Christian School Order & Organization

In my last post I sought to define Christian World Order in the school.  As I reflect more on Christian School Order, I can see how these thoughts are implications from a biblical understanding of how the Kingdom of God impacts education.  More about that later, possibly.  For now, here is Murray one more time: "We must be bold to say that the Christian revelation does not allow us to do anything less than to formulate and work towards a Christian world order in the life that we now live" (Murray, 357).  Amen!

In this post I want to layout the aspects and elements of the school so that we can then consider how Christian Order operates within the school.  Here's a sample list I have used when thinking about Covenant Life School:

School Culture & Community
This culture and community involves the following: vision, goals, beliefs, standards, values, practices, traditions, events, and spirit.  This also involves the relationships between the family, student, and faculty.  One way Christian Order operates in this aspect is to see students love one another sacrificially and learn how to be peacemakers.  What is the most significant action which determines school culture and community?  I think admissions decisions most influence the advancement of Christian Order in this area of the school.  Christian Order operates in the school as Christian families become part of and remain steadfast in the community.

Staffing and Professional Development
This includes a lot of different categories, beginning with hiring and retaining great teachers.  Teachers MUST be lifelong learners and always seek improvement in their craft and NEVER settle for the status-quo.  They should focus on the one thing they can control - their own performance (BTW...teachers need to think of their classroom as a family, as a learning community that is broken and does not function the way God designed.  AND the biggest reason education does not work in the classroom is the TEACHER - they are the biggest problem in the learning community.).  They must learn TOGETHER as a professional learning community. School leadership must MENTOR faculty (it's never about programs but always about people).  Faculty MUST mentor one another.  They should work and play well together.

Curriculum Organization
Curriculum involves course content, instructional & learning methods, and assessment practices.  When Christian Order operates in this area of the school, the fear of God as well as love and worship of God pervasively work.  We must put God at the center of their universe, because He is at the center of the universe.

Student Discipline & Development
This is all about repairing and developing the image of God the student and includes the following aspects of the student growth: spiritual, physical, mental/emotional, relational, character, and leadership.  Increasingly I am thinking that we need to look not only at the current situation spiritually of our students but also the current situation psychologically of our students because of the many societal changes in media and technology. We should also include classroom management processes here as well as communication between school and family. Obviously this overlaps extensively with "Curriculum Organization" since the curriculum is the course or track through which our students develop.

Resources & Administration
This is the nuts and bolts of the school: services, programs, time, space, technology, materials, paperwork, positions, etc.  Here are some of the key aspects of this element of the school: Board of Trustees; School Administrators; business development; business office; admissions office; facilities; guidance program; athletics program; scholars program; communications/marketing; handbooks, etc.

There you have it.  Now we must consider how Christian Order operates in those areas.  In other words, what does the Kingdom of God accomplish in the school?

Christian School Order

John Murray writes the following:  "[Christian World Order] is a world order that in all its aspects and spheres is Christian, an order so conformed to the principles of Christianity, and so pervaded by the forces that are operative in Christianity, that the whole of life will be brought into willing captivity to the obedience of Christ" (Murray, Collected Writings, 356).  Wow!  He goes on to ask the questions, "Are we justified in entertaining such an order as an ideal towards which we should work and strive?  Do we have any assurance that such a world order is attainable?"

In order to answer these questions we must remember that we live in the "Already but Not Yet."  Christ has already broken into our world and has established his kingdom and reign over all of creation and life; however Christ has not yet brought to complete and perfect expression that kingdom, power, and rule.  That will take place in his glorious return.

So, are we fooling ourselves and wasting our time in considering a Christian order in the school?  Absolutely not!  I believe we have the right and even the responsibility to work toward advancing the kingdom of God in all areas of life, including the school.  Again, Murray has said:

"The demands of the divine sovereignty make it impossible for us to evade the obligation to strive will all of our heart and soul and strength and mind for the establishment of an order that will bring to realization all the demands of God's majesty, authority, supremacy, and kingship.  An this, in a word, is simply the full fruition of the kingdom of God, wherever we are, and in the whole compass of thought, word, and action."  

OK.  So now that we have determined that Christian World Order in schools is necessary, what is Christian School Order and what does it look like?  I think Christian School Order creates a learning community that is a theological community, a sociological community, and a redemptive community.  In other words a Christian school is a learning community that is a theological community, a sociological community, and a redemptive community.  In this definition I am borrowing the definition Paul Tripp uses for the family.  If that statement is true, then I can impose that order onto all the aspects and elements of the school.  In my next post I want to layout briefly the aspects and elements of the school so that we can begin to consider what Christian School Order exactly looks like.