We have churches worldwide, many of which have massive, magnificent buildings, some used a couple of hours per week. Commonly acknowledged problems among Christians, particularly those who are among the more conservative Christians, are that 1)the public schools are indoctrinating children in antitheist beliefs, and 2) young people are leaving the church and not returning. When I was a member of one of the Baptist churches here, the congregation was one of the largest in the area, after the Catholic and Congregational. They have a basement area with about a dozen classrooms, some larger rooms, and a gymnasium. I don't think anyone even cleans down there anymore. Very few people under thirty regularly attended church; most were much older. Parents brought their very young children, but children twelve and older were allowed to stay home, and they did. The school routinely scheduled practices on Sunday mornings for those involved in school sports programs, so that took priority, as did everything else. When these kids grow up and marry, the likelihood that they will be regular churchgoers is very low. Of course, some churches do have Christian schools, but many of these are operated separately from the church, are often quite expensive, and focus on providing a better academic program than the public school. This is fine, but there are few, if any, elements of a ministry in these schools, and they do not contribute much to enhancing the Christian church. Any church that can afford to maintain its building can afford to operate a tuition-free school. Some churches are doing this. For smaller churches, it might look a lot like homeschooling, with heavy use of monitored online or video content, while larger churches, or those with a larger donation base, would be able to hire teachers to provide teaching that is independent of preestablished programs. I've seen it done and know that it can be done, yet so many Christian churches are content to operate like senior citizen centers whose congregations wonder why young people aren't walking through their open doors on Sundays.
Church school is where the public education system began. The Anglican churches in Great Britain decided there should be schools at the church to teach children to read, especially the Bible. Education for all expanded from that beginning.
Taking kids out of the evil that is the public school system and providing an excellent academic education that includes religious instruction in a building that also functions as a church would do far more toward advancing Christianity than preaching to old people for one hour a week in a building that is otherwise an empty tomb.
We homeschooled all six of our children, and I understand what you are saying. We were started in homeschooling by a group of public school teachers who homeschooled their own kids. They said they didn't want their children being educated in the environment in which they worked.
If I were young today I would not even have children unless I could stay at home and school them Our niece has been doing it for years with her, two. But she is also studying to be an RN and that is very stressful... especially when you have to drive over and hour to get to the college and then come home at dark sometimes - open ranges,no lights.. eek I could not do that
I have suggested to a few pastors who lead congregations that are dwindling to open a free day care center focusing on single mothers. Ladies from the church who are retired, widowed or for whatever reason who have some spare time can watch and tutor the children whilst the moms are making a living. Meanwhile the moms might become part of the church family thereby growing the church. One Baptist pastor from New Mexico wrote me and said that the idea took off and they were looking to expand that part of the ministry to include teaching kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Churches reasserting their positions in educating the young would benefit the children, the local church, the larger Church, and the country as a whole. Sure, some parents would take advantage of a free tuition program, but their children would be ministered to and educated nevertheless, and most parents would feel obligated to contribute, and others without children in the school would contribute. The parents of some of the children in the school would be more likely to attend church services, and the children educated in the church would be more likely to remain in the church or return to it. I believe there is even a Proberb that speaks to that. The community would view the church as serving a purpose apart from a one-hour service every Sunday morning.
The one that comes immediately to mind in Prov. 22:6 : Raise up your child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it. I have seen a few grand old buildings that serve as churches that are going completely to waste because of the lack of sight and may I write, “Spirit Guidance” as to how to build their once filled sanctuaries. One such church is the III Presbyterian church in Greenville, S.C. That stone building has been there for well over a hundred years but is only open 1 day a week to the public. However they maintain it I have no idea but there is so much they could do to make it a hallmark building in the community by endeavoring to become part of the community. Maybe by now the church fathers have loosened up a bit but when I attended there, and even spoke at their early service one Sunday, the attitude was that it is a church and that’s all it should be. They didn’t seem to understand that a church should be of service to the community in all aspects of a family’s life and not just serve as a place to get a once a week dose of an ecumenical, I love you Jesus aspirin.
Just wondering why "ladies" and "moms" are the focus here. Why not "men" and "dads?" And honestly, who has 40+ hours a week of free time? I certainly would not commit to babysitting for a full time working mom. That would mean I now have an unpaid full-time job as well. As for churches being involved in schools; seems to me that churches should be focusing on why people are leaving them. As the Catholic Church has learned, it was necessary to move into the 21st century to keep people from abandoning ship. No divorced Christian wants to be excommunicated because they made a mistake.
As a general run, single mothers far outnumber single dads but yes, dads too. Now, when it comes to teaching or caring for young ones, I trust a woman for that job much more than I would trust a man. Call it prejudice if you will but that’s the way I think. So far as someone stepping up to help in a church day care or preschool, there are too many ladies to count who volunteer their time at thrift stores, food banks and even hospitals so I don’t see the problem there. And, if the programs did take hold, there’s normally a a plethora of donations and even state and federal grants that can help turn what was a volunteering position into a paid staff position. Now, about those failing churches, perhaps the very reason they are failing is because they moved away from being part of the community. Several years ago, a church Yvonne and I went to refused to pick up some men from the mission when the church had a gospel music concert going on. After I requested that the church van be used to carry a few men the pastor just hemmed and hawed around basically saying that the elders wouldn’t approve of it. As it turned out, we carried three to the concert and no one else even offered to bring more. We left the church shortly after that.
There are a lot of local, state and federal regulations to meet in running a school. However, our local church does have a limited program from daycare through 3rd grade that has been in operation for a number of years (at least 10 is my best guess.) The plan is to eventually add at least 2 more grades. I'm sure that some of the parents have switched churches when they enrolled their kids in class because it's nice to be that much closer to where your child goes to school. It is a private Christian school and there is tuition. Teacher and aides are qualified and paid. The church supports the school through use of the facility with financial support as well.
There are very few federal requirements for running a church-sponsored school, and most of those would already be met by any organized church, if the school is to be operated in the church's own building. State regulations vary significantly from state to state but are generally more easily met by a church than a private concern. Except perhaps in only the worst of the Democrat-controlled cities, local regulations would be minimal and easily met by a church. There would be safety requirements, of course, but most churches are set up for that, anyhow.
Hmmm...interesting response. I'm not arguing against church supported schools. In fact, I sort of thought I was supporting the idea since I have supported this particular school financially. I'm glad you don't have regulations where you live but we do at all levels. Good grief, you can't even open a hot dog stand without jumping through many regulations much less a school for children.
I think you would find that, like homeschooling, starting a church school is far less complicated than a lot of people would like you to believe. Either of these options can be as complex as you'd like them to be, and a lot of people use these perceived complications as a reason not to do anything at all. If you're in California, you'll probably encounter many complications, but not every state is California. Maine is a liberal state, yet there are almost zero hoops to go through for homeschooling, and church schools aren't so very much more complicated. A stand-alone private academy would be another matter. Some churches have begun their school as a homeschooling program, added to it each year, then hired a teacher for multi-age groups, adding grades and teachers from there. Going from nothing to operating an entire K-12 school would be unreasonably complicated and expensive, and I wouldn't suggest that.