Feature

The Genesis of a New Lutheran School

Faith Lutheran School, Branson, Mo., held its first day of classes in August thanks to support from the LCMS School Ministry network and several community partners.

Story by Megan K. Mertz | Photography by Erik M. Lunsford | Winter 2025

Church member Thom Holman arrived at Faith Lutheran Church, Branson, Mo., bright and early on the morning of Aug. 21, 2024. He had an important job to do: direct traffic for the very first day of classes at Faith Lutheran School.

“It was a little comical with just six kids,” Holman says. “[Drop-off] happened pretty quick. But I stood there thinking back on all the years it took to get to this point. I’m so grateful that the Lord has blessed us.”

A Long-Held Dream

For more than 20 years, the members of Faith Lutheran Church had been hoping and praying to start a Lutheran school. When they originally attempted to start a school in 2001, city officials decided not to grant the special use permit the church needed. Despite this setback, the congregation built a new Life Center a few years later, hoping that one day those rooms would be turned into school classrooms.

In the early 2020s, Faith’s leadership decided to add an associate pastor to the staff. That’s how the Rev. Joey Bluege came to the church in 2022. With young children at home, Bluege was very interested in Lutheran education, and he eagerly took up the congregation’s longtime goal of starting a school in order to share the Gospel with the community.

The Rev. Joey Bluege greets congregation members before the first day of school chapel service on Aug. 21, 2024.

At this point, Faith went through the Genesis Project, a service of LCMS School Ministry that helps those interested in starting a Lutheran school. Working with a School Ministry consultant, Faith members reviewed the demographics of their community. They found that new families were moving to Branson and that nearby private schools had waitlists, so the opportunity was there. Faith members eagerly went door to door in the neighborhood around the church to talk to residents and ask their opinion. This time, when they brought their petition for the special use permit to the city, there was overwhelming support for the endeavor.

Things moved quickly after that. The leadership team started looking for teachers and began advertising the school’s opening around town. Longtime teacher Emily White came from a Lutheran school in Nebraska to be principal and teacher, while Laura Krueger, wife of Faith Senior Pastor Joel Krueger, agreed to teach kindergarten.

On Aug. 21, three kindergarteners, two second-graders and one third-grader arrived for the first day of school. Half of the students belong to the church, while the others learned of the school through a billboard advertisement along the highway. The classrooms that the students now use are located in the Life Center, built all those years ago with this exact purpose in mind. Another room in the center now houses a school library.

Centered in Christ

Although six students may seem like a small group, LCMS School Ministry Director Dr. Alan Freeman says that starting with seven to 12 students is pretty common for a new school. “In your first three years of a Lutheran school start, the enrollment is not large. It’s [driven by] those pioneers, that commitment of the congregation and the parents. Then once the community sees that the school is established, that it has been there for several years, now all of a sudden, they recognize that the school is here to stay.”

This is the smallest class size White has had in her 26 years in Lutheran education. But these are “six students that we get to share Jesus’ love with,” she says. “Whether it’s six or 600, that’s an important job.”

Teacher Laura Krueger leads the kindergarten class back to the classroom.

In some ways, that small number has big benefits. Each student receives substantial one-on-one attention from the teacher. Students also have opportunities to do things that could not be done with a big group. In addition to regular chapel services and religion classes, Bluege has planned a series of field trips around Martin Luther’s idea of vocation. Every month, the students will have the opportunity to meet Christians working on farms, at fire stations, and in Branson institutions like Silver Dollar City and Sight and Sound Theatre to learn about how their faith impacts their service in these roles.

“We want children to see all these different things that God could call you to in life, and also to learn from people that live their faith out in what they do,” Bluege says.

The goal for the school is to “prepare students to be Christ-like, well-educated and service-minded,” says Bluege. “If we don’t do ‘Christ-centered’ right, we might as well close this place because there’s no reason for a parent to pay to send their child here. We’re going to make sure that is in the forefront of everything we do.”

A Supportive Community

Although Bluege’s excitement and leadership helped to bring this long-held dream to fruition, he gladly acknowledges that it has been a team effort — both by Faith’s members and other organizations. Faith received financial and leadership support from the Herzog Foundation, a Missouri-based foundation dedicated to promoting Christian education. Another foundation provided furniture, and the library books were donated by a Lutheran school in Independence, Mo., that recently closed.

LCMS School Ministry’s Genesis Project also played a key role in ensuring that Faith was ready to take this big step. For a one-time application fee of $500, a congregation or group in the Genesis Project receives ongoing support throughout the process.

The Rev. Joel Krueger speaks during the first school chapel.

Once an application is received — there are 30-plus applications in the pipeline right now — School Ministry staff find an experienced Lutheran educator to act as a consultant. The consultants are usually either former or current Lutheran school principals, often with experience starting a school of their own, who can lead the group through demographic studies, community and congregation surveys, and then “speak the truth in love” when a potential problem is uncovered. The goal of the whole process is to make sure a new school start can become successful and sustainable. Sometimes that means a consultant has to advise a group that conditions aren’t right.

There are many companies out there that can help a group start a school, but Freeman says they are often expensive and stop providing support as soon as the school gets off the ground.

“That’s not the Genesis Project,” Freeman says. “We continue to be engaged with them because they’re part of our school community. Our schools get to know that they are one of almost 2,000 Lutheran schools throughout the country and even overseas, and we have a National Lutheran School Accreditation process that’s recognized by a multitude of states and the U.S. Department of Education. There’s a great network that they tap into, and they get to ask questions about developing a handbook, or [how to do] drop-off and pick-up, or any other questions like that.”

Bluege has been impressed by the support he’s received from other Lutheran schools. A principal at another area school spent four hours showing him around and answering questions. He’s also received documents from other schools to use as templates for Faith’s own materials.

“The doors that seemed impossible to open have been opened, and that’s where we’ve seen the Lord’s hand working in it,” Bluege says. “I think our schools are one of the best things we do in the LCMS. There’s no way we would be starting if it weren’t for the collaboration of so many LCMS teachers and professionals. … We are a very gifted Synod.”

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Megan K. Mertz

Managing editor of Lutherans Engage the World and chief copy editor for LCMS Communications.