Divinity Lutheran Church: Modeling an Effective Church-School Partnership

Divinity Lutheran Church

On Tuesday evenings, you will find 9 volunteers from Divinity Lutheran Church in Parma Heights over at Parma Park Elementary lending their time and love to a group of 3rd graders.  These dedicated volunteers are part of a reading-mentoring program, called Project MORE, which provides one hour of one-on-one tutoring to students.  The program not only strengthens the students’ reading and comprehension skills, but also provides a valuable connection for kids who need a caring adult to engage with and who will listen to them.

Along with helping Parma Park through the Project MORE program, Divinity Lutheran also provides teachers with essential school supplies for their classrooms throughout the year; coats, gloves, scarves, and shoes for students during winter; and gifts and food for families in need at Christmas time.

“We just try to be a good neighbor,” said Sue Clay, one of the lay leaders at Divinity Lutheran.  The church does, in fact, sit across the street from Parma Park, but their neighborly kindness over the years has gone far beyond just friendly gesturing.

Parma Park Elementary

Angie Nolan, a social worker in the Parma City School District (PCSD), said that the “partnership between Divinity Lutheran and Parma Park is amazing.”  Nolan acknowledged that the church’s faithful dedication to the school and its students is making a big difference.

Indeed, Divinity Lutheran is modeling what an effective church-school partnership looks like.  As “good neighbors,” they are simply showing their faith through action and providing an example of how any local church can make a meaningful impact on their neighboring schools.  Just imagine, if every school in the Parma City School District was adopted by a neighboring church (or churches), what could happen?

If you are a pastor or lay leader who is considering how your church can help a neighboring school, now is as good a time than any to take that step.  While the PCSD has shown progress in recent years, there are currently 10 out of the 14 schools under Academic Watch by the Ohio Department of Education.  This is a major concern for the newly appointed Superintendent Carl Hilling, who has made it a top priority in 2016 to provide “all necessary resources” in order to turn the tide.

The Parma area churches can very well be one of the key resources in helping Superintendent Hilling turn that tide.  Consider that there are an average of 12 churches within 1.5 miles of each school in the district, which means there’s plenty of resource to go around.  If more and more churches begin rising to the occasion, it’s hard telling what we can accomplish through collaboration.

Would you prayerfully consider adopting one of the schools in your neighborhood?  To learn more about how your church can begin partnering with a neighboring school, please contact jeremy@comamb.org or call (740) 675-6155.

A stronger school leads to stronger families, and stronger families lead to a stronger community.