Deepening Roots
Over the past year, roughly ten new trees have been planted across our campus.
They were given as memorials in honor of friends of Sioux Falls Lutheran School who are now at home with the Lord. Here on the South Dakota prairie, where shade and shelter from the wind are precious commodities, those young trees don’t look especially significant today. But someday, Lord willing, children who were not yet born when they were planted will gather beneath their branches.
There’s something poetic about that.
Paul’s words to the Corinthians come to mind: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” (1 Corinthians 3:6)
The growth God has given SFLS surrounds us. New buildings have risen from the ground. Enrollment has reached milestones that not so long ago were unimaginable. New programs have begun, classrooms have filled, and opportunities for students have expanded. And still, the growth continues. We have so much for which to give God thanks and praise!
But some of the most important growth happening at SFLS right now is less visible.
Much of our work has that same long horizon. After years of tremendous visible growth, we’re in a season of deepening our roots—strengthening what God has built and preparing it to serve generations still to come.
Enrollment continues to grow, but more important is our ability to serve students well—and make a Christ-centered Lutheran education accessible to families who desire it. Through a generous grant from Lutheran Women in Mission, ten new high school students received tuition assistance last year and another seven this year, opening a door that might otherwise have remained out of reach.
We’ve also been increasingly intentional about strengthening the financial foundation that will sustain this ministry long into the future. Giving to the Eagle Fund continues to grow, and new endowment funds are taking root—something planted today and carefully tended over time to provide for students we may never meet.
We’re nurturing relationships with those who have faithfully supported SFLS while inviting new friends to become part of this ministry. As part of that, we’ve established a formal alumni organization to strengthen connections with former students and families whose stories remain part of ours.
None of these things comes with a ribbon cutting. And perhaps that’s precisely the point.
The work that strengthens a school isn’t always visible. It happens through relationships carefully tended, resources faithfully stewarded, opportunities extended to families, and a Christ-centered mission kept firmly at the center.
And that mission remains clear—Developing Capable Christian Servant-Leaders in a Complex World: World Ready, Faith Secure.
Someday, those young memorial trees will look very different than they do today. Their roots will reach deeper. Their trunks will grow stronger. Their branches will provide shade on hot August afternoons and protection when prairie winds sweep across our campus. Most students enjoying that shade will never have known the people in whose memory the trees were planted.
But they will benefit from what someone chose to plant for them.
And that’s the work before us today. We’re planting and tending things, knowing we may never see their fullest impact—strong financial foundations, enduring relationships, connections across generations, and above all, faith planted deeply in the hearts of children.
We plant. We tend. We trust God with the growth.
And we remain deeply grateful for all of you who plant alongside us.
With Gratefulness,
Tia Esser, Executive Director
Romans 12:2
About Sioux Falls Lutheran School
Sioux Falls Lutheran School is a family community committed to developing capable Christian servant-leaders in a complex world who are World Ready and Faith Secure. We are passionate about giving our students the tools they need to be successful academically, socially, emotionally, and spiritually. We strive to accomplish this goal by maintaining high academic standards, employing excellent teachers, and upholding a Christian worldview drawn from Scripture. Ultimately, our vision is to partner with families in preparing children, as led by the Holy Spirit, for faithful and bold use of their God-given gifts to navigate and serve a complex world with the love of Christ.