Second triennial Great Plains Lutheran Educators Conference brings more than 650 to Concordia Nebraska campus

Concordia University, Nebraska hosted the second triennial Great Plains Lutheran Educators Conference (GPLEC) October 17-19. The event drew more than 650 early childhood, elementary, middle and high school Lutheran school faculty members from across the Great Plains districts to Concordia’s campus. 

Dr. Beth Pester is the creator and director of GPLEC. She also serves Concordia as director of dual credit.  

“The idea for a Lutheran school conference in the Great Plains, with a schedule that accommodated pre-school through high school calendars, was born on a napkin about eight years ago,” she said.  

Pester noted that many of The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS) districts in the Great Plains are very active but not very large due to population sizes. She also noted that while the Lutheran Education Association (LEA) has a triennial conference, it is largely attended by elementary faculties, and there is not an equivalent for high school faculties. Pester said that a driving factor in creating GPLEC was the desire  to provide Lutheran high school faculties with a conference opportunity. 

This year’s conference opened with a worship service followed by a keynote speech by Concordia Nebraska President Dr. Bernard Bull. The event also included a included a Sunday morning Bible study, and luncheons that grouped attendees by the LCMS district that they represented. 

“For most people, this event replaced a district-only event, so giving them a time that still allowed them to gather as a district was a priority,” explained Pester.  

The event also included a Sunday evening banquet at the Ag Pavilion at the Seward County Fairgrounds that featured a performance by the Concordia University Vocal Jazz Choir. On Monday morning, attendees had the opportunity to participate in a devotion, a keynote presentation and additional informational sessions before the conference closed with a sending devotion.  

“It was a fabulous conference and a great opportunity for us to gather together as professional church workers in the LCMS and encourage one another in careers in which we don’t often get to see the harvest. Professional church workers are sowers of the seed, but we don’t often get to see how God grows and harvests. Having the opportunity to gather together and encourage and build one another up and experience the joy in our community is just really uplifting.”

Sessions offered throughout the weekend included “Beyond Coding: Using Computational Thinking in Everyday Learning,” “Put Your Mask On First: Pursuing Wellness as a Leader,” “Teaching Problem Solving Skills in the Early Childhood Classroom” and “Thrive, Don’t Just Survive: Financial Wellness for Teachers.” 

“Evidence-Based Literacy Practices: A Structured Literacy Approach to Skilled Reading” was presented at the event through Concordia Nebraska’s Studia Vitae continuing education and lifelong learning program. This course focused on foundations of reading, phonemic awareness, word recognition, DIBELS assessment, progress monitoring and spelling with an emphasis on the connection between phonemic awareness and spelling. The coursework (the first of two required courses) is pending approval by the Nebraska Department of Education for the Tenet 1 requirement. Concordia Nebraska will present the second part of this course through its Studia Vitae platform in January 2027. 

Sessions were presented by Concordia faculty and staff as well as by off-campus presenters. Devotions and worship were led by Rev. Dr. Pete Jurchen and keynote presentations were given by President Bull, Dr. David Rindt and Kathy L’Heureux.  

Concordia students also volunteered their time in various ways, including setting up for the conference and working 10:31 Coffee for some of the conference.  

“A big priority for GPLEC is making sure we use all of the amazing resources on our campus,” said Pester. “Our campus is beautiful and our facilities are amazing, but it is also important to highlight our faculty and staff and give them the opportunity to share their expertise.”  

“It was a fabulous conference and a great opportunity for us to gather together as professional church workers in the LCMS and encourage one another in careers in which we don’t often get to see the harvest,” added Pester. “Professional church workers are sowers of the seed, but we don’t often get to see how God grows and harvests. Having the opportunity to gather together and encourage and build one another up and experience the joy in our community is just really uplifting.” 

GPLEC event sponsors included platinum sponsor Bob Jones University Press, gold sponsors Concordia Plans Services and FACTS Management, and silver sponsors the Association of Lutheran Secondary Schools, CUEnet and Lutheran Church Extension Fund. 

The next GPLEC event will be held on Concordia’s campus October 13-15, 2029. 

Are you interested in learning more about the many education programs offered at Concordia Nebraska? Read more here.