SPIRITUALITY
Committee chair: Ken Crawford
Members: Gary Brown, George Gainer, Dale Milam, Dan Serns, Keith Waters, Dan Wister
We have assumed too much for too long. We have made the assumption that the transmission of spiritual information and growth is a natural process that is caught and not taught. Therefore, we will be intentional about an integrated process of spiritual development for our children to include the following recommendations:
- Visual Statement of the School—An annual visual statement of spiritual intent, voted and updated by the board and on the agenda at each board meeting.
- Spiritual Acountability of Board Members and Leadership—Provide a means where boards can report on a regular basis how spirituality is being woven into the framework of the school.
- Incorporate Adventist World View—Include this in all curricula and invite discussion with all NPUC area senior academy, junior academy and elementary school principals to determine where and how spirituality is intentionally taught.
- Yearly Teacher Evaluation on Spiritual Accountability—Develop spiritual benchmarks for teachers. Enable each teacher to achieve a personal spiritual retreat of two or three days alone with God.
-
Role of Teacher—Encourage and provide options for an intentional Bible reading program for teachers which emphasizes spirituality.
-
Student Conversion—Design ways to help every student to have a conversion experience. Facilitate a personal spiritual growth tracking plan (i.e. Grace, Growth, Group, Gifts, Give it Away).
-
Spiritual Formation Curricula—Develop a graduated curriculum on spiritual formation and growth to be used in grades 1 through 12, including special integrated guidance for parents and pastors.
- Test Sites—Develop specific test sites throughout the NPUC to test an approach which integrates family, church and school in the process of spiritual formation in children.
July 8th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
Some of the bullet points in this seem particularly difficult to implement without somehow finding a way to truly measure a teacher’s internal spirituality. The phrase “report how spirituality is woven into the school” is great, but some of the things under “establishing spiritual benchmarks…” seem very problematic. Different personalities, lifestyles, and abilities will manifest their spiritual “actions” very differently and judging or scoring these actions seems risky at best.
July 17th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
If the school is highly committed to being a SDA school and not lowering standards for non-SDA’s who attend, that would be a huge step. I see in our schools a lowering of spiritual standards and beliefs….it is sad. If we would simply raise the standards, the teachers who are interested in a school like that would apply…….
July 17th, 2007 at 8:31 pm
It seems to me that the spiritual atmosphere of our schools is lowered in proportion to the lowering of standards. Fortunately there are some children who come from homes where standards have been held high and emphasis has been placed on a relationship with Christ and those students seem to be able to maintain their spiritual connection with God. But for the children who aren’t blessed with that kind of home life, it is up to the school to help them develop a relationship with Christ.
My suggestion for improving the spiritual atmosphere at our schools would be to get back to the Spirit of Prophecy’s directions and keep our standards high. We want our youth saved at any cost!
July 18th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
I have to take issue with “Incorporate Adventist Worldview” instead of “Incorporate Christian Worldview”. I think to some members of our church, in terms of practice if not in belief, these are mutually exclusive. It is a detriment to students in our SDA schools to emphasize the theological distinctions that make us unique instead of emphasizing the moral and spiritual dimensions of Christian belief that we share with many others. Case in point: my nephew, who does not come from an Adventist household, attended Walla Walla College a little over a year ago as a freshman and a member of the basketball team. To alot of his classmates and teammates, this tall gawky kid with the big blonde hair didn’t “look” like an Adventist and given their “Adventist Worldview” learned from academy, he was someone to avoid. So they did. He received text messages from some teammates that he wasn’t wanted on the team. He had roommates request other room assignments. They went out of their way to avoid my nephew- a Christian with a gentle soul who would go out of his way to help anyone. So he dropped out. One wonders how he might have fared if he had been around academy graduates who learned more of a Christian Worldview instead of an Adventist one. And this committee recommendation promises more of the same. And it upsets me alot.
July 27th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
As a member of this committee, I believe it is important that an Adventist Worldview is part of our education process. Without such there is little reason for the existence of our schools. Why not simply attend a non-denominational Christian school. Adventist schools were established with an apocalyptic vision and must refresh that vision in order to justify our existence.
The unfortunate experience of some community students attending Adventist schools should not prove fodder for the indictment of an Adventist Worldview.
I am aware of a number of community (non-Adventist) students that have had very positive experiences at Adventist schools. In fact, just yesterday our school accepted a girl largely based upon what she had heard from a community student that graduated from our school just this past June.
My experience is that “standards” are rarely lowered because of non-Adventist students. If there is a lowering, it is often due to the wide range of lifestyles within our own church.
I graduated from Adventist schools and currently teach in an Adventist school. The truth is that our schools today are generally stronger than ever in terms of academics, treatment of students, and spiritual committment of our students and staff. If there is an issue - it is how to keep highly spiritually committed students also committed to the mission of the church.
It is also true that much like politics, all education is local. The failure of an individual school should not be generalized to the population at large.
Blessings!
July 30th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
I take strong exception to the comments of Mr. Brown, part of which were a response to my original posting.
First, Mr. Brown states, “Adventist Schools were established with an apocalyptic vision and must refresh that vision in order to justify our existence.” This “vision” is a bit nearsighted in my view. In no way do I denigrate Adventist theological principles related to the Second Coming, Three Angels message, the prophecies messages of Daniel & Revelation, etc. But the primary message of our religious education should be the redemptive love of Christ and His sacrifice for all of us. This is the farsighted message that justifies the existence of all our Church missions, including our educational institutions.
Second, I find Mr. Brown’s use of the term “community students” distressing. He makes a clear distinction between Adventist and non-Adventist students. Despite being a member of the committee and an Adventist educator, nowhere in Mr. Brown’s comments are an inclusive message or sense of mission toward these “community students”. Compare that to the definite sense of mission conveyed by Orcas Christian School, for example, the twelve grade Adventist school in the San Juan islands in Washington, which draws heavily from “community students” and reflects tremendously on Adventists in the local community because of their embrace of a true Christian mission.
Finally, Mr. Brown states, “If there is an issue- it is how to keep highly spiritually committed students also committed to the mission of the church.” I don’t think that an issue at all. If students are committed to Christ and his redemptive love, they are wholeheartedly committed to the mission of the Adventist Church!!