SBC Leader Urges Churches to Discuss 'Exit Strategy' From Public Schools

[Rufus_1611]

SBC Leader Urges Churches to Discuss 'Exit Strategy' From Public Schools

A Southern Baptist seminary president who two years ago called for an evangelical Christian "exit strategy" from public schools now chides churches for neglecting to help parents make responsible decisions about their children's education.

On Friday's "Albert Mohler Radio Program," the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary lamented that while millions of Christian parents are making decisions to remove their children from public schools and either enroll them in Christian schools or teach them at home, the issue isn't on the radar screen in many churches.

Mohler said he chose the topic in part because of a conversation he had with a mother who told him the education of their children is one of the biggest decisions her family faces, and yet no one in their church talks about it. Many of their friends use alternatives to public education, the woman told Mohler, "but there's no structured way of having the conversation."

...

While many parents say they eventually decide to take their kids out of the public schools in older grades because they fear for their safety, Mohler said he is as concerned with curriculum designed to secularize children and indoctrinate them into a post-Christian society.

"The problem is not just the kind of drugs and stuff that goes on in some of these schools," he said. "It's the curriculum. It's what's being taught. What do they want these children to become? That's the frightening thing in an awful lot of these settings."

...

Mohler is one of the Southern Baptist Convention's highest-profile supporters of Exodus Mandate, a 10-year-old movement to promote schooling of children in Christian rather than public-school environments. Most other SBC leaders, while personally supportive of homeschooling and Christian schools, are reluctant to speak out on the issue for fear of offending the many public educators who attend Southern Baptist churches.

...

Are you smarter than a homeschooler?

For a decade now, the composite score on the ACT college entrance exam for homeschooled students has been higher than the national average – and the 2006 statistics, the most recent available, show the trend continuing, according to a report.

The Home School Legal Defense Association said the 2006 scores for homeschooled students averaged 22.4, compared to the national average composite of 21.1.

A year earlier, the average for homeschoolers was 22.5, compared to the national average that includes public and private school students of 20.9.

"Now homeschoolers have an unbroken record for the last 10 years – since 1996, when testing officials started tracking them – of scoring higher on the ACT than the national average," the world's premiere home-school advocacy group said.

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[tinytim]

I voted somewhat against...
Not because I am against Christian Schools... (I would love for my children to go to one if there was one close by, and I could afford it)

But because the decision should be made by the family under the direction of God... not a denomination.

I guess I don't like people telling me what I must do...

 

[ShotGunWillie]

Our son is not attending public school any longer. We considered home schooling before his kindergarten year, but we decided against it, how bad could that grade possibly be.

This year we decided to go with a homeschool/private school set up, geared more towards homeschool. To me it is the responsiblity to provide your children with the foundation of all things, including but not limited to education. This school gives us, as parents, support and accountability that we are teaching properly and we are making progress with laying the foundation and setting the stones.

This school is expensive, but I truly feel this is what God is having us to do, and I know the Lord will provide.

 

[preachinjesus]

I'm completely against this. This is the kind of "bomb-shelter" mentality that has robbed the Church of her saltiness and light in our world.

Completely insane imho. We to be completely in the culture and tranforming it through our interactions. Crouching into a defensive posture never accomplishes the Kingdom of God.

 

[Bluefalcon]

I agree that the curriculum is often overlooked in favor of finding safe or high-scoring public schools. Children attend school 8 hours a day for 9 or 10 months, and that was fine when somewhat of a Judeo-Christian morality ruled the day. But those Little House on the Prairie days are gone and will never return. Francis Schaeffer in The Great Evangelical Disaster predicted this day long ago. Once a society's moral fabric starts going down, history has shown that it never recovers. Freedom once enjoyed due to the moral character of a nation has to be taken away once the morality of a people has decayed. The only hope for our nation is to train up our kids in the way of the Lord and win the lost and teach them to do the same. If we lose our kids, the nation is damned. I heard a sermon last Sunday that claimed that in SBC churches, 87% of the kids in SBC youth group will not attend church by the second year of college. This statistic shows the handwriting on the wall. It's over, man.

 

[J. Jump]

I think a lot of it depends on where you live. I know here in Texas homeschool is HUGE. However I also think that here in Texas we still have some fine quality teachers in lots of areas. So at least for me geographics would play a part.

 

[tinytim]

Good point J.Jump.

 

[dan e.]

Yeah, I've always thought that some are a little too jumpy about an "exit strategy". Too jumpy, meaning they are too quick to spread the word at getting their kids out of public schools. This should definitely not be something that a denomination is telling parents to do. It is up to the parents. Mohler has no reason to be upset that the churches aren't echoing what he's been saying for years. Its his opinion...he's been saying for 10 years now, and people have heard him. Why do churches need to try and shout as loud as he's shouting?

Why not meet with adults in the church that are teachers, and talk about how they can be incredible leaders in the public schools? Secular curriculum will always be a problem, but I had many Christian teachers who didn't avoid it, but challenged the students on what to think about the content. I think teachers can be smart about how they teach. They aren't robots that spew out secular info. I had some great discussions in high school over textbook material.

 

[SBCPreacher]

I heard a sermon last Sunday that claimed that in SBC churches, 87% of the kids in SBC youth group will not attend church by the second year of college. This statistic shows the handwriting on the wall. It's over, man.

The history of the church that I pastor is that when kids graduate High School, the vast majority (90% or more) also drop out of church. I've got a lot of ideas why this is true, but the answer is not in the schools - public, private Christian, or homeschool (and we've done all three). The answer is the home.

Just sending your kids to a Christian school isn't the answer. I teach a couple of Bible classes in our local Christian school, and some of these kids are just as pagan as the public school kids I know. A strong Christian home will do more for kids than any school setting.

 

[Bartimaeus]

Exit strategy

I'm completely against this. This is the kind of "bomb-shelter" mentality that has robbed the Church of her saltiness and light in our world.

Completely insane imho. We to be completely in the culture and tranforming it through our interactions. Crouching into a defensive posture never accomplishes the Kingdom of God.

I would like to say that I understand what you are saying and that the gov't schools need to hear the gospel. I would like to know though if you have had children go through the gov't schools. Secondly, every command to go and preach and take the message of the gospel to the lost world, the command is given to adults not children. You may think I am splitting hairs and I know a high school student can have a tremendous influence in their circle of friends.

The first school shooting I believe was in Jonesboro, Arkansas and was elementary school students. The last shooting I believe here closeby in TN was a young man who I believe was about 14 and he shot his bus driver in the back of the head on the bus.

How do you send your elementary school child into a mess like that (expecting them to be light in a dark world), I believe it is sending the lamb into the lion's den.

Bartimaeus

 

[Bartimaeus]

Exit Strategy

The history of the church that I pastor is that when kids graduate High School, the vast majority (90% or more) also drop out of church. I've got a lot of ideas why this is true, but the answer is not in the schools - public, private Christian, or homeschool (and we've done all three). The answer is the home.

Just sending your kids to a Christian school isn't the answer. I teach a couple of Bible classes in our local Christian school, and some of these kids are just as pagan as the public school kids I know. A strong Christian home will do more for kids than any school setting.

You are exactly right. A person can live in an area where the system is garded and great as far as the people in it and the curiculum you use and then have a mass of unruly, untrained pagan children mess up the whole thing. It is in the home that the basic problem rests.

Bartimaeus

 

[dcorbett]

My grand daughters both started in our church school, which uses the ABEKA system. They both learned at an amazing rate, plus they prayed to start school each day, had chapel on Tuesday, wore modest uniforms, and simply DID MUCH BETTER in the Christian environment. No evolutionary talk, no anti-Bible rhetoric.

My daughter and her husband had to pull them out of the school due to financial reasons last year when he was forced to resign from his church job by the renegade deacon (that is no longer at our church) and the girls started slipping back wards, both academically and socially.

We are praying that God will provide the means to put them back in the Christian school in a few weeks. They were so far ahead academically, and now they are behind the Christian school.

I am 100% FOR Christian education. If you are not, then what are you doing in a Baptist church? The Bible says "Be ye SEPARATE" from the world.

Debbie Mc

 

[Joshua Rhodes]

No way. Both of my parents are public school educators, and I was raised from 2nd grade through college in the public schools. The only reason I was in a Baptist school up through 2nd grade was because my mother taught there and got a major discount. I believe the public school system needs Christian teachers, and Christian students. It is simply my opinion, and I don't condemn anyone for homeschooling or Christian schooling their children. But mine will be in public schools unless I hear otherwise from the Lord.

 

[ShagNappy]

They still pray and talk about God in schools around here... shhhhh! And I go to church with a large number of the teachers in various levels of schools around here. The school administrators and teachers are very strict with school security to the point you can't pass gas in the hall without getting busted. The middle school has a uniform policy so no half dressed girls to deal with and no "gang" clothes. They are invovled with several pre-college programs in the middle school and the kids coming out of there are generally smarter than the high school kids graduating.

The high school is a concern because of the huge hispanic gang problems, but they are cracking down on them pretty good, and hopefully in 3 years when my kid hits high school they will have the problems fixed. If not, we move!

On the other hand, there are two Christian schools to choose from. One is $15,000 a year and the kids are often caught with drugs or alcohol, or getting the girls pregnant. The other, it's $6,000 a year and they often expel kids for awful things like wearing blue jeans to the movies with their parents. No kidding. No exageration. No thanks.

I also do my part as a parent and keep my kid informed about the world. If he comes up against some yahoo spouting a buncha atheistic garbage, he is equipped to defend against it.

 

[Rufus_1611]

Just some thoughts to consider from a popular humanist as we discuss this issue...

"Education is thus a most powerful ally of humanism, and every American school is a school of humanism. What can a theistic Sunday school's meeting for an hour once a week and teaching only a fraction of the children do to stem the tide of the five-day program of humanistic teaching?" - Charles F. Potter, "Humanism: A New Religion," 1930​

 

[ccrobinson]

I am 100% FOR Christian education. If you are not, then what are you doing in a Baptist church?

Being 100% FOR Christian education is not a Baptist distinctive. I was FOR Christian education before we joined a Baptist church. I know people who attend an Assembly of God church that are FOR Christian education.

The Bible says "Be ye SEPARATE" from the world.

It isn't possible for kids to be separate from the world and go to public school? That's news to me. It would also be news to some of the teens at my church.

 

[bobbyd]

My wife and i are both products of the public school system and our oldest child (who is going into the 5th grade) was in public schools until last year.
We pulled both of ours out of the public school in the community we are in for various reasons: 1) their safety; my daughter was getting bullied for the first time ever. 2) a school counselor decided to talk to our son about innapropriate touching after a kid poked him in the backside in the restroom without notifying us or the school principle (our son told us about it) and 3) the district we are in is one of the lowest in the state.

Moving them to the Christian school was one of the best choices we could make. My son is going into the 1st grade reading at the level my daughter read at after 3 years in the public school and getting lost in the shuffle. My daughter's grades and tests scores have also greatly improved due to the smaller class room setting and more one on one attention.

If we hadn't moved to this community last year, we may still be in the public school system...so i think it is totally up to the parents.

 

[rbell]

WELCOME BACK Joshua!

I couldn't vote. I feel one option should have read, "Priesthood of the Believer, baby!"

 

[4boys4joys]

The Foundation

The history of the church that I pastor is that when kids graduate High School, the vast majority (90% or more) also drop out of church. I've got a lot of ideas why this is true, but the answer is not in the schools - public, private Christian, or homeschool (and we've done all three). The answer is the home.

Just sending your kids to a Christian school isn't the answer. I teach a couple of Bible classes in our local Christian school, and some of these kids are just as pagan as the public school kids I know. A strong Christian home will do more for kids than any school setting.

Thank you Preacher for saying this it is so true. I just gave a friend some advice on this subject here it is from another thread so you don't have to search.

Home school is more than just an option it is a life choice. Home schooling means that I am deciding that I am going to the main social and spiritual example in my childs life. For example some ask me about not having them around other kids there age, I say what can a another 7 year old teach my 7 year old. I do not say this in a spirit of bragging because I have not been the perfect testimony to my kids but I wil say that people can tell they are homeschooled based on chracter that some schooled in other arenas may not have.

Most jump into home school and think about what curricula or schedule or if they are capable. I have realized that the first question we should ask is are we willing to be the first and foremost model of my childrens life. And if so can I do this for the Lord. I will be honest we soemtimes forget to include the Lord in school each day, then one child will say wow did we pray for God's help. Yes we had devotion but did we pray for God's help with school.Having an adult as the primary influence can be very beneficial to the child. The only draw back I see is when we draw back from the Lord.

I hope that you will first consider the spiritual responsibility that comes with this. It is a great oppurtunity yet it is one that takes alot of committment. I am not trying to scare you away from home school I am simply trying share something with you that many do not or never realize. The home school becomes the number one influence in the life of her children.
__________________
When deciding how we will school our children we must look at it as a spiritual choice. The school will be the main source of influence outside of the home life we provide.

Should Christian chlidren be in public schools. IMO... most certainly not. I have worked with teens and you should hear some of the things they tell me happen in school. One girl spoke of seeing girls kissing in a hallway. Another of seeing people taking and abusing drugs. And so many cases of young Christian boys seeing parts of a gal that would make a tomato blush. Not to mention all of the wordly things they learn about sexual activity and character.

Are we not supposed to protect our children. No school is perfect but I think that the liklihood of seeing 2 women working something unseemly in a home or Christian school is highly unlikely. And by the way what they saw was in Texas.

They do not to a school to witnessthey go to learn. Do adults spend 8hrs. in a casino to give the gospel.What happened to taking our kids soul winning. If we go for 2 hours a week and we expect them to be an ambassador all day everyday we are asking alot.

Name the benefits of Christain children in public school ? I just can't see any scripture to support it.

 

[dan e.]

I am 100% FOR Christian education. If you are not, then what are you doing in a Baptist church? The Bible says "Be ye SEPARATE" from the world.

Debbie Mc

this is funny. quite a bit off, but funny.

I actually prayed when I went to my public schools. I was also striving to be separate from the world....yet we are always in the world whether you are in public or private schools. What is so sacred about a private school that doesn't make it in the world? Answer: nothing.

Your "what are you doing in a baptist church" comment was rediculous.