How do you feel when you arrive home from school and find a handwritten letter in your mailbox from someone you know? In this day of emails and texts, a handwritten letter feels so special, right? Did you realize that you too are a living letter? You are Christ’s letter delivered to those in your community! This love letter has been written by the Spirit of God onto the tablet of your heart. (2 Corinthians 3:3) Be encouraged that, because of the mercy shown to you by God Himself - the Father of all mercies, you now can go out into your community with God’s love letter written on your heart to share with those around you! 

“And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” -2 Cor. 3:3

Please take the time to read through this newsletter each week! It is the best way to have regular communication and share important information with you, cherished PSD educators!

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

Good Shepherd Lutheran Preschool, Goleta, CA

Concordia Lutheran School and Preschool, Granada Hills, CA

Ascension Lutheran Preschool, Torrance, CA

Below are photos from Good Shepherd Lutheran Preschool, Goleta, CA:

Below are photos from Concordia Lutheran School and Preschool,

Granada Hills, CA:

Below are photos from Ascension Lutheran Preschool, Torrance, CA:

Students staying cool and having fun excavating creatures from the ice.

Planting strawberry plants in the garden.

 A self portrait one of the Pre-K students made.

The 2025 National Administrators Conference hosted by LEA is in the PSD this year! It will take place at the Irvine Marriott March 16-18, 2025, featuring Pastor Jim Henkell as our opening worship leader. More details coming soon, but save the dates today!

Join us for a meaningful and transformative session to explore ways to elevate your enrollment sales approach from transactional to transformational by becoming trusted advisors rooted in Christian principles of service and stewardship. We’ll define key organizational expectations for your admissions department, dispel common misconceptions about the sales process, and focus on developing soft skills that reflect Christ’s love in our interactions. This is a unique opportunity to strengthen your team’s approach to enrollment, build deeper relationships with families, and respond to God’s calling in Lutheran education.

Session Title: Transformational Enrollment

Speaker: Steve Jin, Associate Vice President of Enrollment Services, Concordia University, Irvine

Audience: School Leaders, Admissions Directors, Marketing Directors, and Community Outreach Coordinators

Date: Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Time: 10:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Location: Pacific Southwest District (16355 Laguna Canyon Rd, #300, Irvine, CA 92618). 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.

Lunch is provided! Please email eunchu.kim@psd-lcms.org with any questions.

Access the Breakout Sessions section on the conference website for a listing of presenter information and listing of breakout sessions being offered at the All Workers Conference (AWC)!

Registrants recently received an email with a link to sign up for breakout sessions - please complete that at your earliest convenience. 

If you haven’t registered for the conference yet, the deadline is November 1!

Click here to register for the AWC. Once you register, you'll receive a link for hotel reservations and breakout session signups in your confirmation email.

**The registration form includes the ability for an administrator or other individual to register multiple people for the conference. Note that the person registering a group will need to re-enter some information for each registrant - instructions are provided.

When: November 24-26, 2024 

Where: Sheraton Phoenix Downtown, Phoenix, AZ

Theme: All One – Ephesians 4:1-7

This year’s registration cost is $190 per person. Hotel rooms are $129 per night. Check out the conference website. Registration is open - click here to register. Please register by November 1.

LCMS School statistics are due by NEXT FRIDAY, November 1. At last report, 47 PSD schools had yet to start their reporting process. Each of those schools should have received an email from our office this morning. It is very important that if you haven’t yet started your reporting process that you at least check your login information to be sure you have access to the website. If you are unable to login, you will need to have your login credentials reset by LCMS Rosters & Statistics and they may need a couple day turnaround on that. Please also note that the requested statistics this year have additional questions, therefore it may take you a little longer to collect the information requested. 

Here is the website to login: https://lisn.lcms.org. Here is the email address to Rosters & Statistics if you need further assistance accessing the webpage: rosters.stats@lcms.org. Once you have access and are logged in, your School Ministries team is happy to help with any further questions. Thank you for your attention to this important task!

All schools that have submitted their statistics by November 1 will be entered in a drawing for a gift card of choice!

Below is an update on the hurricane relief efforts from LCMS Florida/Georgia District Executive Director of Schools Jennifer Tanner FLGA following the double punch of Helene and Milton:

The first round of assessment shows 10 congregations and 3 schools with significant facilities damage. An estimated 50 church workers have damage to their home ranging from complete loss to significant damage.

Grace Lutheran in St. Petersburg is facing serious flood damage, and inspectors have found levels of mold that will require professional remediation. With classrooms out of commission, they have been approved by inspectors to move their whole preschool into their gym and their whole middle school into their sanctuary. They'll be using every undamaged space to house the remaining classes and hope to start again this week. They're looking for two portables and outside tables to make this work more smoothly during the long-term repair and renovation. They are determined but it's going to be tough as many in their school and church have uninhabitable homes.

The anticipated cost to provide assistance to congregations and workers is 780K through matched funds from Synod and the FLGA District.

If you have schools that would like to help, financial donations or gift cards to grocery stores, Walmart, or big box home supply stores are welcomed. Supplies are available locally but funds to purchase them are what's needed. You can find donation information HERE on the FLGA District website.

I have been so inspired by the community in St. Petersburg. Their phrase is "strengthened by gratitude while living the heartbreak." Crisis can bring community together in amazing ways, and I'm thankful for everyone who has been a part of bringing hope to the hurting through relief efforts.

• Prayers for the family of Eldon "Nobby" Neben. Nobby — coach, teacher, friend, and tireless volunteer — passed away unexpectedly on Friday, leaving a profound impact on all who knew him. Nobby served for 18 years at St. John’s Lutheran Church & School in Orange beginning in 1958 as 6th-grade teacher, then as Vice Principal and Principal. He then took a new Call to Orange Lutheran High School, where he served in roles as a coach and Theology teacher for over 19 years. Nobby's kindness, wisdom, and relational ministry shaped the lives of many at St. John's and OLu. Nobby and his wife, Rose, were familiar faces at the Orange Lutheran Thrift Shop, where they dedicated countless hours. Several years ago, Orange Lutheran created A Lifetime of Service: Nobby and Rose Neben, honoring Nobby and Rose's beautiful story and lifetime of service to the Lutheran community. Please keep the Neben family - wife Rose and their seven children, which includes PSD educators Jason (Concordia University Irvine) and Amy (St. John's, Orange) - in your prayers during this difficult time. Services to honor Eldon “Nobby” Neben will be held Saturday, November 9, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. at St. John's Lutheran Church in Orange.
• Prayer requests from Ascension Lutheran Preschool, Torrance, CA: to continue to strengthen our relationships with our church and our community. We also pray that God continues His work through our teachers, staff, and church.
• This Pastor Appreciation Month and every month, we are thankful for pastors. Please join us in thanking God for our pastors! Take time this month to thank the pastors in your life for the work they do as servants of God within the Church, our schools, and the communities they serve.
• We pray for all those still affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Lord, have mercy.

Schools we are praying for the week of October 27:

Mt. Calvary Lutheran School and Preschool, Diamond Bar, CA

Christ the King Lutheran Preschool and Kindergarten, Newbury Park, CA Desert Foothills Lutheran Preschool, Scottsdale, 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 anna.preus@psd-lcms.org by noon on Tuesdays.