Prayer and the Ministry of the Word

Dear Friends,

I firmly believe that submitting our children to anything less than distinctively Christian education is being unfaithful to our charge of training our children to know the Lord. Therefore my family homeschools, and I recommend to my members either homeschool or a private Christian school.

Many pastors and other members, however, are in the dark or in denial on this issue. Therefore I firmly supported the Pinkney/Shortt resolution in 2004, the Baucham resolution in 2005, and this proposed resolution for the 2006 SBC Annual Meeting.

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RESOLUTION ON DEVELOPING AN EXIT STRATEGY FROM THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS THAT WOULD GIVE PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO THE NEEDS OF ORPHANS, SINGLE PARENTS, AND THE DISADVANTAGED

April 24, 2006

Submitted by
Roger Moran,
and
Dr. Bruce N. Shortt

Whereas, in June 2005 Dr. Albert Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, called for responsible Southern Baptists to develop an exit strategy from the government schools, stating further that there is no reason to believe that each year will not bring even more urgent concerns related to public education [1], and

Whereas, federal circuit court judges held in November 2005 in Fields v. Palmdale that "parents have no constitutional right ... to prevent a public school from providing its students with whatever information it wishes to provide, sexual, or otherwise, when and as the school determines that it is appropriate to do so"; and

Whereas, in December 2005 a federal judge ruled in favor of government schools indoctrinating children with dogmatic Darwinism; and

Whereas, government schools continue to adopt and implement curricula and policies teaching that the homosexual lifestyle is acceptable; and

Whereas, Christian educational alternatives to government schools are desperately needed immediately by orphans, children of single parents, and the disadvantaged [2] and can be an effective means for evangelistic outreach; and

Whereas, the Gospel of Luke instructs us that a student is not above his teacher and, when he is fully trained, will be like his teacher; and

Whereas, the government schools are required by law to be humanistic and secular in their instruction; and

Whereas, children are our most important mission field, and the overwhelming majority of Christians have made the government school system their children’s teacher; and

Whereas, studies by Barna Research, Dr. Christian Smith, and The Nehemiah Institute have found that a large majority of children from Christian families do not have a Christian worldview[3]; and

Whereas, an article by Dr. Thom Ranier published in the spring 2005 issue of the Southern Baptist Journal of Theology reported, “nearly one half of all [Southern Baptist] church members may not be Christians”[4]; and

Whereas, the Southern Baptist Council on Family Life reported to the 2002 Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention that 88 percent of the childrenraised in evangelical homes leave church at the age of 18, never to return; and

Whereas, the Messengers of the Southern Baptist Convention’s 2005 Annual Meeting urged parents in Resolution No. 1, On Educating Children, to embrace their responsibility to educate their children by choosing a means of education that would “…ensure their physical, moral, emotional, and spiritual well-being, with a goal of raising godly men and women who are thoroughly equipped to live as fully devoted followers of Christ”; and

Whereas, in light of government school curricula, court rulings, and the influence of the NEA, parents cannot satisfy the criteria for the education of Christian children set forth in Resolution 1 by educating Christian children in today’s government schools; and

Whereas, article XII of the Baptist Faith and Message states, “the cause of education in the Kingdom of Christ is co-ordinate with the causes of missions and general benevolence, and should receive along with these the liberal support of the churches. An adequate system of Christian education is necessary to a complete spiritual program for Christ's people”; and

Whereas, the next clause in article XII makes it clear that this education is to be provided through ‘Christian schools, colleges and seminaries’; and

Whereas, Southern Baptist congregations can draw upon many existing buildings and other resources to provide an alternative to educating children in government schools; and

Whereas, Southern Baptist congregations have many adults, including pastors, who can assist in the education of children as a ministry; and

Whereas, satellite, DVD, internet-enabled multi-media computer technology, and other more traditional forms of self-paced learning are effective ways of providing Christian education and are now very affordable; and

Whereas, churches can collaborate in providing alternatives to the government school system:

BE IT NOW RESOLVED that the 2006 Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention encourages each church associated with the Southern Baptist Convention to heed Dr. Mohler’s call to develop an exit strategy from the government’s schools; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the 2006 Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention urges that particular attention be given in the development of such exit strategies to the needs of orphans, single parents, and the disadvantaged; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the 2006 Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention urges that the agencies of the Southern Baptist Convention assist churches in the development of exit strategies from the government schools and help coordinate efforts, including partnerships with churches in low income areas, to provide a Christian educational alternative to orphans, single parents, and the disadvantaged; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the 2006 Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention applauds the many adult members of our congregations who teach in government schools, and this resolution should be construed to encourage adult believers who are truly called to labor as missionaries to unbelieving colleagues and students to continue their missionary work in the government school system.

1 Mohler, R. A. (2005). "Needed: An Exit Strategy." June 17, 2005. 2005, from http://www.albertmohler.com/commentary_read.php?cdate=2005-06-17.

2 Basham, P. (2001). "Home Schooling: From the Extreme to the Mainstream." Public Policy Sources Number 51: 18.
Basham, P. (2001). "Home Schooling: From the Extreme to the Mainstream." Public Policy Sources Number 51: 18. Research indicates that home-educated children whose parents did not graduate high school outperformed their public school counterparts from similar socio-economic situations by more than 50 percentile points. Thus, providing alternatives to underperforming urban schools may be the greatest form of socio-economic uplift the SBC can provide the poor and underprivileged.

3 See: Barna, G. (2003). "A Biblical Worldview has a Radical Effect on a Person's Life." The Barna Update Retrieved March 29, 2005, from http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=154., Smith, C. (2005). Soul Searching: The religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers. Oxford, University Press.

4 Rainer, T. (2005). "A Resurgence Not Yet Realized: Evangelistic Effectiveness in the Southern Baptist Convention Since 1979." The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 9(1): 54-69.


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I welcome your comments on this matter, especially ones with a clear biblical basis, and any questions you may have.

Love in Christ,

Jeff