Feature

Telling the Next Generation

Congregations in Florida, Illinois and Texas are intentional about helping children and young people grow in the faith.

Story by Mary Henrichs | Photography by Erik M. Lunsford | Spring 2026

As The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) gears up for its next convention this July, it also commends Lutherans to renew their zeal for spreading the faith. The 2026–2029 National Offering, under the theme “Christ Is Risen! Tell the Next Generation,” will support congregations, districts and Recognized Service Organizations as they spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to all.

Read on to learn how congregations across the nation are working to grow the faith of the next generation and bring children and young people to the arms of their loving Savior.

A Bible Giveaway Celebration in Weston, Fla.

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” DCE Jeremy Becker read this passage from Proverbs 22 as families and children received Bibles during a Nov. 2, 2025, worship service at St. Paul Lutheran Church and Preschool in Weston, Fla.

More than 50 Bibles were given away that Sunday to children from preschool to fifth grade. Although St. Paul traditionally gives catechisms and Lutheran Study Bibles to students before and after confirmation, church leaders, recognizing the importance of teaching the faith in the home, expanded their gifting model to include younger age brackets.

“Parents, today you are helping to plant the seeds of faith in your child’s heart — seeds that will grow as they hear, read and learn the stories of God’s love,” said Becker, who serves as director of youth and family ministry at St. Paul.

Parents then promised before the congregation to spend time in God’s Word with their children. In response, the congregation promised to pray for the families and to encourage and support them in teaching God’s Word.

Three kinds of Bible storybooks were given away, as was fitting for each child’s age: Preschoolers received The Beginner’s Bible, kindergarteners through second-graders received One Hundred Bible Stories, and third- through fifth-graders received The Growing in Faith Bible.

Becker hopes that the Bible celebration will be repeated every year or two, encouraging continued parental involvement and continued growth in the faith for the children.

“We definitely feel that getting parents involved in kids’ reading is a huge step, and when parents are reading with their kids, they … find themselves wanting to learn even more at their own level,” said Becker, who noted that, following the celebration, he gave away several Bibles to adults in the congregation as well.

Each Bible contained a bookmark reminding parents: “You are your child’s most important teacher of faith — and your time together in God’s Word can shape their heart for a lifetime.”

Bridge Families in Bethalto, Ill.

“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us,” from 2 Corinthians 5:20, is the banner verse for the 40 “Bridge Families” of Zion Lutheran Church in Bethalto, Ill.

As the Rev. Brandon Metcalf explained, the program, now in its second year, was developed to examine the question, “What are some ways [the church] can make inroads into our classrooms, into our school districts?”

The answer is surprisingly simple, said Metcalf. “Studies have been done attempting to answer the question, ‘How do people start attending church?’ … The No. 1 answer, with 40% up to 86% of the answers, depending on the study, is ‘A friend invited me.’ The vast majority of people who get connected or reconnected at church do so because someone that they know invited them.”

Bridge Families aren’t reinventing the wheel; rather, they’re adjusting their mindset to see their Christian duty to those in the community near them. “If you see yourself as a bridge to help people get connected to Christ and His church, once that shift changes in your head, I think God brings those opportunities to people. They probably are opportunities that were already there that maybe you just weren’t looking for,” said Metcalf.

Each family in the program is intended to be a bridge for a designated community, such as their child’s class at Zion Lutheran School or the public school their child attends. Over time, the families welcome, invite, engage and care for those around them. They get involved in the planning and hospitality for events such as preschool playdates, the elementary school carnival and Trunk or Treat — creating easy invites and simple ways to reach out to the community around them.

“You know who’s actually the best at inviting others?” asked Metcalf. “It’s not the parents. It’s kids.”

Jennifer Baugh, part of a Bridge Family, agreed: “Absolutely. [Kids] aren’t scared, they just talk.”

“I would start with, who does your kid know? And you can start by inviting them to something you’re already going to be at,” Metcalf encouraged. “You never know who might be sitting there waiting to be asked.”

Campus Ministry in College Station, Texas

“For where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I among them” (Matt. 18:20).

As high school graduates head off to college, their faith is often challenged more than ever before. “This is the time in which, statistically, we [the LCMS] lose probably a majority of baptized and catechized members, because they go off to college and they’re not plugged into a church, … and they’re exposed to ways of life that are incredibly different,” said the Rev. Daniel Bueckman, campus pastor at University Lutheran Chapel (“the Chapel”) in College Station, Texas.

To combat this drift away from the church, the Chapel has emphasized building a Christ-centered community, which students can turn to for strength and encouragement, “to fall back on if times do get tough,” expressed recent Texas A&M University graduate Christian White.

Through men’s and women’s Bible studies, Word and Worship on Wednesdays, Fun Fridays and Sunday Night Suppers, many young Lutherans in College Station find themselves at the Chapel four or five times a week.

In early February, the Chapel brought almost 40 students together during a weekend retreat at Camp Lone Star in La Grange, Texas, where they dedicated themselves to the Word, worship and community-building. For many students, their first winter retreat marks the start of a true sense of belonging.

“Obviously God calls us to be bold, but it’s also nice to be able to have a group where they … encourage you,” said Texas A&M sophomore William Klein. “Then when I go back to my other friends who aren’t at the Chapel, it helps me be bold in [my faith].”

Although the Chapel is large in scale and growing, the Rev. John Karle, Chapel director for campus mission, emphasized that “any congregation can do effective … outreach work among young adults.” He encouraged congregants not to worry about perfection, but rather to “be brave, bold and courageous just to invite the person that they see out to lunch or to have coffee.”

The Rev. John Karle, director for campus mission at University Lutheran Chapel in College Station, Texas, talks with attendees of the 2026 Winter Retreat, held Feb. 6–7, 2026, at Camp Lone Star in La Grange, Texas.

“Young adults are just looking for community,” explained Texas A&M senior Olivia Hearne, who, in her freshman year at Louisiana State University, was impacted by a much smaller campus ministry. “Just about every Sunday, they would take us out to lunch somewhere new, off campus. … And then on Fridays, it’d be me and one other person and our pastor who would do a Bible study, and then we would play a game and have pizza.”

All it takes is one interested individual who is “only a step ahead,” said Karle. “They don’t have to have run the race.”

“God uses everything,” said Hearne, and Karle agreed: “His Word will not return empty — this will not be wasted effort.”

Learn More

Later this year, a grant program related to the 2026–2029 National Offering will launch to encourage and support congregations, districts and Recognized Service Organizations in engaging in efforts like these to “Tell the Next Generation.” Learn more and watch for updates at lcms.org/national-offering, or make a gift to support the National Offering at lcms.org/givenow/national-offering.

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Mary Henrichs

Staff writer and editor for LCMS Communications.