I want to be a DCE because I believe God calls us to love and help others, and this is the best way to help that I can think of.
Esther Langness always wanted to be a Director of Christian Education (DCE) but she didn’t always have a name for this longing. “When I was in middle school, my plan was to find a man, get married, and volunteer as a Sunday School teacher. Then my mom told me that I needed something where I get paid, and I found out that being a DCE is basically getting paid to teach Sunday School.”
Even though Esther’s plans for applying this passion for sharing Christ have changed, her passion has not. “When I was younger, I wanted to be a DCE because Sunday School was something I was really good at. Now, I still want to be a DCE because I’m able to apply this love of theology to a whole congregation.”
Teaching a topic as complex as faith to such a wide variety of people requires a good deal of balance, which is something Esther has learned throughout her time in the program. “Something that occasionally irks me is in one class, they teach you all of these fancy big words, and then in the next class, they tell you not to use big words. You’re really learning how to teach to all people.”
Esther brings up a not-completely-uncommon problem for students throughout college, which is struggling to enjoy difficult classes. She believes something that helped her learn how to do this was her experiences in the Luke Scholars Program. “It’s definitely helped me think through things. Something we learned throughout the first semester that you can learn important lessons from all classes, not just the ones in your major.”
Esther believes that she learned these principles not just from the topics taught in the program, but also from the nature of the program. “There are high-achieving students from a wide variety of majors contributing to conversations about difficult topics. It really helps you gain new perspective.”
The integrated nature of this program is an accurate reflection of the Concordia community in general. “There are a couple of factors that make Concordia such a close community. One is that it’s a small campus, so no matter what, you’re going to run into people, and your different friend groups will kind of converge. The other is that a lot of people on this campus are Lutheran, and it’s really nice to have that connection point, and to be able to grow with people who are interested in the same things as you.”