Rethinking the purposes of K-12 Lutheran Christian Studies in the light of contemporary youth spirituality

In her doctoral research, Meryl Jennings addressed significant questions for Lutheran education in Australia, now published in her thesis, which is titled, Nurture, outreach and beyond: reconceptualising Lutheran education for the contemporary Australian context (Jennings, 2009). Meryl showed that since the foundation of Lutheran schools in Australia in the 1830s, the metaphors nurture and outreach were the foundational ideas that shaped thinking about Lutheran education. Then in response to the ever changing social and educational context, practitioners further developed and adjusted the rationale to highlight ministry, mission, care and service. And so Lutheran schools gradually morphed from being like 'mini-pre-seminaries' with a strong theological and local Lutheran community focus to eventually becoming 'semi-state schools' (supported mainly by Government funding) with a Lutheran ethos, contributing to the education of young Australian citizens through a holistic education in which Christian studies had a philosophically central place in the curriculum.