Saxony high school sets fund-raising goal

Raising $4.5 million sounds like a daunting task, but it's one that area Lutherans are certainly up to in their campaign for a new facility for Saxony Lutheran High School.

On a recent Sunday, the school announced its "Christ the Cornerstone" capital campaign to 22 congregations in Southeast Missouri. They are hoping to raise the money over the next three years to build a permanent campus on a 40-acre site near Fruitland.

The Lutheran high school currently is making its temporary home at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau. The high school needs room for growth, especially considering that it serves Cape Girardeau, Scott and Bollinger counties as well as counties in Southern Illinois.

The campaign is off to a good start. It has collected $1.25 million, with a big chunk coming from the generosity of Jackson resident Gerhard Birk, who gave $649,000.

As the Rev. David Johnson, the senior pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Jackson, put it, "Saxony Lutheran High School will be a great blessing to our community for generations to come."