The case for a Christian School
Paul Brennan
I am a father of four children, I am a Minister and I sit on the Board of Melville-Knox Glasgow. I have not always been an advocate for Christian Schools and if you had asked me several years ago about what I thought, I might have looked at you a little strangely…I now think a little differently!
This blog post will trace that journey from indifference, to suspicion, to interest, to enthusiast and advocate.
Three simple questions: where was I? Where am I now? How did I get there?
Where was I?
If you had bumped into me four or five years ago when my eldest was starting school, what would you have encountered? I think you could say that I was hoping for the best.
The education I received 30 years ago was very much a different world. I went to a Church of England school and the general worldview and ethics were very much aligned with that of my family.
That was not the world my children were entering.
They were entering an explicitly secular education environment in a Glasgow Primary School.
I was getting increasingly uneasy about what was being taught in schools, especially in the area of Sex, Health and Relationships. Things certainly ramped up with revised curriculum and resources around 2022.
If you’ve not yet looked, I recommend that you look at the RSHP Website. Our school, and it’s not the same for all schools, but our school was teaching directly from that resource.
Not only that but COVID and the response to it from the government massively hampered the education my children received. Months and months of no schooling and we’re still dealing with the consequences of that.
As well as the missed school we also, through that time, got a much better look at the day to day education they were receiving at school. We were not overly impressed and were beginning to have significant concerns in terms of all round quality of education alongside concerns about the progressive agenda that was being pushed increasingly hard.
Where am I now?
Fast forward several years and my children are now attending Melville-Knox Glasgow at the second campus of the school which is hosted by the church where I serve as one of the ministers. Melville-Knox Glasgow started 10 years ago and now has a pupil roll of just under 100, from P1 to S3. Plans are in place for delivery of S4 this coming academic year.
We could not be more delighted with the education our children are now receiving. It is an education built on a solid biblical worldview. The Bible is taught. They learn memory verses and catechism. The teachers share that same worldview.
The broader curriculum is taught well and we’ve seen academic progress in each of our children. They are benefiting from a more rigorous academic environment, smaller class sizes and better discipline. Socially they are thriving too. Given the current size of the school the children all know each other and will all play together at break times. The school has a lovely atmosphere and the children seem very happy.
How did I get there?
The realisation that education is not neutral
There is no such thing as neutrality in education. Every fact, every truth is understood in the light of a certain world view. This means that history, art, music, mathematics, etc.. will be taught from the basis of a whole set of assumptions and presuppositions. Some of those assumptions will be stated and out in the open, but many of those are unstated.
The question we need to be able to answer is: what is the worldview from which our children are being educated?
The state education system for all it benefits is not a neutral environment.
The question is not whether a morality will be imposed in the education provided by schools, but which morality will be imposed.
The question is not whether a worldview will be imposed in the education provided by schools, but which worldview will be imposed.
The responsibility to protect my children
As I consider the various responsibilities that I have as a parent chief among them is the protection of my children. Protection in every regard.
Protection against the elements. Therefore I provide a roof over their heads and a warm bed to sleep in.
Protection from accidents. Therefore I instruct them in basics about not touching fire and how to cross the road.
Protection from unknown strangers. Therefore I ensure our home is secure and that they know not to get in a car with and unknown stranger.
Protection from harmful ideas. Therefore I keep an eye on the content they consume: television, movies, books, the friends they hang out with and the education they receive.
Given that education is not neutral I do need to consider, carefully, what worldview, what ideas and concepts and “truths” my children are being taught in schools. Do I need to protect them from those ideas?
Children spend a lot of time in school. Assuming a six hour school day that works out at roughly 1140 hours per year. That is a lot of time and it’s their best time.
I really do want to ensure that they are getting good input during that time and protecting them from harmful ideologies.
This factor does outweigh the argument, often articulated, about the need to be a witness in the community and to be “in the world”. People will say that to remove our children from the school will damage our witness to others and in the community.
A couple of quick things on that: involvement in the school is not the only means of witnessing to the community. If witnessing is one of the big concerns, I would gently ask: “how’s that going?” How many fruitful conversations have resulted from standing at the school gate and how many people have come to church through that witness and professed faith in Jesus?
The reality that all truth is God’s truth
God is the source of all things. He is the source of life, creation, you and I. He is also the source of truth. All truth is God’s truth.
The pluralistic lie is that there are multiple valid truths.
A true education is an education founded on the truth of the existence of God. Truth is one of the simplest, most precious gifts without which we would not be able to handle reality or negotiate life. Truth is a vital requirement not only for individuals to live a good life but for free societies that would remain free.
When our schools can no longer distinguish between men and women, boys and girls, we clearly have a truth problem.
Not only that, but for an education to be the best it can be, all subjects need to be taught working from the truth about God. Given that God is the source of all things: the source of all truth and all knowledge and all reality, then an education which places God at the centre is vital.
A school that places God at the centre of everything, of every subject, of every aspect of the curriculum, is, I would argue, essential.
The reminder that the education of children is my responsibility
We need to think carefully about the delegation of education of our children. In Scottish law it is very clear: the responsibility for the education of children rests with the parent. They choose to delegate that to the local state school, in most cases.
The responsibility for the education of your children rest with you. Not the local authority. It’s you.
That was a bit of a wake up call for me. Do I, unthinkingly, send my kids to the local school because that’s what everyone else is doing? No! It’s my responsibility and I get to decide.
The requirement to raise the future generation of leaders for the church
The church of the future needs leaders and it is part of our responsibility to raise them. Yes, that lands with parents and with churches, but also, I would argue with schools.
As the wider cultural, political landscape gets harder and more hardened towards Christians and Christianity, we need to equip the younger generations for that. The church needs leaders. Leaders who are well educated and well taught. Leaders who can think and think Christianly about all sorts of issues.
The reassurance that Christian Schools are not unusual
Historically– not unusual. The Scottish were world leaders in education centuries ago and they were world educational leader because of Christianity and Christian leaders.
John Knox, a key figure in the Reformation, was a key advocate for thorough education of children.
He was a keen advocate for education because he was a Reformed Christian leader. Education was primarily a means to spiritual ends so that people could learn to read the Bible. All across the west is has been churches that have been the educational pioneers historically. A Christian education is not unusual, historically.
Geographically- not unusual either. Speaking with folk from England, Australia, America and the Netherlands the idea of a Christian school is not unusual at all.
In fact all those I’ve spoken to in recent months say that all sorts of people (Christian and non-Christian) are banging down the doors to get their children into the Christian schools because they are excellent school. Excellent in terms of character formation. Excellent in terms of behaviour. Excellent in terms of education and academics. Scotland is the anomaly, actually, when it comes to Christian Schools.
Spiritually essential
As parents we, of course, want to provide our children with the best of everything we can possibly provide. Education comes high on that list, but higher still and at the very top must be our spiritual priorities for them. Education is not something to delegate away without careful thought!
We must ask the question: to what end are we educating our children? It is not education for educations sake.
Their education must serve the greater goals of their lives which is, to borrow the phrase from the Westminster Larger Catechism, to glorify God and enjoy him forever.
If that is the goal then we need to think carefully about who we delegate the education of our children to.
To have the opportunity of an education steeped in a Christian worldview seems to me, at least to be a very good option.
That is why my wife and I decided to send our children to Melville-Knox. A Christian school is a wonderful opportunity to root the rising generation in the fertile soil of Christian education where God’s word permeates everything that happens.
