As you drive through the country 12 miles north of Columbus, Nebraska, you will pass bountiful fields of corn and green pastures dotted with grazing cattle. In this rural setting, there’s another “fertile field,” one where workers are being
prepared for a bountiful harvest of souls, a “green pasture” where the message of the Gospel is clearly communicated through Word and Sacrament, where workers who love Him reflect His grace and are ready and eager to serve Him.

St. John’s Lutheran Church, this fertile field of a congregation, has produced mighty laborers for the Lord. Few people could imagine that a small rural church of 350 members and 37 (preschool to eighth grade) day school students could have 11 students attending Concordia University in Seward and five recent graduates from the Concordia University System. In the next couple of years, there may be two or three more
joining the ranks.

Pastor Brad Birtell, who came to St. John in 1996, knows the heart these people have for the Lord: “This church and school is not the mission,” he said. “Through Word and Sacrament, we equip our people to go out and DO the mission. We don’t do anything special, we just serve the Lord.”

How is this miracle of equipping and serving being carried out in our school? By the power of the Holy Spirit, children are prepared for the “harvest work” in ordinary ways.

THROUGH LEADING AND TEACHING OPPORTUNITIES There is daily opportunity for leading and teaching. In a multi-age classroom, students quickly learn how to teach and learn from one another. When preparing for the musical about Ezekiel (“Bones”), older students choreographed and taught dances to younger children.
(The Little Room’s skeleton dance was a show-stopper!) Upper-room students can be seen on the floor in the hallway listening to first and second grade students reading. Everyday responsibilities like cleaning the counters, recycling, and getting the mail are a given. When the alumni become part of the high school youth group, they annually plan and lead a week’s VBS on the White Earth Indian Reservation in Minnesota.

New teacher Heidi Stockmeier wasn’t sure about teaching in a rural setting after growing up in Detroit and recently moving from St. Louis. “Teaching at St. John’s has been amazing,” she said. “The students are respectful and caring. They work together in a way that is mind boggling. “I have never experienced a school where students are happy to work with each other, and volunteer to do so. It doesn’t matter if the children are the same age or best friends.”

WITH HIGH EXPECTATIONS ACADEMICALLY We expect a lot from
our students, but our religious training, particularly the confirmation course, sets the standard for high expectations. We have a rigorous program of memorization and Bible study, always applying it to life. Pastor Birtell meets for confirmation with the upper-room students three hours a week. This training carries over into the youth program, where 15-20 students meet weekly for Bible study. Knowing the Word is vital to sharing faith!

IN A STRONG INTERGENERATIONAL AND FAMILY CULTURE There are many opportunities for interaction between all ages. Each year, the congregation holds a large event, Oktoberfest, where more than 1,000 people are served. Originally begun to help pay for the new school building in the 1980s, this event continues to
grow. Everyone in the congregation has a job to do, and no child is left behind! Students set and clear tables, wash pots and pans, carry away trash, and make crafts to sell. Generations interact while worshiping and serving the Lord. There is an adopt-a-student program where congregational members mentor and pray for students. Grandparents’ Day, nursing
home visits, and the Lutheran Schools Week breakfast bring generations together. Worship events such as creating a family yule log during Advent worship or painting rocks for an outdoor cross display also brings all ages together.

Financial and hands-on support is evident—the school is tuition-free for member families, and a Fellowship Club raises money to support Concordia students. Projects, like siding the school, are completed efficiently through member donation and volunteer labor. Everyone is an important part of our ministry.

BY DEMONSTRATING JOY IN SERVICE Our dedicated staff is excited to be serving the Lord in this place, and that’s evident to the students. Whether it’s a school game of crab soccer, making Jello to demonstrate physical properties, or painting a “psychedelic” van for an art competition, the teachers have fun. We’ve had fun raising almost $1,000 this year for missionary bikes through our penny war. Pastor leads the way as he coaches young basketball stars, brings messy objects for a children’s message, or pitches for the all-school softball game. We have great joy in building solid relationships with the students and each other. This demonstration of joy is catching. The son of teacher Paula Kapels, Kyle, a freshman at Concordia, put it this way, “Attending St. John’s was a great place to get an education and make life-long friends. It was a place where you had responsibilities as well as fun times. We had to learn to be leaders as well as helpers.”

This is truly a place where generations of families have taken to heart the Bible instruction to “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it” (Proverbs 22:6).