catapult magazine

i received an e-mail recently on a topic which some of you might have thoughts about. the issue is the relationship between the church and Christian parochial schools, specifically pertaining to the tension between newer, seeker-friendly churches and long-standing Christian education traditions. i’ll distill the situation into some questions and see where discussion leads us.
[list:32aade6fc6]
:32aade6fc6]Besides the obvious tuition factor, why do Christian parents choose public education for their children?
[:32aade6fc6]In spite of tuition, why do Christian parents choose to send their children to Christian institutions?
:32aade6fc6]Is there always one choice—public or private—that’s better for Christian parents or will the right choice be different for each family, and even children within a family? What sorts of factors should go into such a decision?
[:32aade6fc6]Is it appropriate to use a Christian school to shelter children from the secular world? Is is appropriate to send Christian students to public school in order to evangelize? What should be the primary purpose in educating a Christian child?
[*:32aade6fc6]Is the promotion of Christian education compatible with the work of a seeker-sensitive church that has many new Christians among its members? How are churches currently dealing with this issue?
[/list:u:32aade6fc6]
thanks for your participation in this discussion.

That very issue is why our youngest son is in the public school system. He needs special help.

Just as a side note, bridget, there is a school in Grand Rapids called the Potter’s House that I send a small check to regularly because they are there providing Christian Education to inner city kids who normally could never afford it. I love the vision they are living out at that school!

i believe that, by law, all students are entitled to use any services offered by a public school for free, which means that a private school student who needed special tutoring, speech therapy, or something else offered by a local public school could receive that help at a local public school as a supplement to private school education. i realize that some children may need more full-time help, but after school programs and special sessions might be an option for some.

i wanted to address DewontheMountain’s distinction between the Great Commission and equipping the saints in the context of Christian ed. i don’t think that “making disciples of all nations” is limited to those outside our immediate families. Christian education, whether it takes place in or out of school, should be shaping children to take hold of the promise of baptism, since our individual and communal relationship with Christ does not end with the sacrament—it’s so much more. and so i think the Great Commission and equipping the saints are part of the same process.

it seems like you’re struggling with the thought that it might be selfish to spend so much money on your kids’ education, which, with four kids in private school could be around $16,000 or more if there’s no family cap on the cost. i would argue that, in your calling as a parent, you glorify God when you fill that role in the best way you possibly can. i’m not saying that filling that role well will include sending your kids to a Christian school, but i do think it’s a valid option, in spite of the high cost. if you have access to good Christian schools (that embody some of the qualities we’ve all been talking about), your financial investment in education will produce fruits many times the cost as your kids see all of life in the context of faith and learn to articulate their faith through service. the fruit ultimately benefits more people than just your kids, it benefits those to whom your kids will be salt and light as they live out a fully transformational faith.

grant, what age were you when you moved from florida? i have a theory about the influence of parents on the lives of children who experience a major geographical change when the kids are in elementary school, junior high, or even early in high school. it seems like parents have a much greater influence in these families because they are what’s consistent from Point A to Point B. children who stay in one place seem confident enough in their surroundings to be able to keep a constant trajectory of exploration and indendence.

I agree it is not an either/or thing Equipping and Evangelizing definitely flow together. However, do you see any connection between the HUGE investment our denomination has made in Christian Education over the years and the fact that we suck at evangelism? If they really flow so well together why will we, very likely, cease to exist as a denomination in the next 40 years?
Maybe there isn’t a connection between the two but I can’t help but wonder. I am not saying we should drop Christian Ed all together (I haven’t) but somewhere along the way I think we lost the balance and the rising cost is pushing us to even more imbalance and instead of letting go we cling to it like a lucky rabbit’s foot that will save our necks…

i suppose a response to some of your questions/comments would hinge on what you mean by evangelism. so, what, exactly, do you mean by evangelism?

Ah, an excellent question laurencer!
I think many Christians confuse teaching moralism (Dobson does a lot of this in his tirades against homosexuality) with evangelism.
Many good Christians think they have evangelized when they tell their co-worker that they shouldn’t cuss so much or participate in a right-to-life march. Those things have their place but they’re not evangelism!
I know you don’t deserve this little soapbox forgive me.
To answer your question:
Evangelism is reaching people who don’t believe in God with the message of Jesus Christ; the Good News of His life, death, resurrection and teachings.

Then the issue becomes how does a church facility or a christian school serve the mission (Great Commission) of the church.

i think christian schools, if doing their job well (certainly not a given), serve the mission of the church perfectly.

the great commission says, “go and make [i:853e49f53e]disciples[/i:853e49f53e] of all nations.” i think the christian tradition has, for far too long now, mistaken this task to mean “go and make [i:853e49f53e]converts[/i:853e49f53e] of all nations.” disciples and converts are not interchangeable terms. a conversion is an “aha!” moment when one realizes and embraces a new way of thinking; discipleship happens after conversion and is a lifelong learning process, learning how to be more like Christ.

I agree that if the schools are doing their job everything is in balance and evangelism and equipping(discipleship) is happening. The evidence screams otherwise!

You can’t do discipleship without converts.

Biblical discipleship produces new converts. Biblical discipleship demands new converts. Yet I know far to many Chrisitian “disciples” who wouldn’t know the first thing about having a spiritual conversation with an unbeliever. A church that is not producing new converts is a church (or school) that is not discipling people.

So again, my question is, if we are investing HUGE amounts of resources and time into making good disciples and yet we have so little fruit (I know fruit is more than new believers but it is one major fruit of a good disciple) should we reevaluate our investment?

I appreciate the explanations you’ve given so far dew, but can you explain or quantify “so little to show for it”? There are churches (particular CRC and affiliates) that are in dire straights and others that are doing very well. Surely, we could always be doing better, but are we really hurting that badly?

Excellent question Norbert. You can check out the link for some of the stats on CRC growth: http://www.crcna.org/whoweare/basics/downloads/crcr_statbox.doc
The decline in membership is apparent but not radical, what is more indicitive is the decline in the number of baptisms in past decades which indicates the “graying” of our denomination. Add to this that in the past decade or two our total decline has matched or exceeded our total growth.
Another telling statistic is that it takes on average in the CRC 100 members to gain one new convert. (200,000 members = 2,000 new converts). That ratio increases radically in new church developments devoted to outreach to 10:1.
On the optimistic side, if you check out the CRCNA website, click on the Deep Roots/New Branches icon for plans on how the CRC plans to address the “handwriting on the wall”.
It is not just the CRC that is in serious decline. Mainline churches across the board are in decline it would just be nice to see that our devotion to Christian Education gave us an edge on growing better disciples than the average mainline church whose kids often go to public school, I just don’t see it.

Thanks for the stats dew, but I guess I don’t feel as concerned as you do. First, the baptisms are consistently higher than the deaths (so I don’t recognize the “greying”) and the transfers out being larger than the transfers in may only tell half the story. Where are these transfers going? I’ve gone from the CRC to the RCA to the PCA and back again and I don’t feel worse for the wear. I think if you look at the Protestant community instead of simply the CRC things won’t look so bleak, though I don’t have any hard data to back that up.
The CRC spends money on education for the same reason that *cino exists. Our mission statements aren’t centered on evangelism, they are centered on preparing Christians to be shining examples of God’s love in a fallen world. So evangelism isn’t a primary concern, but it is a secondary concern in those arenas. I think that’s what it ought to be. Let’s disciple ourselves first (removing the plank) and by doing so, we will be better prepared to go into all the world. I do believe it’s important however, that by high school (surely) students are understanding the practical implications and challenges of that transition.