Lutheranism

===Education===
[[File:Resurrection Lutheran School Rochester MN WELS.jpg|thumb|Resurrection Lutheran School is a parochial school of the [[Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod]] (WELS) in [[Rochester, Minnesota]] and the fourth-largest private school system in the United States.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hunt|first1=T.|last2=Carper|first2=J.|title=The Praeger Handbook of Faith-Based Schools in the United States, K-12, Volume 1|year=2012|pages=177|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0313391392}}</ref>]][[s:Luther's Small Catechism/Preface|Catechism instruction]] is considered foundational in most Lutheran churches. Almost all maintain [[Sunday School]]s, and some host or maintain [[Lutheran school]]s, at the preschool, elementary, middle, high school, [[folk high school]], or university level. Lifelong study of the catechism is intended for all ages so that the abuses of the pre-Reformation Church will not recur.<ref>[http://www.bookofconcord.com/largecatechism/2_preface.html Preface] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121011806/http://bookofconcord.com/largecatechism/2_preface.html |date=21 November 2008 }} to Luther's [[Luther's Large Catechism|Large]] and [http://www.bookofconcord.com/smallcatechism.html#preface preface] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061128133418/http://www.bookofconcord.com/smallcatechism.html#preface |date=28 November 2006 }} to Luther's ''Small Catechism''.</ref> Lutheran schools have always been a core aspect of Lutheran mission work, starting with Bartholomew Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Putschasu, who began work in India in year 1706.<ref name=ENC3367>Fahlbusch, Erwin, and Bromiley, Geoffrey William, ''The Encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume 3''. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 2003. p. 367.</ref> During the [[Counter-Reformation#Bohemia and Austria|Counter-Reformation]] era in German speaking areas, backstreet Lutheran schools were the main Lutheran institution among [[Crypto-protestantism|crypto-Lutherans]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=2f69mKhTDNQC&dq=Winkel+Schule+%22Lutheran+doctrine%22&pg=PA12 Absolutism and the Eighteenth-Century Origins of Compulsory Schooling in Prussia and Austria] (Google Books) by James van Horn Melton, Cambridge University Press, 1988.</ref>

Pastors almost always have substantial theological educations, including [[Koine Greek]] and [[Biblical Hebrew]] so that they can refer to the Christian scriptures in the original language. Pastors usually teach in the common language of the local congregation. In the U.S., some congregations and synods historically taught in [[German language|German]], [[Danish language|Danish]], [[Finnish language|Finnish]], [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]], or [[Swedish language|Swedish]], but retention of immigrant languages has been in significant decline since the early and middle 20th century.