The buzzing locusts, the cooler air, and the shorter days remind us that summer is giving way to fall. This week, my children return to school. They enjoy the privilege of attending a private Mennonite school, much like I did throughout my years in school. Although a privilege, private schools are quite costly. Why do we have church schools, and why were the first ones started? Are they worth the cost?

Mennonite schools in the Lebanon and Lancaster, PA, area where I live started in the 1940’s and 50’s. For example, Lancaster Mennonite School was founded in 1942. These schools began in response to several pressures that Mennonite communities were facing at the time. One factor was that small, local schools were closing, and multiple communities were consolidating into larger city schools. At the same time the influence of television in the home and school was increasing. Sports were a significant part of public school, along with gym clothes that Mennonite children opposed wearing. A new science curriculum was introduced that taught evolution as a scientific fact. These combined factors contributed to many Mennonite communities beginning their own church schools.

Initially, some communities received considerable pushback in educating their own children. Lamp and Light prints a children’s book titled The School by the Cornfield that tells the story of an Amish school in Iowa in the mid-1960s. Local school officials met with the fathers of the Amish community and informed them that a bus would pick up their children and take them to the public school. When families did not cooperate with the officials, they received fines. At one point, the officials planned to go to the school and make the children go with them to the public school, but when they showed up at the school, the children ran into the cornfield and hid. Officials returned later, and the truant officer tried to physically grab students and load them onto the bus, but the schoolgirls linked arms and sang Jesus loves me until the officials left. The Amish never paid their fines, so officials took corn from their cribs or pigs from their barnyards. Eventually, the governor of Iowa intervened and changed laws to allow for private education.

Today, Christian schools that allow us to educate our children in a Christ-centered environment and with a curriculum that reinforces our beliefs have become commonplace in many Mennonite communities. My generation remembers little of the early struggle to provide Christian education. Was the original investment worth it? Did the concerns about state education materialize into significant threats? It is worth taking a moment to evaluate the current landscape. I have a friend with a degree in elementary education who served as a sixth-grade teacher in a public school for a few years. This fall, he plans to pull his children out of the public school system and homeschool them. He stated three primary concerns that led him to this decision. First, he is concerned about the amount of screen time his children have. His children spend three hours daily on school-issued iPads to complete their lessons. Excessive screen time for young children has well-documented negative effects. His second concern is the fact that every one of his children’s classmates carries a smartphone. Children access all types of content all day long, including pornography. His third concern relates to the influence his children receive from their peers. His daughter is 14 years old, and all her friends have a boyfriend. Many of them are sexually active. To say that conditions have worsened since the early days of the Christian day school movement is a gross understatement. There is no going back. Our generation must embrace the challenge of educating our children in schools that promote our beliefs in an increasingly immoral society. In the book “Where To,” Steven Brubaker shares this insight: "It has been many years since the first visionaries insisted that Mennonites should have our own schools if we wanted to keep our children’s hearts. That initial vision

and energy is waning and needs to be renewed by fresh vision. This vision must have more to do with what we want for our children than what we don’t.” So, what do we want for our children?

Steven points to the classic scripture in Deuteronomy 6:1-21 as a biblical foundation for the church and home to shoulder the responsibility of educating our children. I will touch on several observations from this passage.

A. That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged (Deu 6:2 ).

Successful teaching is a multi-generational project. We must teach in a way that instills values in our children, which will be passed to their children which will be passed to their children.

B. Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD (Deu 6:4 ).

Teaching the next generation should never be separated from our faith. Rather, our children’s understanding of reality must have God at the center.

C. And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might (Deu 6:5).

Our education must foster a love for God.

D. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart (Deu 6:6).

The Christian emphasis of our education is something that the teacher must internalize and hold in his heart. It is something that every teacher must “own” and must flow from his own core beliefs.

E. And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up (Deu 6:7).

Teaching Christian values must be woven into the daily rhythms of life. We cannot teach the Bible at church and during family worship while undermining it in our daily routines.

So, how do we put these foundational principles into practice? Our churches and homes must pool resources to build schools that offer a standard education for our children, equipping them for wherever God calls them to work in His kingdom. These schools must assist in positioning our children to embrace a God-centered worldview, to love God with all their heart, and to appreciate conservative Anabaptist thought and practice. Let me suggest a few goals for our schools that will bless our families and prepare children for Kingdom service if we can reach them.

A. Proficient reading comprehension skills to allow students to bring inspiring and thought-provoking study from the King James Version of the Bible.

B. A broad enough worldview to engage many different cultures with the gospel.

C. Sufficient practical math skills to handle finances, lead businesses, understand the implications of debt, sew clothing, and provide food in the kitchen.

D. A basic understanding of most Microsoft programs that will allow students to participate in the many tasks that have moved to computers in both business and church work.

E. Appreciation for serving others necessary to “go the second mile” in the service trades and retail industries.

F. Critical thinking skills that will help them begin sorting out the deluge of voices they will hear in the hyper-connected world students are growing up in.

G. Proper attitudes in the classroom that create an environment where the fruit of the Spirit can flourish.

H. A careful consideration of higher education for some. We will need people who can write high school curriculum. We also benefit from Anabaptist people with a God-centered worldview who have entered medical professions.

This fall, a great undertaking will continue. Our Christian day schools will resume, and we have an opportunity to train and teach another generation. Let’s devote time and energy to this work. Teachers, God bless you as you stand before your students each day. He will grant you grace and wisdom for the challenges that teaching brings. Students, don’t waste the tremendous gift you have of receiving an education in a Christ-centered environment. Only God knows the plans that He has for you. This is your opportunity to equip yourself to serve wherever He calls. Make the most of this school year. It will soon be past. Parents continue to give unwavering support to our schools. The work we do in our classrooms this year will shape the next generation. So prepare the lessons, grade the homework, pack the lunches, haul the school children, and attend the board meetings. We are investing in the kingdom for another generation.

I took a piece of plastic clay 
And idly fashioned it one day, 
And as my fingers pressed it still, 
It moved and yielded at my will.
I came again when days were past; 
The bit of clay was hard at last,
The form I gave it still it bore, 
But I could change that form no more.
I took a piece of living clay, 
And gently formed it day by day, 
And molded with my power and art 
A young child’s soft and yielding heart.
I came again when days were gone; 
It was a man I looked upon; 
That early impress still he wore, 
And I could change it never more.

-Attributed to Vance Springer