Program Information

LEA National Administrators Conference Program Notes

All sessions will be held as combinations of plenary presentations and table discussions.  Handouts and digital resources will be available for all sessions.

Mordecai Moments … Inspiring courageous leadership in Lutheran education for times like these (Esther 3–7 CSB)

Faith Says, “It’s Time to Speak and Act!” ...  Two Kingdom Citizenship for the Sake of the Culture and the Mission of the Church!

God engages the world to preserve it and to save it. 2KG citizenship follows God’s lead both in the realm of “Caesar’s” leadership and the mission and ministry of the Church. Amidst government encroachment in virtually every aspect of life, modern-secular culture is challenging the Church’s “essentialness” as a legitimate, public voice for good.

Amidst identity politics, LGBT, pro-abortion activism, and unbridled sexual libertinism, various “arms of culture” are confronting the Church’s legitimacy to teach and preach the “whole counsel of God” for our peoples’ and our culture’s flourishing in life.

In this session, Dr. Gregory Seltz explains why faith compels us to speak and to act for the sake of the culture and the Church.” Indeed, we were fashioned for “such a time as this.”

Rev. Dr. Gregory P. Seltz, Executive Director, Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty

Prior to Seltz’s work in Washington D.C., he served as the Speaker of The Lutheran Hour® radio program, a position he held since February 2011. Before joining Lutheran Hour Ministries, he served as the Director of the Cross-Cultural Ministry Center, as well as professor of Theology at Concordia University in Irvine, California. Before his work at Concordia, Seltz was the Executive Director of Life’s Journey Ministries, an urban, not-for-profit evangelism ministry in Manhattan, New York.

Current Religious Liberty Threats

In this session, the Ryan Tucker will explore current threats to religious nonprofits, including specific threats to educational institutions. The presentation and discussion will be set in the changing contexts of the nation and individual states, especially as a result of any changes in mid-term elections that affect schools.

Ryan Tucker serves as senior counsel and director of the Center for Christian Ministries with Alliance Defending Freedom. He oversees all litigation efforts to maintain and defend the constitutionally protected freedom of churches, Christian ministries, and religious schools to exercise their rights under the First Amendment.

Ways to Protect Your School’s Religious Freedom

This session includes discussion about the history of religious freedom in the United States, the importance of protecting that freedom, and some practical steps your school can take to be better protected in our current cultural and legal landscape.

Kyle McCutcheon serves as legal counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom’s Center for Christian Ministries. In this role, McCutcheon primarily focuses his practice on representing churches, faith-based schools, and faith-based ministries.

Best Practices in School Safety: Finding Truth and Increasing Capacity for Proper Responses

Discovering and articulating the truth about best practices in school safety has been a challenge over the past few years. Despite recent school shootings, hardening of schools, renewed efforts in mental health, increased security measures and personnel, and a focus on staying safe, school shootings continue to create fear. The fear about school safety has impacted parents, students, faculty, staff, and administrators. This is a great tragedy in America today, and we must make every effort to eliminate fear from anyone’s school experience—unless you didn’t study for the test!

Discovering the truth in research data and common sense are essential for increasing our capacity to properly address school safety. Safety plans have been around for years, but a proper framework to follow in any crisis will empower anyone to make definitive decisions when it counts. People have the ability to be empowered through proper training—proper training through a framework for any crisis is the key to a proper response.

Dr. Julian Petzold spent 28 years in Lutheran schools in roles that included early childhood through high school. During that time, he experienced a wide variety of crises. His doctoral research is in the area of best practices in school safety. He has presented on the topic of school safety since 2018, and he now consults with individual schools to provide administration and staff practical plans and training to survive and thrive in any crisis—including a school shooting. Dr. Petzold is currently President of Lion Safety Consulting, a company he started with this simple mission: “Empowering people with practical preparation for any crisis.”