Podcast: Interview 73: Rooted in Truth: The Biblical Framework for Christian Education – Lynn McCool

Today we are starting to look at a new edition of FrontLine, the May/June issue which came out just this week. We will publish the FrontLine promo article on Proclaim & Defend this coming Tuesday.

The theme of this edition is “The Christian School Revival.” I’m going to include a copy of a brief note in the magazine, “Why This Topic?” from our president, Kevin Schaal, as part of today’s show notes.

Since the Covid years, Christian schools are seeing increased interest among the public, and Christians and Christian leaders need to talk about how to promote and implement Christian education as part of their ministries.

We are going to start with Dr. Lynn McCool. She teaches at Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny, Iowa, in the department of education. I’ll let her introduce herself to you.

The article is very much a foundational article, “Rooted in Truth: The Biblical Framework for Christian Education.” Dr. McCool is talking about education philosophy historically and how we should think about education in the present. I really was blessed by our conversation and hope you will be too.

Before we get to the interview, let me remind you that Lynn’s article is available on our substack right away for paying subscribers. We have previews for everyone else. I hope you will join with us and support the ministry of the FBFI by becoming a paying subscriber.

• The article for this episode: Rooted in Truth: The Biblical Framework for Christian Education
• FrontLine Editorial and Contents: coming soon
• The podcast is here: Interview 73: Rooted in Truth: The Biblical Framework for Christian Education

Why This Topic?

The Christian school movement is exploding, thanks to changes in educational choice laws that are sweeping across our nation. The Christian school movement gained popularity in the 1960s and 1970s amid rising concerns over public schools, including busing programs, drugs on campus, and the removal of prayer. The movement faced huge growing pains from the 1980s through the 2000s. Many Christian schools could not compete with the growing homeschool movement. There were financial, spiritual, and ministry challenges that were overwhelming for many churches.

Now, however, two factors have led to a revival of Christian school education.

Public schools across the country have become institutions for indoctrination with evil. In the last four years, the transgender movement has pushed biological boys into girls’ bathrooms and girls’ sports. Students are being encouraged to transition while parents are being kept in the dark. Trust in the public school has vanished, especially for people of faith.

At the same time, school choice laws are springing up everywhere as a result of the Carson/Makin Supreme Court decision in June of 2022. As of the time of this writing, thirteen states plus Washington, DC, have near-universal school choice, and six more states are about to pass legislation. In almost all cases, parents are given the freedom to decide where to spend their children’s education dollars.

The result of these factors is an explosion in the demand for Christian schools. At the same time, however, Christian colleges are graduating a record-low number of teachers. Our Christian school turns away almost as many children as we enroll because we lack both the teachers and the space to meet the need. As we scramble to find space and teachers, we have the luxury of being more selective with enrollment, but that is only a matter of local ministry convenience. The need for Christian schools in our country is huge.

Explosive growth often comes with unintended consequences. In the 1980s the hot topic was how local church Christian schools completely overshadowed church youth ministry. We need to keep Great Commission priorities and local church integrity as we address the avalanche of demand for Christian education.

The Christian school discussion is one that we must have again. Let’s start here.

Kevin Schaal, Editor