Exploring the Role of Federation Pastors in Promoting Support and Recruitment Opportunities for Small Area Lutheran High Schools

Abstract

Area Lutheran high schools are an integral part of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod‘s educational system. Of these 25 schools, many of them have less than one-hundred students and often depend on local pastors who serve association and federation congregations to provide them with time, talents, funds, and students. Is this role static no matter the circumstances, or do the roles need to be fluid and adaptive to each unique ministerial circumstance? Federation pastors do play an important role in finding support and creating recruitment opportunities for high schools, but the schools and pastors must work together to change and adapt the role of federation pastors to fit each individual‘s and each school‘s unique situation.