Ethical Leadership for a Changing World: A Shared Calling from Cradle to Career

A recent ELCA Barna-funded survey found that parents are looking for shared values when it comes to their children’s education. The “ask” was to parents of young children as it relates to early learning centers, but the answer of “shared values” reverberates in our Lutheran higher education as well.

Those shared values, stemming from our baptismal vocation, are what make for ethical leaders. And now more than ever, we recognize these must be cultivated from the earliest ages through the highest levels of education. Yet until recently, our educational ministries have operated in surprising isolation. At the 2025 Vocation of Lutheran Higher Education Conference, a college president learned that there are 1,200 Lutheran schools and early learning centers across the ELCA. Their surprise revealed more than an awareness gap—it highlighted our untapped potential to develop ethical leaders across the entire educational continuum.

This discovery emerged during conversations between NECU attendees and the ELCA’s Program Director for Ministry with Children, Janelle Hooper. As part of her role, Hooper also serves as a board member for the Evangelical Lutheran Education Association (ELEA), which supports weekday education programs for children from birth through 12th grade in ELCA congregations. While Hooper led her workshop, what became clear was that our institutions don’t just share a Lutheran identity—we face identical challenges in preparing ethical leaders for our rapidly changing world.

United by Common Challenges

Both ELCA colleges and early learning centers grapple with identical challenges in today’s changing world. Most significantly, we’re both hiring increasing numbers of non-Lutheran directors, staff, and faculty to broaden our leadership diversity. Yet neither sector consistently provides “Lutheran identity onboarding” for these crucial team members. We speak of being “rooted in Lutheranism” while leaving staff to discover what that actually means in practice.

Cultivating Communities of Curiosity

Higher education faculty expressed a desire for students who arrive on campus to be more comfortable questioning their faith as part of spiritual growth. Meanwhile, early childhood educators are perfectly positioned to nurture these “communities of curiosity” from the earliest ages. Imagine the possibilities of intentional rubrics used by campus pastors like Lisa Kramme at Midland Lutheran, with the school’s observatory for stargazing reflection, that build from preschoolers similarly lying in wonder beneath star-covered ceilings.

A Call for Connection

As we face an increasingly complex world requiring ethical leadership at every level, the time has come to bridge the awareness gap between our educational ministries. Creative programming could flow both directions—bringing college innovation to early learning and early childhood wonder to higher education. Our shared mission demands intentional partnership. When college presidents and early childhood directors discover their common ground, when faculty and preschool teachers share best practices, when students and children experience seamless Lutheran formation from cradle through career, we fulfill our calling, as President Pribbenow says, to be “small to our students and big for the world.”

To explore partnership opportunities between your institution and ELEA, contact Cory Newman or Janelle Hooper, or visit elcaschools.org.