Our students sing at the 10:30 a.m. church service on Sunday, September 20, 2026. Every grade takes part, Early Childhood through 8th. If your child is at MLS, this is the morning to be there — and the 10:30 service is the one, not the 8:00.
Come early if you can. There is a free breakfast in the school gym at 9:15 a.m. beforehand — the Better Together breakfast. No sign-up, no charge, and no need to be a member of anything.
This is for every MLS family — the ones who worship at Immanuel, the ones who belong to another church in Joplin, and the ones who do not go to church at all. All three are normal here, and all three are welcome. Nobody will ask you which one you are.
What actually happens
9:15 — Breakfast in the gym. The same gym your child is in every day. Food, long tables, about an hour. Tables are mixed on purpose, so families end up sitting with people they are not related to. There is one short devotion — five minutes, sitting down — and one question to talk about at your table: who shaped your faith? Answer it or just listen. Both are fine.
10:30 — The children sing. The service is in the church building on the same campus and runs about an hour. Your child sings near the beginning. Come as you are; jeans are fine. You will be handed a bulletin that tells you when to stand and sit, and nobody is singled out or asked to introduce themselves. If church is unfamiliar territory for your family, this is an easy first one — the room is full of children and their grandparents, and it is not a quiet crowd.
One note for families who normally come to Sunday classes: Sunday School and the adult and youth Bible classes are all cancelled that morning. Breakfast takes their place, on purpose, so everyone is in one room instead of split across three buildings.
Why the breakfast
The theme is Better Together, and it is a plain idea. Churches and schools sort people by age without meaning to — children one way, teenagers another, parents to a third room — and the people who have kept this place running for fifty years rarely end up across a table from a second grader.
We are aiming at something specific this year: every child here knowing at least five adults who know them by name and stay in their life for the long haul. Not one teacher and two parents — five. Children who grow up surrounded like that tend to keep what they were given. Breakfast is where that starts. It is hard to know a family you have only nodded at in the pickup line. It is not hard once you have eaten with them.
This is the first of three all-school-and-church breakfasts this year; the others are in January and April. There is also a parents’ evening coming in October. Watch The Glow newsletter for those.
Come hungry, and sit with somebody you have not met. Grandparents, neighbors, and families still deciding whether to enroll are all welcome — you do not need a child at MLS to eat with us. If your family came to VIP Day on September 18, your photos and picture frames will be waiting for you this morning, and every VIP is invited back.
Our students sing in church again on Sunday, January 24, which opens National Lutheran Schools Week and has a breakfast of its own.
Martin Luther School and Immanuel Lutheran Church share one campus at 2616 S Connecticut Ave in Joplin, Missouri. We serve Early Childhood through 8th grade. The full 2026–27 school calendar has every date for the year. Questions — including “where do I park?” — call the school office at (417) 624-1403 or email info@martinlutherjoplin.com.