NORWICH

The School Board of the Rehoboth Christian School, Norwich, Ontario, Canada needs some teachers for the next school year. Applicants that are interested are required to send their application and resume before March 15th to the president of the Board, Rev. A.M. DenBoer, Box 42, Norwich, Ont., Canada NOJ-1PO or Mr. O. deLeeuw, Box 14, Norwich, Ont., Canada NOJ-1PO. Telephone No. School 519-863-2403.

ARE OUR OWN CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS REALLY NECESSARY?

Part I

The manner of educating young people has been a concern of every civilized society. The expressed need to educate children according to the principles of God’s Word is not new, either, nor are God’s commands and promises to do so. The Lord instructed the children of Israel approximately 3,500 years ago:

“Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.”

-Deuteronomy 11:18-21

Solomon penned the difficult command and yet at the same time beautiful promise of God found in Proverbs 22:6:

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Our early Church Fathers stressed Christian instruction. Augustine wrote two volumes on the subject: one entitled The Teacher (389 A.D.) and the other The First Catechetical Instructor (400 A.D.). In them he stressed:

“God, Thou hast made us for Thyself and restless is our heart until it comes to rest in Thee.” -The Confessions.of Augustine

The Reformers emphasized the necessity of Christian education. Martin Luther wrote:

“The foremost and most general subject of study, both in the higher and the lower schools, should be the Holy Scriptures...”

-Works of Luther 2:151-2

John Knox taught;

“Every master of a household must be commanded either to instruct or else cause to be instructed, his children, servants and family, in the principles of the Christian reli-gion;”

-Early Protestant Educators

John Calvin stressed:

“To understand the Scriptures is man’s ultimate objective. Such things as philosophy, science, and eloquence had as their ultimate purpose man’s deepest comprehension of what God says through the Scriptures.

-Calvin’s Institutes 1:401

Our doctrinal standards, liturgy, and more recent forefathers strongly taught the necessity of sound Christian education. The Heidelberg Catechism in Lord’s Day XXXVIII, Question and Answer 103, states:

“Q. 103. What doth God require in the fourth Commandment?

A. First, that the ministry of the gospel and the schools be maintained;”

In preaching on this Lord’s Day, Rev. Kersten explains that here:

“The elementary schools are also included. We greatly need our own elementary schools, because there the word of God is taught. How willing we should be to sacrifice in order that our children may be taught the pure doctrine. How willing we should be, not only to support the ministry of the gospel with material gifts, but also entrust our children to the official ministry which the Lord Himself ordained.” -The Heidelberg Catechism: Kersten, 2:170 Our Church Order states, in Article 21:

“The Consistories shall see to it that there are good Christian Schools in which the parents have their children instructed according to the demands of the covenant.”

In explaining this article of the Church Order, Rev.

DeGier writes:

“Which task now rests upon Consistories? They must insist upon having good Christian Schools even though they are sponsored by independent organizations, and they must urge parents on the basis of their baptismal vow to provide for a Christian education and a good Christian School.”

-Explanation of the Church Order, p. 35-6 Our form for Church visitation, in section 6, entitled Education asks the following four questions to Consistories:

“ 1) Is there a Christian School in this area?

2) Do all the children of the congregation attend the Christian school?

3) How does the consistorydealwith parents who send their children to the public school?

4) Is there a tie between the Church and the Christian School? Does the consistory supervise the educational process?”

-Rules for Church Visitation:

Neth. Ref. Cong. - p. 5

Our Baptism form asks of all parents who are presenting their children for baptism in Question 3: “Whether you promise and intend to see these children, when come to the years of discretion (whereof you are either parent or witness), instructed and brought up in the aforesaid doctrine, or help or cause them to be instructed therein, to the utmost of your power?”

The Lord has blessed us as a denomination in the United States and Canada that at present seven congregations are operating their own Christian Schools, and others are actively planning for it. We may be thankful that most members and parents realize the necessity of Christian education and do support this cause wholeheartedly. Yet, despite the commands of God in His Word; the practice and teaching of our early Church Fathers and Reformers; the stress of our Doctrinal Standards and Liturgy; and the instructions of our more recent forefathers and present-day ministers, there are also members who do not support their own Christian school whole-heartedly and even, in some congregations, there are parents who do not send children to their own church school. Why is this? What are the reasons given, for which some do not support their own school? The answers given to these questions are generally one or a combination of the following:

1) “The public schools in this locality are not that bad.”

2) “The quality of education is higher in the public schools here, or: In the higher grades more courses are offered in the public school, or: The teachers are more qualified in the public school here.”

3) “We should not want our children to be so protected. They have to learn to meet the world sometime.’’

4) “Our children are not any better. They should not be separated from other children.”

5) “There is a danger with learning all that Biblical head knowledge.’’

6) “I can’t afford it. It would cost me about $2,000.00 a year to send my children.”

7) “I am satisfied with another Christian school in town.”

Let us strive, together, to seriously examine these seven answers of “No” to the question posed in the title of this article “Are our own Christian Schools really necessary?”; for this question is a most urgent question.

(to be continued)

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