to support their students with special needs.

Presented by: Paul Lavigne, Ed.D.

Paul has worked in the field of special education and educational psychology for over 20 years. He has held positions as a School Psychologist, School Principal, Director of Special Education, and currently as an Executive Director Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA). Paul holds a Pupil Personnel Services credential in School Psychology and an Administrative Services Credential. He has a Master of Arts in Educational Psychology, an Educational Specialist degree in School Psychology, and an Educational Doctorate in Organizational Leadership. As a School Psychologist and Licensed Educational Psychologist, Paul has expertise in the assessment and treatment of students with learning and developmental disabilities.

Audience: School Leaders, Counselors, Resource Teachers, and Teachers

Time: 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., including lunch

Where: Pacific Southwest District Office (16355 Laguna Canyon Road, #300). Please check in at the front desk when you enter the building before heading up to the Pacific Southwest District Office located on the third floor. 

Please RSVP HERE by Friday, January 10.

Join Us for One of Our Upcoming Pastor/Director Conferences!

📅 January 23, 2025

📍 District Office, Irvine, CA

📅 January 30, 2025

📍 Christ Greenfield, Gilbert, AZ

A thriving Lutheran school ministry depends on the partnership between pastors and administrators. Together, we can lead with faith, purpose, and unity, ensuring church and school align in their mission to provide a Christ-centered education.

This conference will explore best practices that empower pastors and administrators to work together effectively, focusing on:

• Creating a strong foundational structure through the pastor-administrator relationship
• Delivering the Good News of Jesus Christ through spiritual leadership
• Valuing the school through advocacy and evangelism
• Uniting the church and school through integration and communication
• Creating a Gospel-centered culture of grace and forgiveness

REGISTER HERE!

If you and your pastor register before Christmas, you will be entered into a drawing for a free lunch out with PSD EC Consultant Mary Wolfinbarger and School Ministries Executive Director Rachel Klitzing!

Be inspired. Strengthen your partnership. Lead with Christ at the center.  

If you are a ministry with a Preschool-8th grade, please invite your principal to join us as well.

Click HERE to read about new ministries launching in the PSD as part of the 100 in Ten initiative!

The TLC Grant has been established by the former Trinity Lutheran Church in Reseda, CA, as an ongoing gift to School Ministries of the PSD, to be given for the enhancement of learning and the engagement of students in Lutheran schools of the District. The intent of the donors was that our schools be excellent because we serve an excellent God! There are many ways in which you can strive for excellence and enhance student learning and engagement in our classrooms and within the school property itself. Priority will be given to those who have clearly described how the money will be used to start a new program or educational platform or enhance an existing one on your campus. This is a competitive grant based on the strength of the application. It is open to all K-12 schools. Since the inception of this grant in January 2016, $481,746.00 has been granted to 56 different schools in our district.

Click here for the simple application. The deadline is January 31, 2025. Recipients will be announced in February, with the grants awarded upon receipt of the grant acceptance form. Grant requests will be made twice annually – in January and August. In July 2025, you will receive information about the next opportunity to apply, since this is a biannual grant.

If you received a TLC Grant in 2024 and have not yet shared an update on your project, please submit a simple breakdown of how the grant monies were spent. We always love seeing pictures as well! You can send that update to rachel.klitzing@psd-lcms.org.  We want to celebrate how the Lord used this grant money to further the educational mission of your school!  

Your CMIF (Commissioned Minister Information Form) is your professional record of LCMS service. As such, we kindly remind you to please review and update your form, as appropriate, each year. Christmas break is a great time to do just that! Please log into the Church Worker Update website and review your form in its entirety. Be sure all information is accurate to your current situation and that all the information regarding your references is up to date. Please note that the first box on the website is your worker ID number, not your email address. If you have not saved any of this information, use the Help tools to retrieve your login credentials from Rosters & Statistics. Once you have successfully logged in, it is a best practice to save your login information and bookmark the website. If you have any questions related to these updates, please reach out to our office!

Come and See: A Concordia Christmas is currently scheduled to air 410 times in 38 states in the coming week. Concordia’s fifth annual made-for-TV Christmas special includes choral, instrumental, and readings reflecting this year’s theme.

This past Sunday's live concert will debut December 20 on PBS SoCal. Check out all the ways you can watch at www.cui.edu/christmas.

Share Your Expertise at Our Early Childhood Equipping Conferences!

We know you and your team are doing incredible things in your ministry, and we want to celebrate and share those best practices! Consider presenting at one of our upcoming Early Childhood Equipping Conferences and encourage your staff to do the same.

Conference Details:

March 21, 2025: Shepherd of the Desert, Scottsdale, AZ

March 28, 2025: Trinity, Temecula, CA

This year, we’re introducing a multi-session format and are seeking presenters to cover a variety of engaging topics.

Submission Details:

Proposal Deadline Extended to: January 30, 2025

Notification of Acceptance: February 5, 2025

Proposal Submission Form

We look forward to reviewing your proposals and discovering the valuable insights you bring to our attendees. While we may not be able to accommodate all submissions due to potential overlap in topics, we deeply appreciate your passion and dedication to early childhood education.

Let’s work together to inspire and equip others in our shared ministry!

Upcoming EC dates for 2025:

January 23: Pastor/Director Conference at the PSD District Office, Irvine, CA

January 30: Pastor/Director Conference at Christ Greenfield, Gilbert, AZ

March 16-18: LEA Administrators Conference in Irvine, CA

March 21: EC Equipping at Shepherd of the Desert, Scottsdale, AZ

March 28: EC Equipping at Trinity, Temecula, CA

Save these dates in 2026:

January 22-23, 2026: Director’s Conference

March 13, 2026: EC Equipping at Christ, Huntington Beach, CA

March 20, 2026: EC Equipping at TLC, Casa Grande, AZ

The 2025 National Administrators Conference, hosted by Lutheran Education Association - LEA, is in California this year! It will take place at the Irvine Marriott March 16-18, 2025. This is a great conference that is focused on topics and issues that affect school leaders. We are excited that this year it is in the PSD! Please consider attending!

REGISTRATION PAGE

Attention Administrators –

The Commissioned Minister call document has been revised effective January 1, 2025. The new version is 4.9.4 and reflects changes to the Benefits Section (pages 4 and 5). Please share this information with those at your church or school who prepare call documents. This new version must be used for new graduates/first calls that are sent to the PSD for President Gibson’s signature starting in January.

Username and password information remains the same but can be requested by contacting Ellen Pratt (ellen.pratt@psd-lcms.org) or Kim Violette (kim.violette@psd-lcms.org) in School Ministries.

• We pray that you, your family, your school, and your students have a blessed Christmas. We pray that the message of Jesus' birth and the hope we receive from His grace is the reason for the season!
• For the family of Barbara Manske. Barbara went to be with Jesus on Friday, December 6. She served as a Deaconess at Grace, Los Angeles, from 1963-1967. In 1983, Barbara was called to serve as Preschool Director at Light of Christ (formerly Shepherd of Peace), Irvine, where she served with distinction until her retirement in 2000. Barbara is the wife of Dr. Charles Manske, founding President of Concordia University Irvine (then Christ College). Services will be held at Light of Christ Lutheran Church, Irvine, CA, on January 25 at 10 a.m. with a catered lunch after in the Fellowship Hall. For those unable to attend, the service will be live streamed at 10:00 am PST. Please keep Barbara's family, including daughter Noel Fairchild (DCE at Light of Christ, Irvine), daughter Christy Schneider (Kindergarten teacher at Mountain View, Las Vegas), and son-in-law Kris Schneider (principal at Mountain View) in your prayers.
• For Karen Markin, principal at Grace Lutheran School, Lancaster. Karen was just in the hospital for a pulmonary embolism but is now home recovering. Please keep Karen in your prayers for complete healing.

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 anna.preus@psd-lcms.org by noon on Tuesdays.