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To God’s holy people in [St. Charles and beyond], the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love, He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us.
Ephesians 1:1-8
LHS Family and Friends,
I’m beginning our next edition of The Cougar Connection with gratitude. First, I’m so thankful for my vocation as Head of School and for the opportunity to have this incredible LHS community around me during the installation ceremony in January.
We are so richly blessed!
I’m excited to lead the ongoing mission and vision planning for LHS. An external consultant will guide a process to gather input from our alumni, families, future families, and others which will be used to shape our 2025 – 2030 strategic plan. With God’s blessing, we will continue to build on our strong foundation as we plan for the future of Lutheran High.
We are so richly blessed!
In partnership with the Board, we continue to explore the feasibility of launching a campaign to enable the ministry of Lutheran High. As current needs are being assessed, we are so thankful for the generous Lutheran High community recognizing that all we have and all we are come from God, and with thanks we return a part of what is His to Him as an act of thanksgiving.
We are so richly blessed!
Our enrollment for the ’24-25 school year is strong and we anticipate another full freshman class. We’re looking forward to another excellent year for overall student enrollment.
We are so richly blessed!
It’s so great to look ahead to the students who will experience LHS for the first time and just as rewarding to reflect on all the great students who have already graduated. It’s in service of our outstanding alumni that I’m so excited to bring Community Relations & Alumni Coordinator, Kelsi Geuns, to LHS to develop and strengthen our alumni relationships. Maintaining the feeling of a community and a faith family beyond graduation is a key goal and Kelsi will focus on building alumni connections and creating both networking and career opportunities. LHS alum can look forward to increased engagement through social media, on-campus events, and by volunteering or mentoring current students. We know how important reunions can be and I’m so glad to share that Kelsi is available to support reunion planning and attendance outreach. Hearing from our alum is so important! If you have ideas or questions, please reach out!
I thank God for our alumni, students, parents, friends, faculty, staff, and pastors
We are so richly blessed!
Cougar Nation!
Oh, how time flies. Term 1 is in the books and we have moved full speed ahead into Term 2 of the 2023-24 school year! Term 1 closed out with final exams in late December but only after some very notable milestones and achievements.
We celebrated four outstanding students by awarding them the Cougar Character Award for Quarter 2. The Cougar Character Award highlights students who faithfully demonstrate the Cougar Way. Congratulations to Freshman, Olivia Kuhlmann, Sophomore, Zachary Rozema, Junior, Evie Baldwin, and Senior, Charles Masa. Eight students signed National Letters of Intent (NLI) to play sports in college. Congratulations to: Brooke Kiel who will continue her volleyball career at Westminster College, Nick Richter who will swim for Truman State, and David MacLachlan who will play baseball for Central Methodist. Kaitlyn Clark is going to Simpson College to play Volleyball. Sarah Sanderson is attending Wheaton College for Volleyball. We will have 3 students attending Southwest Baptist University: Isaiah Rubio will be playing Football, Maya Griggs will play Volleyball, and Micah Tillman will join the Cheer Team!Speaking of sports, we also celebrated our Varsity Girls’ Basketball Coach, Erin Luttschwager, for her 300th win in December.
December certainly ended with many highlights, yet the most impactful event before Christmas break was not related to academics or athletics. On December 20, faculty, staff, students, and family gathered together for the baptism of Jackson Helton. Reverend Andrew Nelson officiated his baptism. What an awesome moment it was to witness the waters of Holy Baptism seal God’s promise of faith, forgiveness, and eternal life for Jack. Praise be to God!
Now we turn from 2023 and look forward to the many blessings from God for LHS in 2024. Already in January, LHS students have had notable opportunities to serve and witness God’s love to others. In mid-January, the LHS Teens for Life group traveled to Washington D.C. to participate in the March for Life, Y4Life Conference, and took in some sites in our Nation’s capital. Did you know LHS was one of only two Lutheran high schools represented? Thank you to our advisors, chaperones, and sponsors who helped make this trip possible. Also in January, LHS hosted a “Paint it Pink” event. On this Friday night, LHS hosted Cardinal Ritter for five basketball games. During these games items were offered for free will donations and the “Miracle Minute” was conducted during halftime to raise funds for the American Cancer Society.
In conclusion, I am proud of how our students continue to Grow and Serve } In Christ! Thank you for your continued prayers and support. Lutheran High continues to be a wonderful blessing to the students and families within it served daily, but also a blessing to the greater community beyond our campus.
Dr. Jonathan Bernhardt, Ed. D.
PrincipalUpcoming Events
- February-March 15: LHS friends and family nominate for the Hall of Honor
- March 20: Grandparents Day
- April 11-13: Musical, Beauty and The Beast
- April 15: Scholarship application deadline (class of 2028)
- April 24: Day of Service
- May 26: Graduation
On-Going Events
If you have a student interested in learning more about LHS, contact Director of Admissions, Micah Braddy to schedule a Shadow Day.
Visit the LHS CALENDAR for more events and happenings.
The Last Word with Luther
Excerpt from Luther’s commentary on Galatians:
Two things make for Christian righteousness: Faith in Christ, which is a gift of God; and God’s acceptance of this imperfect faith of ours for perfect righteousness. Because of my faith in Christ, God overlooks my distrust, the unwillingness of my spirit, my many other sins. Because the shadow of Christ’s wing covers me I have no fear that God will cover all my sins and take my imperfections for perfect righteousness. God will forgive our sins as though they amount to nothing at all. He will do it not because we are worthy of such mercy. He will do it for Jesus’ sake in whom we believe.
Commentary on Galatians
By Martin Luther
Translated by Theodore Graebner
ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-6441-7