Thanks in advance everyone!

I see a more than passing connection between the newer expressions of being Reformed and other "low church" denominations. More and more Baptists and Pentecostals are embracing the moniker "Reformed," but they carry their own tradition's baggage. Speaking as a Baptist, I can authoritatively state that we have a history of being suspicious of theological and Christian education, for it might lead to "liberalism" or might interfere with an individual's knowing God on his/her own terms. Consequently, I think these streams have come into conflict. On the one hand, the Reformed thought (engaging all
of creation, ie education) is embraced, while on the other, the need for higher education becomes seen as pass� or risky. When this is coupled with a desire to be missional (often immediately), I think that Christian education is often ignored.

Just a couple thoughts on framing the question. Are there a couple examples of new Calvinists rejecting Christian education outright or is the question coming more from an overall neglect of the topic from new Calvinists? Not sure if this has anything to do with it, but "missional" in popular contexts is rarely commissioned and informed by the church or church office, making it pretty individualistic. So I may be "missional" just by attending public school, regardless of my relationship to any church. Also, I've unfortunately seen blatant rejection of Christian education from self-knighted "Old School" Presbyterians on this topic (like here http://oldlife.org/2012/04/three-strikes-and-youre-out; note he mentions CVT's view on education but doesn't even mention Phil-Mont - the school Reformed school he started!). Not sure how helpful this is, but for more from Kunkle on Christian education, I thought his thoughts on it here when we interviewed him http://reformedforum.org/podcasts/ctc138 were very informed.

Dr. Bradley,

As a 'new Calvinist' I have noticed this trend as well. After finishing my M.Div at Southeastern Baptist I wanted to continue on to earn a doctorate. I have a passion for Christian Education and decided to pursue an Ed.D at Southeastern. Instead of supportive, many of my other calvinist friends (and even some professors) couldn't understand why I would not study NT/OT or Theology. They acted as though those were the only legitimate fields for serious Christian scholarship. It is as though Christian Education is simply not as valuable a contribution. In fact, one person asked why I would 'get a doctorate in Sunday School?" I think there are a few causes to the problem - 1. many feel threatened by Christian Education. When someone other than the pastor dares attempt to educate a Christian or aid in developing their Christian worldview, people feel that their turf is invaded (and I say this as someone who serves as a Pastor. There are pastors who don't want their parents sending students to Christian colleges/high schools because someone might challenge their particular views, and as pastor they must be seen as always right). 2. There seems to be a lack of appropriate theology on what the sovereignty of Christ means in the life of a Christian and in how they live. Too many stop at God is sovereign in salvation - but that doesn't apply to my 'real life.' So folks are content to live the rest of their life as thought Christ being King doesn't apply to areas of how their children are educated, or how they choose higher education. It seems many Calvinists would do well to read more Kuyper and Hoekema. 3. Finally, I am fed the tired line 'I want to be/want my children to be missionaries in the public schools" or some variation on that theme. While the sentiment may be legit (which I doubt) - the fact is that is unwise. Missionaries themselves are trained for years at Seminaries before going into cross-cultural contexts - your children (or you yourself as you enter college, etc.) have very little training in Christian worldview. In fact, many youth receive little more instruction than the trite ramblings of a hipster youth minister trying to be the next Francis Chan.
With the quality of Christian Education being so low in many churches, one would think that it would be wise to invest in quality Christian Education/ Christian Higher Education.

These are simply the thoughts of someone who is a doctoral candidate in 'Sunday School.'

Blessings.

Id like to give 4 reasons why Christian Education is devalued:

1. Most who call themselves Reformed don't have a Reformed worldview. They have Calvinist Soteriology but not a Reformed way of viewing life. Many who are labeled New Calvinists come from backgrounds that are not reformed, but adhere to the 5 points. Being a 5 point Calvinists, in my opinion does not mean you are Reformed.

2. They don't see education as discipleship. Discipleship is essentially boiled down to spiritual disciplines. Spiritual disciplines are essential to discipleship, but are not the whole of discipleship.

3. Many don't see their children as the next generation of Christians. They are expecting the next generation to be won to Christ and pray their children will be in that group. However...

4. Many make their children into small missionaries and ask them to bear the evangelism/missional/kingdom work burden of their parents. I can't count how many times I've heard someone say the Christian kids are being missionaries at their school. Their job is not to redeem the culture of a school. This view would go away if we properly understood education.

There are more reasons for sure and hope to be able to discuss more in the future.

Personally, I came into reformed theology in my twenties, and I think that's true for a lot of folks. So the groundwork of valuing education was missing.

Additionally, I think there's an overall value on ignorance in our society that a lot just don't shake off.

The overwhelming majority of Sov Grace families I know homeschool. Not sure if you consider this a "rejection" of Christian education or not.

A few random observations:

1. I think many Christian parents ("Reformed" or not) view the free government-run school as the default or "normal" choice. I don't think it's a conscious rejection of Christian education as much as never really considering the question.

2. There is a bit of an inherent tension between the goal of education as the renewing/training of the mind and as preparation for a useful vocation. The latter goal may inform some parents' rejection of Christian colleges.

3. Many homeschoolers reject classroom schooling (Christian or non) for young children because we believe it is imposing an adult-education model in an inefficient way and that it weakens family/sibling bonds. Whether or not that agrees with the "Reformed" view of education, I am not qualified to say.

Because missional Reformed types haven't yet made the paradigm shift from seeing education as a *place* for missional activity to seeing education *itself* as a missional activity. But the money is a huge barrier to Christian schools that can truly be "missional" to socio-economic groups other than upper-middle class suburbanites (though they need Jesus too!). My two cents, anyway.

Also, as others have mentioned, there haven't been good models of missional Christian schools. This fact contributes to the blind spot. My own Christian school experience was alright. The school required that at least one parent be a Christian, except for 10% of students who were allowed for missional reasons. Not sure if we were ever close to 10%, but at least one kid who was kicked out of public school came, got converted, and completely turned his life around overnight. He's now at DTS working on an MDiv or ThM. The school wasn't particularly challenging and it was NOT Reformed. Christian "worldview" wasn't taught, except in the history class in which we were taught a dispensational interpretation of world history. The school wasn't exorbitantly expensive, but the education wasn't that much better than public school, so why would non-Christians send their kids there unless they had no choice (i.e., their kids were kicked out of public school)?

One of the reasons that the "new Calvinists" or "young reformed" have walked past the value of Christian education is because the dominant interest among the newly reformed has been in the world of soteriology. They are missing the deep reformed emphasis of the cultivation of the life of the mind because they have too narrow a view of the Reformation project. Although there is often talk of transforming culture, or cultural renewal, among the young and reformed; there has been little thought given to the equipping and methodology necessary to accomplish this renewal.

The same could be said for a Reformed understanding of apologetics. We need someone within the realm of Christian education to call for an evaluation of how we educate, like Van Til did in calling for an apologetic that was more consistent with the scope of Reformed theology.

The heart of the matter is this: if the young and reformed continue to dismiss the Reformation worldview in order to pick up bits and pieces of reformed theology, they (we) will end up becoming single note thinkers instead of jazz theologians.

My undergraduate professor, and thesis supervisor, Dr. David Naugle, is casting this vision and laboring diligently at Dallas Baptist University.

Kyle Worley
Studet Pastor at Baptist Church
www.thestrife.com

Though the reasons off doing what is right include supporting Christian schools, people make decisions based on a variety of margins. The opportunity cost of starting Christian Schools and sending our kids to them is simply too high for anyone other than the wealthy.
Those who live in good public school districts face a higher opportunity cost than those who live in poorly performing school districts. Yet those who live in the best school districts are also in the highest income brackets. The two variables move together. Low income neighborhoods have poorly performing schools, it may be the case that the proportional cost of sending one's children to private school remains close to constant across all income bands. This would be an interesting study. Maybe it's already been done.
All this to say that many don't value a Christian education above the value of a public school education enough to make the necessary sacrifices.
That's some back of the envelope economics, as for personal testimony:
Add to that the ever present politics and muddle involved in a non-profit institution, the judgmentalism, the legalism, hypocrisy, exclusivity, etc., and the cost of private school psychologically increases.
Finally, the first time I got drunk was on the campus of a Christian college, Colorado Christian University. I later had a verbal argument with the president of the university in front of the entire student body. He wanted to raise tuition 13% for the next year in order to create a nicer campus to attract higher paying students. I was on my own dime. Most of the other students didn't care since daddy was paying, and they only chose CCU for its proximity to the ski slopes.

Wow. Great comments!

I have a number of young, restless, and reformed friends (many of them pastors/church planters) who do not value Christian education. The argument is usually missional: "We send our kids to public school so we can share Jesus." I appreciate Job's comment in this area. In my experience, however, the parents are claiming themselves to be the missionaries; it's not "my children are missionaries" but "we are missionaries." They engage in the life of the school by coaching sports, being "homeroom moms" (or dads), volunteering in various ways, etc. Who can argue? We're sharing Jesus! All of those things can still be accomplished if one's children are in a Christian school. My wife and I tutor at our local public elementary school. Our church volunteers to help in many ways from tutoring to feeding teachers during parent/teacher conferences, to staffing the spring school carnival, etc. My children do not attend this school, yet we're welcomed into the life of the school.

Anthony,

In Madison WI we are taking Christian education very seriously. Check out the school we are seeking to start this Fall.

http://charisclassical.com/

Anthony: good question and one I think about often. I think many of those who reject Christian education often do so out of a knee-jerk reaction against what is often termed a covenant-model school. They see Christian schools that follow this model of not allowing any non-Christian families as anathema to the missional calling of their church. And I don't disagree with them in that regard. However, I disagree with the conclusion that the best alternative is sending their children to public schools. That may be the case in many situations. The truly missional thing to do would be to support a Christian school or start a Christian school that is open to all and that serves the good of the entire community.

The new calvinists have been convinced by scripture in reformed soteriology, but not in chistian Ed. Is this because leaders don't promote Christian Ed, or because it's not in scripture?

As a person educated at a fine non-SBC Baptist university for undergrad and who graduated from SBTS a few years back I would state the following. As has been alluded to above many in this newly developing camp come from Baptist and other evangelical traditions. The ecclesiology in these groups offers a �free agent� clergy where many times strong graduate degrees are overshadowed by personality traits and marketing ability in hiring. So at the very visible clergy level it is often less about what you know and how you have applied your gifts and time and more about factors not so easily measurable. While this is not indicative of the whole system I believe it is at least a factor in the issue you are asking about.
Beyond this I would point out the current PhD programs set up at the SBC seminaries that have become aligned with the Reformed tradition where graduates are not expected to mix with the larger Reformed movement but end up in the expansive bible college/minor Baptist college network, associate with the �safe� Reformed partners (A29, T4G, etc.), or plug in to another SBC seminary. This in my mind detaches the �neo-puritans� as some call them from tapping into the Reformed tradition in education through detachment from the larger world and to a degree academic staleness. At the seminary level the complete focus, of say SBTS, is to produce and elevate the role of pastor as understood in Baptist polity. Scholarly activity is not suppressed but not encouraged past a few causes (church growth theory, Puritan ideals, traditional SBC focuses, surface Reformed thought). Those hoping to pursue a terminal degree in the secular world or in a non-reformed SBC (or similar group) school are not encouraged. I personally was pushed when I met with my dean to consider their program but was met with a smile but zero support from him and the department when I voiced my desire to look elsewhere outside the system.
Of course there are a long list of Christian colleges out there supported by the Reformed Baptists and others but they often fall into the trap of suppressing certain threatening secular thoughts and teach an overall fundamentalist view. While I am relatively new to Reformed thought I would think this would not blend well with the level of education that you are suggesting. Often these bible colleges can be �safe� places for families to send their children to be protected and not educated at the highest level.
The point of what I wrote? I see the issue starting at the top levels of the educational tree. Engaging a true Reformed emphasis on education is a no go when education as a whole is not encouraged to be pursued with excellence or to engage with and blend with the larger body. The Evangelical sub-culture thrives within this system as it currently stands.

Anthony - where do my kids with special needs fit into this? Is it my responsibility to pay for their education and also pay for the services needed so they could attend? Or should the school provide for them and pass the costs along to all attending thereby raising the tuition of all?

I know this isn't the point of your post, but it is my reality and something that I never hear discussed in the space of Christian Education.

I will go ahead and add this: 3 of my children are deaf and require interpreters. There is no way we could pay for tuition for the three and then pay the salaries of 3 interpreters.

Wow, this hits so close to home for us! We are two years away from school starting for our oldest child and we(really just me) go back and forth between sending our girls to the public elementary school right behind our house and our local church's classical school. None of my hesitations come from ''not wanting" my children immersed in the gospel, they stem from the question 'what exactly will they be immersed in?' What I have witnessed, in my community, is an attitude of regret stemming from believing parents who werent raised in the church and are therefore fearful that their children(who are being raised in the church) will not have a biblical world and life view built into them by the time they leave for college...that they won't have enough biblical/theological information to know how to 'think' their way through this world... This is just not my fear. On the other hand, am I really excited about sending my children into a public school classroom? Not really... But on the college campus we see both public educated students and students from christian education backgrounds doing the same things, dealing with the same issues, making the same grades, going on to be Christians in the world, and pointing people to Christ...so whats the point?

My other issues stem from
1. Never hearing anything about the holy spirit in the work of our ability to 'know' truth
2. Attitudes of pretention that turn me off completely...once heard a mother say to another woman, about a child... "with her classical education, I think we can do better than 'cheerleader'" (the child was dressed up cheering for a football game)...I don't know what to do with that kind of stuff!

Christian education is great, when it is affordable and academically superior. Sadly few Christian schools in my experience meet these criteria.

"your children (or you yourself as you enter college, etc.) have very little training in Christian worldview." says Jacob. The main place of instruction in the Christian faith for children is and always will be in the home, during times of daily family worship. We do it morning and evening. This is the place for those worldview concerns to be addressed.

It's worth noting, as well, that it is a mistake for parents to assume that because they are sending their kids to a "Christian" or even Reformed school, that they can therefore check off the box next to "educate children" on their list of parental responsibilities. Parental involvement is needed in some ways even more when the children are sent to Christian schools. Just because your teacher or professor goes to church doesn't mean they're teaching the truth. Critical thinking skills need to be instilled regardless of where the children get their education. In some ways, public school is easier in that regard because the differences are starker. I was disappointed at the lack of critical thinking in my Christian school--when our history teacher told us that he thought Jesus would return before 2005 everyone sucked it up like a sponge. I would say the same thing to anyone who would send their kids to Wheaton College, where I am now.

I think R Street above hit the nail on the head: for many of the younger Reformed movements the goal "is to produce and elevate the role of pastor as understood in Baptist polity." I think this could be expanded to say that the goals of many of these movements (A29, SGM, etc.) are centered on the training of pastors and the growth/planting of churches.

Church planting and training pastors are not bad things (quite the opposite!), but I have noticed a totalizing impulse in some of these movements where church life and pastoral ministry is so central that other important callings fall by the wayside. Like another commenter said, discipleship does not begin and end with spiritual disciplines or participation in church-sponsored small groups: both students and teachers are called to faithful discipleship and excellence in academics during the school week and not just on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights.

Hopefully not too tangential to this: A remedy for this might be the expansion of the office of elder beyond full-time paid staff of the church. Having grown up in a PCA church, it was very formative for me to have a high school history teacher (at a large Christian school) who was also my track coach, summer boss, AND an elder at my church. The same guy who taught Sunday School classes on Reformed soteriology was also the one who taught me AP US History from a distinctly Christian (yet very rigorous) perspective.

If the only elders are paid staff who spend most of their waking hours at the church, there will very likely be a single-minded focus on the formal activities of the church. If, however, elders are drawn from a wide array of callings--including Christian school teachers--a balance may begin to return and the importance of Jesus' lordship over the realm of education might become more emphasized than it currently is.

Some more Econ on this:
Through the 80s and 90s the Christian school system was dominated by a few major players.
Bob Jones published the ubiquitous Abeka curriculum. This curriculum was so white nationalist dominated, hyper-patriot, overly focused on American history that it left a bad taste in many people's mouths. Similarly, schools like Pat Robertson's Regent and Jerry Falwall's Liberty built farm school networks of Christian high schools which in turn supported lower grade schools. This sort of vertical integration led to reduced cost networks, assuring matriculation through the network. All this is good, except for the often narrow perspective represented by the top schools.
Also, these networks crowded out the ability for other networks to form. There was some monopolistic control of the system. Suppose an independent Christian school chose to not use Abeka for history, switching to Calvert, for example, and Saxon for Math. How good would the service from the local rep be on the literature and science curriculum from the local Abeka guy? (Was it me or did these guys all remind you of used car salesmen? To be fair, I once taught out of Abek's biology text for high school, and found its approach refreshing and even redemptive as someone raised on scientistic evolutionary approaches.)
One can hope that the decreased cost of publishing will open these networks to competition, which always drives excellence, and that video instruction helps bring excellent lessons to many.

My thoughts:
1. They might be stressing the fact that it is the family's and the church's job to form children spiritually and morally.
2. They might understand this as part of being missional. If we stay in the "bubble", we might not get a chance to engage missionally with others.
3. Lack of schools that address these concerns for kids?

Now, particularly, my parents refused to give in to our church back in the day forcing us to go to their Christian school. Here lies the issue..."christian education" in Guatemala is also tied to big celebrity pastor owned institutions that sell that rather than a good education in all fields...it is also a great business.

I for one am glad to have attended a secular private school. There are no Christian schools in Guatemala where I would send my girls to. I stick with my alma matter, the American School of Guatemala ( www.cag.edu.gt ).

I did, however, attend a Christian school for my graduate degree, Regent University (I got my MBA there) and am grateful for that opportunity.

Having read Mr. Smith's book, "Desiring the Kingdom", I think it simply boils down to the fact that, unfortunately, examples of Christian education that rise to the higher bar he sets are few and far between. His vision of what Christian education could (should) be is beautiful, but sadly it's largely unrealized. Whether the heritage of private schools across the south established for racial reasons or fundamentalist schools established in rural areas to achieve separation, schools have had mixed success in living out true Christian education.

That being the case, and looking at it from my own family's perspective, money becomes an issue. Is shelling out a large sum for education that even from a Christian worldview may not be any better, and could be worse, worth it? As you've noted elsewhere, the failure of youth ministry in our country has had ramifications, and I think if we looked at private 'Christian' schools we would see similarly poor results.

Realizing this, I think many of today's young parents rightly recognize that the public school route can be appropriate (and has its own positives) in the absence of a good alternative.

I'm torn on this issue. On one hand, as a teacher, I view the public schools as redeemable and therefore applaud efforts by Christian families to invest in their local schools by enrolling their children. On the other hand, many Christian parents, as others have stated, regrettably view the public schools as primarily a missions ground. The main job of a student is to get an education, not to evangelize their school. I'm not saying a student can't be salty, but, as Dr. James Davison Hunter points out in his excellent book, "To Change the World", evangelicals often only find value in their career or education as a means for evangelism. We've stopped working and learning for the sake of working and learning, and therefore diminish our influence and excellence in the ranks of academia, the arts, media, law, business, and other areas of employment.

I do think lack of funding plays a role in the scarcity of Christian schools. We can't pay teachers 20-30% less of what they'd make at a public school and expect to attract quality educators.

Great discussion. I have enjoyed reading people's responses. I wonder if we can start providing framework to the discussion. Just shooting from the hip, it seems that the discussion, at a 30,000 foot level, is informed by ecclesiological and missiological categories/paradigms/assumptions.

At the 10,000 level is the preferencial ideals overflowing from the 30,000 foot paradigms. However, the ground level, what actually gets played out, are the assessments of one's own and/or others' experiences with various education models AND the practical/financial/logistical feasibility for one's family.

Any thoughts to my improvised assessment? I could be off the mark and open to hearing from others.

This discussion is very interesting to me. Moreover, I am interested in the future challenges and opportunities that we must begin thinking about due to the cusp of the unsustainability of current educational models (of all kinds IMO).

Dr. Bradley,

I don't know if I have much to add to the overall conversation on New Calvinists not valuing Christian education, but I can speak to my particular context in a small southern city in Tennessee. I am a graduate of a Christian university and am also a "New Calvinist". For me, and many of those within my church, Christian education in our city is synonymous with middle and upperclass white privilege. To give you a concise history on this, in 1964 after the passing of the Civil Rights Act and subsequent legislation integrating schools, 14 private Christian schools were started. 11 of those schools are open to this day. So for me, in my context, Christian education is synonymous with private school which is synonymous with white privilege/racism/indifference. I say that because it is still an extremely racially segregated city at present. Now of course these Christian schools are not "racist" schools by any means, but they continue to perpetuate the social division and racial segregation that gave birth to them in the first place. I apologize if this is off topic, but it is the first thing that came to mind after reading your questions.

Nathaniel Snow - I don't think Bob Jones produces Abeka stuff - I believe it's Pensacola Christian College (I stand to be corrected).
Parents are responsible for educating their children to have christian worldview in the midst of pagan world. It is a mistake to think that just because our children are in Christian schools they are necessarily going to embrace biblical values/views. Most perhaps unintentional perhaps, passed the buck to the school to take on parental roles. Another factor is parents' own values play a major part too. Both schools and academia must complement each other. Most christians I've known who have gone through christian education have no idea of interacting with non-christians.
I believe besides parents, the colleges/schools/seminaries really need to produce teachers of different levels with not just the academic skills but also really christian values. Because only an impacted heart can impact another heart.

Dr. Bradley,

I can only go by what I see. I live in Dallas,TX. The "belt buckle of the bible belt". I am also a member of an Acts 29 church that happens to house the Acts 29 headquarters now and am part of the new calvinism movement. I would say that there is not a rejection of Christian education from where I see things. I am graduating next month from Redeemer Theological Seminary here in Dallas and about 30% of the student body comes from this Acts 29 church. The majority of the pastoral staff has seminary degrees and they promote our seminary often. I think what happened early on in these movements like Acts 29 is that there was such a rejection to what was considered "traditional" that the "baby got thrown out with the bath water". I think now there is a shift to go back to what the church has historically been about. For example the church I belong to has celebrated Advent and observed lent this year. Also seeing the benefits of Christian education but not having the same mindset toward it as in the past. I think there is more of a push to see it integrated with the local church.

If you're from one of the new Calvinist networks and you automatically translate "Christian education" as "seminary" you might be proving Andrew Canavan and R Street's point.

From what I've seen in why there has been a rejection is because Christian schools and Home school are perceived as sheltering our children. By putting them in public schools we the idea is we train them as missionaries, we socialize them into world and have them be a light. But I disagree because we end up having them indoctrinated with the world without having truly given them a mature biblical world view to work with. You dont train soldiers by putting them in a war zone they go through training before they step on the battlefield. Education is part of discipleship as Job mentioned, we to train our children with mature biblical world views before can send them out as missionaries

I'm an elder in an A29 church. In response to some of the previous comments: I for one see a number of leaders and churches in my circle moving beyond a strictly soteriological Reformed theology. These people are embracing Kuyper, a healthy view of vocation, and a desire for the church to foster a taste of the Kingdom of God on earth.

When it comes to K-12 and college education, however, I can speak from my own experience: everything which you say Christian education is not, I have seen in practice. Those of us with some fundamentalism in our background - which describes many in the 'YRR' movements - have seen a 'Christian education' which is a reactionary attempt to shelter children from the alleged evils of evolutionary theory and sex ed and produce as many commitments to 'full time Christian service' as possible. It's legalistic, almost willfully ignorant, and dangerous or deadly to the faith of many. It further ghettoizes the Christian community. Until I (quite recently) became familiar with a local Christian school that doesn't fit that bill, I was not even slightly interested in Christian school for my children. But seeing a Christian school actually that educates well has started a shift in my thinking.

You point out that the type of Christian school I observed growing up is a minority subculture historically. It was the dominant Christian school culture where I grew up. (Catholic schools, of course, where the prime exception. But the Catholic schools where I grew up were essentially just private secular schools by the 90s.) Of course, most of the Christian schools in my area had their roots in the Kanawha County Textbook Controversy, so my experience may be unique... but I'd bet it's more common than you realize. And sending my kids to public school while remaining involved in their education always seemed like a much healthier option.

Anthony, Thank you for this article. It resonated with me on a couple different levels. First, being a parent for 16 years at PMCA and committing to Christian Education spiritually, intellectually, financially, etc. and then additionally working as a Teacher Aide in the Kindergarten classroom for the past 8 years. You said of Christian schools that "they are laboratories to form children who see that our broken world is full of widows, orphans, and strangers we are called to love and welcome. I would agree with that and add that in my position at PMCA, I have the amazing opportunity to speak into the lives of these children and help them to not only "see" the brokenness of this world but also respond to this brokenness with love. I have recess duty 3 times a day and as we live our lives together the children share their hearts, if you are open to listen. Just yesterday I had to correct two boys who were wrestling with each other and we had the opportunity to speak for a couple of minutes. I asked them why they had been wrestling and they then proceeded to tell me how they have been bullied for the last couple of years at a summer camp and were trying to prepare themselves for when they would encounter the bully this summer. I asked them if this was the way that we should handle a situation, specifically if this was how Christ would want us to respond. They shared how all of their past responses had not helped the situation and so in the few minutes we had, I told them that there must be a better solution and that we would need to pray for this child and about the situation. I have "golden moments", such as these, from time to time on the playground. The children are not only going to face the brokenness of this world - they are currently facing their own brokenness and that of others; trying to deal with and make sense out of it in their own little worlds. Christian schools are not a bubble - they truly are a laboratory and I, along with all of the teachers, staff and administrators, have the awesome privilege of guiding, directing and praying for these covenant children so that they are equipped to respond in love to a world that needs Christ.

I'm glad for that.

Thanks all for the correction on BJUP and Abeka. Not sure how those got conflated in my mind, maybe the same used car salesman? Today's options are encouraging. (I really like Rod & Staff)

The school I taught at purchased a facility which had formerly been a white-flight school in Durham, NC. Our school was the inverse, a missIon school charging zero tuition to low income inner city kids and providing housing, basically a refuge from troubled home lives.

I am very excited by Anthony's vision for more missional schools. (Que buzzword groan)
There are some crucial obstacles. But first, there is the attitude toward child-rearing that needs to be discussed. Many see their children as something that needs primarily to be protected and defended, but scripture describes our children as arrows which we are to be preparing for launch. If our reasons for establishing Christian schools are basically about shelter, they fail. If they are about making sure arrows, they will have more success. The test will be how many outsiders are invited in? Where is the school located? How well does the curriculum discuss broad perspectives while concentrating on truth.

One of the biggest problems we had was active participation from the local black churches. I wonder if the fact that our leadership was primarily white had anything to do with that, just that we did not know how to cooperate. I will say that Summit Church in Durham has been one of the most supportive groups, and that JD Greer is well known within the YRR circle. We also received volunteers from SEBTS in Wake Forest, and also volunteers from Duke Divinity. PCA Church of the Good Shepherd was also involved. But we had very little help from black churches, which may have been our own fault.

Thanks for the article, Anthony. As a student who was homeschooled K-12, I have spent my college career at a Big 10 school thinking through what education should like for the Christian.

What bothers me most in some of the "New Calvinist" circles is the lack of scholarship in disciplines other than theology and a failure to tease out what society should look like. At Purdue, I am blessed to be under the pastoral care of two reformed ministers who have challenged me to critically think through my field of interest (agricultural communication) from a distinctly Christian view. Furthermore, they value rigorous scholarship, and that has given me the confidence pursue research in agricultural communication.

Perhaps, the root problem with the lack of Christian education is a failure to cast a greater vision for how Christians should live in the world. I am grateful to be in a church where professors and grad students from my university attend. There example of living faithfully to Christ in their respective fields has given me a vision for what it looks like to humbly take charge of creation (Ps. 8).

Finally, I question if it is necessary to establish Christian schools. I ask this honestly and with humility. I concur completely with your statement "Christian schooling takes a village". However, I look at my Christian friends who attended public school, consider my pre-college education as a homeschooler, and reflect on my education at Purdue and believe all these options have offered a solid education where the Lord was acknowledged. In all instances, there was a deliberate choice made to cultivate a rigorous Christian view of the various subjects. At Purdue, I've had an opportunity to sit under the instruction of and learn from brilliant communication and agriculture professors. Although they aren't Christians in may cases, my "village" (my pastors, and Christian grad students and professors) have helped me process what it means to acknowledge the Lord and discern what is true. Moreover, the Christian has a distinct and powerful worldview to offer those in scholarship. Additionally, our faith gives us the chance to approach research in a unique way. The opportunities I have had to let my Christian view of the world permeate my research have not gone unnoticed by faculty in my college. It's not missional in the sense that I view myself as a missionary to Purdue, but it is missional in the sense that my work is an overflow of my belief system.

I apologize for the length and verbose nature of this comment. I appreciate what you wrote and would enjoy continuing this conversation if possible. Thanks again.

I havent read everything, but here is what I am scared of in organized teaching of kids under the name of christ. What you will most often get is a bunch of hippies(men proclaiming half trueths, and men so filled with hypocrasy in action, and so blind to it), men who know not how to fight and live (I am afraid hell is reserved for some of them). They do not understand life or christ, and all the while proclaiming they do; Forget that.

I would rather send my sons to catholic school?(just jabbing, and joking, I dont know anything about them, except they can live in some really good hypocracy in religious thought, and Vince Lombardi was catholic, and appears to be a wise man from some of the quotes I have heard) Hopefully those hypocrites know how to fight and live for life, and I will show my sons christ along the way!

If you really think: Adam didn't administer his own foolishness within a religous organization, A foolishness to be taught and recieved as trueth, A foolishness which spreads like yeast, and a foolishnes which he is blind to and his students recieve all to well and even unknowingly, well then your kids are more than likely set up for Hell's most cunning traps. They might end up dennying some of life, and all of christ himself. All the while proclaiming some religious vomit in an idolatrious carved world in which they have recieved and then shaped and hammered out in their own life.

I wouldn't mind the right setup of people teaching my kids. I just have not found one yet.