Not sure if this is the situation in the US, but here in Australia we have Christian schools with no individual church affiliation, and many without any denominational affiliation.
I work at one.
Some time ago, the principal (incidentally a friend of mine) wanted staff to consider the purpose of the school. He suggested something along the lines of preparing students with a Christ-centred view of life to go out and live for God in the world.
I like that goal, but as I asked him later, how does that work with the church’s mission? Surely it is primarily the church’s mission to disciple people, not Christian schools. And if the school is not affiliated with any church, the question becomes even more acute.
Now, practically, any school has students’ attention for a greater part of the week than even their parents do, so the idea of using that time to provide Christian discipleship is not terrible. Add to that the fact that many churches fall down when it comes to community and discipleship, Christian schools automatically become the means of whatever discipleship students receive.
But at the same time, students who leave Christian schools without strong ties to a church often drift. And students who go on to occupations in a non-Christian environment find their new community will often disciple them in a non-Christian direction.
The principal agreed my questions have merit and suggested further thought was warranted. Having access to such esteemed people as yourselves, I wondered what thoughts about this there might be in this group.
How should Christian schools see their mission? Can they overstep?
How should churches interact with Christian schools? Should they engage in some way?
First, as someone who works for a Christian non-profit but is zealous for the prerogatives of the Church, I’m sympathetic with this concern.
However, my general understanding of Christian education is that it is the domain of the family, and that the Christian school is being retained by the parents to assist them in their duty to disciple their children. You know, that whole “fear and admonition of the Lord” thing that Paul discusses.
Can this overstep into what the Church should do? Certainly. We can always find ways to overstep. But it doesn’t seem to be to be overstepping to say that parents (especially fathers) are responsible to disciple their children. Honestly, regarding schools, I’d be more concerned about their displacing the father’s responsibility to disciple his children.
That’s a great point. Christian schools are (in theory) serving fathers in their responsibility to disciple children. But how much discipling are educational instituions meant to do?
What we know is that the church is biblically mandated to develop and disciple people, including children. Schools - at least back in the day - were meant to provide academic development. While Christian schools can be said to disciple the mind, are they also meant to follow the culture in becoming de facto parents and raising children in all of life?
Let’s say for the sake of argument that fathers enlist Christian schools, not just for discipling their children in academics, but in all of life. (This is what today’s schools do in effect). What is it churches are meant to do? Supplement schools?
Let’s take the school out of the picture for a second and posit a homeschooling family.
And, just to keep things simple, let’s posit that this homeschooling family is an enthusiastic, cooperative, (dare I say) submissive part of its local church. You know, not the independent crazies that are out there. (As a homeschooling father, I feel like I’m allowed to be honest about those in my camp.)
In this case, what’s the responsibility of the church to the members of this family? This isn’t a gotcha, by the way. I figure that if we can arrive at a sketch of the ideal basic relationship, it could help show where the school can helpfully intersect and where it would get in the way.
To be clear, I’m not saying that I have some kind of clear answer that I’m dangling out of arm’s reach. I’m just trying to be a helpful conversation partner, especially since this is a practical issue for you. If there’s a better way for me to be helpful, please let me know!