On Opening Christian School Doors

By Matthew Beimers

September 14, 2018

In this second segment of his two-part essay, Matthew Beimers ponders whether the wider community would better know Christians by their love if greater diversity were fostered in Christian schools.

 Perhaps one way the Christian school can contribute to the common good is by rethinking an enrolment policy that would lead to a more diverse student body with a variety of belief structures which would help all students understand that we have much more in common with those we think are different, and in exploring those differences, take a proper Christian posture where people feel less valued because they have divergent opinions  For those communities who believe clearly defining that number would be integral to this process, my one caveat would be that if there is concern that the direction of the school might collapse because a tiny percentage of the students come from different or no faith background, perhaps the more important discussion might center around the strength of the mission and vision rather than the enrolment policy While the stated purpose of covenantal schools is to provide Christian education for children of believing parents, I wonder how hard these schools would have to look to find students and families who haven’t darkened the door of a local Christian church beyond Christmas and Easter, and perhaps some not even then While I understand the Christian school’s resistance to take on the role of the church, for some students, school is the only place where student participate in these distinctly, Christian practices, and, although a small sample size, the student responses that day suggest some students long for it

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