Resources for Schools

School leaders, enhance your budgeting skills with a free series of Finance Friday webinars.  Led by Dr. Alan Freeman, each session will help you understand one aspect of school budgeting.  You can watch the sessions on the LCMS School Ministry YouTube channel.

Topics include:
Budgeting 101
Forecasting Budgets
Preparing the Budget
Early Childhood Budget Preparation
Developing Next Year’s Fiscal Budget
Compensation and Salary Guidelines

Don’t forget to follow LCMS School Ministry to access more informational videos. 

The first step in beginning the call process is to contact Jennifer Tanner, Executive Director for Schools and Youth Ministries, you will find more details in the resources below.

Calling a Commissioned Minister of Religion

• The Process for Calling Commissioned Ministers of Religion
• FLGA District Compensation Guidelines
• Look for educators on the CMIF website.

Jennifer Tanner
jtanner@flgadistrict.org
Florida-Georgia District, LCMS

Calling a Concordia Graduate

There is a Universal Request form for requesting a new Concordia graduate for your ministry. This form is used throughout the Concordia system. Principals complete this online form.

The primary request person filling in the information can select one, two, or however many Concordia University System institutions they would like their request form to be sent to. Once the “Insert Record” button is clicked on the information, it will be sent via email to all the CUS Institutions that were selected. It will also be sent to the District Education Executive so they will have a copy of the request, as well as the calling body so that they can retain their information.

As always, if the calling body would like to continue to call the universities directly to make their request, they may continue to do so – we are here to serve you.

Bill Schranz
Director of Synodical Placement
Concordia University, NE
800.535.5494 ext 7246 or 402.643.7246

The Commissioned Minister Information Form (CMIF) system takes the information entered into the Church Worker Update (CWU) system by Commissioned Ministers and gives Districts and individuals the ability to search for individuals to fill Called positions. This recently replaced the Lutheran Educator Information Form (LEIF) and now includes greater functionality and is tailored to all classifications of Commissioned Ministers.

Discovering your church’s ministry opportunities has never been easier. MissionInsite provides instant access to community information for your church via The MI System. You’ll get desktop, web-based access to demographic data for a variety of geographic levels. Click the link for an Introduction to MissionInsite.

The MI System provides you with a new way to access demographic information. It moves beyond the static reports you order to a powerful “discovery tool” for exploration and “out of the box” thinking for church ministry, church planting, church growth and outreach.

The system also provides the ability for local churches to locate their church members and others affiliated with their church on your map. This is referred to as Congregant Plot.

So, while there are a few things you need to learn, the system is designed to be user friendly and provides you with additional services not available from other systems. Have fun exploring your mission context and remember there is no possibility of accidentally harming the system or data.

Before getting registered, you are encouraged to explore the documents in the Resource area for the Local Church – especially the Tutorial , Introduction to MissionInsite, Local Church User Guide and How To Create A Report.

**The Mosaic Worksheet is a tool to use with each of the 60 full Mosaic Type Portraits. Churches are finding that the detail in these reports provides a greater insight into the socio-economic realities of residents living within their communities. This insight assists them in reaching these residents.

As part of Lutheran Church Extension Fund’s agreement with MissionInsite, you have free, unlimited access to MissionInsite’s Demographic data. 

Download the document for instructions on how to use this system.

CPS Compensation Tool

CPS Human Resource Services

Through Lutheran Counseling Services, the FLGA District provides the Ministerial Assistance Program (MAP). 

Where do workers in ministry, and their families, go when they need help? The Ministerial Assistance Program (MAP) of Lutheran Counseling Services, Inc. is designed to help clergy, church workers, educators, etc., and their families cope with church life and work challenges and demands. Because of the MAP program, these workers and their families receive up to 3 free counseling sessions; sessions are offered via phone, video, and in-person.

Examples of concerns/problems that are appropriate for intervention by the Ministerial Assistance Program are:
• Assessment, referral, and/or therapy for an individual, marriage, or family concern
• A pastoral care congregational, staff, church school, or church governance issue
• A vocational crisis redirection
• Help with a church worker or parishioner grievance

The expert staff of Lutheran Counseling Services can provide help, hope, and healing through quality and confidential assistance.
Click here to learn more. 

Encouraging, Connecting, Information Lutheran Schools

The Luth Ed website is your source for anything related to Lutheran Schools. You will find the latest news, resources, accreditation information, LSCS, school mailings, conference information, and worker resources, just to name a few. This is a free site, so we encourage all our schools to visit.

The Lutheran Legal League is made up of actively practicing attorneys who regularly attend worship in a Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Simply stated, they are a unique organization of Christ filled attorneys who desire to assist our Synodical churches, schools, ministries, missions and LCMS members with their legal needs.

LLL is NOT a referral company but rather their goal is to serve God by helping their brothers and sisters within the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Click here to learn more.

Sexual abuse of children is a “quiet” epidemic that comes to light when a sensational news story hits the press. The reality is that 1 in every 4 girls and 1 in every 6 boys in the United States are sexually molested before the age of eighteen. Sadly, we all know that neither the Lutheran church nor Lutheran schools are necessarily safe havens for children.

To better educate and equip workers in our churches and schools to recognize the signs of child sexual abuse, the LCMS Office of National Mission has partnered with MinistrySafe — to help our ministries better understand the tendencies of sexual predators — all at no cost to our churches and schools. We take the safety of children seriously!

Our prayer and goal is that every staff person and every volunteer in every church and school in the District will commit to helping protect the children and ministries entrusted to your care.

Click here for more information & resources. 

If you are a former student of Orlando Lutheran Academy and need a transcript, request a transcript request form, by sending an email to: chammerstrom@flgadistrict.org.

Cost of each transcript requested is $5.00. This fee can be paid by clicking on the “Online Payments and Donations” in the front page of this website. Full directions are included in the form that will be sent to you.

The Alliance for Defending Freedom (ADF) has a newly updated Protecting Your Ministry booklet.  This is an excellent tool to review your statements of faith and other policies that protect your religious freedom.

Schools can join the ADF Ministry Alliance, a legal membership for Christian schools to gain access to experienced First Amendment lawyers.  Through membership, you can have your policies reviewed by an ADF attorney who will guide you through recommendations to strengthen your religious protection.  They can answer religious liberty questions, conduct document reviews, provide advice, and even represent your school in court if necessary and appropriate.  There is an annual cost to join. Use promo code LCMSMA for a 20% discount.

Another resource is the Lutheran Legal League.  FLGA District legal counsel, Rusty Huseman, is an ADF Allied Member and able to assist with guidance on policy or first amendment issues. Contact Jennifer Tanner for more information.

This resource was developed by LCMS School Ministries for congregations when it became apparent that most congregations did not have policies and procedures to guide them when the economic downturn made it necessary for a Reduction in Force (RIF) in their ministries.

The lack of clear policy and procedure to guide many congregations through such a process escalated already highly emotional situations, and left many asking for help after the fact. We are grateful to LCMS School Ministries Director, Bill Cochran, for recognizing the need for a resource such as this. A word of thanks is extended to the team that oversaw development of this document, Deaconess Sally Hiller, DCE Jim Bradshaw, Teacher Perry Bresemann and Teacher Mark Brink.

It is important to note that this document is made available to congregations of the Florida-Georgia District as a resource. It is not District policy nor is it recommended that congregations adopt its contents as policy unless it is the result of planning and due diligence on the part of congregation. This document has been developed primarily by LCMS School Ministries and revised by Florida-Georgia District staff and has undergone human resources scrutiny. This document is not an official document or policy of the Synod or of the Florida-Georgia District. In any event, congregations are strongly encouraged to seek legal counsel regarding applicable law before adopting any Reduction in Force policy.

With that, we strongly encourage all congregations to develop policies and procedures that will guide them through the process of Reduction in Force. The time for action is before the situation occurs, or occurs again. We welcome your feedback to help us make this resource more helpful.

Rev. Gregory S. Walton
District President, FL-GA District, LCMS

View the FLGA District RIF Manual

Simple Bible Study is a resource providing everything a leader needs to facilitate a short Bible study and discussion. Although it is created with youth in mind, the videos can also be used with adult groups.

Check back for updated videos or search through the bank of previous studies for various topics that can be used throughout the year.

Click here to view the Simple Bible Study webpage.