Why was it then – and why is it now – considered so important that we
raise our children with the distinctive principles of New Church education,
and that we extend that education to anyone attracted to it?
Our church still is statistically insignificant in the world. Our schools are
small and compete with many excellent schools, colleges and universities. So
why New Church schools?
Because they do what no other schools in the world can do. They teach
the spiritual as well as the natural mind – recognizing that the spiritual mind
is for eternity. They focus on developing spiritual as well as moral conscience.
They prepare our young people for lives of use – in this world and the next.
They develop a worldview that helps students evaluate everything in a spiritual
context. They teach about heaven and hell, Divine providence, that our lives
and our choices have eternal consequences, and that everything good and true
comes from the Lord.
This matters enormously in a world and a culture increasingly adrift,
reveling in self-indulgence, moral relativism and crass materialism. The world
badly needs what New Church education teaches. Little by little, in the Lord’s
providence, people raised with New Church education are making a difference,
just by the way they live their lives.
In his seminal book on New Church education – Education for Use –
Bishop Willard D. Pendleton notes that the state of the world and modern
education “emphasizes the need for an educational system which recognizes
that the ultimate welfare of society is dependent upon the cultivation of a
moral and spiritual conscience in the individual.” This, he says, “is the work of
New Church education” and is “why New Church schools are needed.”
We have just celebrated another year of New Church education in North
America, with commencement exercises in Bryn Athyn College, the Academy
Secondary Schools, and General Church schools. Now they are all preparing
for another school year. It is a vital continuum.
In his commencement address for Bryn Athyn College (page 376),
incoming President Brian Blair noted that the College’s mission statement
includes: “This education challenges students to develop spiritual purpose,
to think broadly and critically from a variety of perspectives, and to build
intellectual and practical skills. The ultimate purpose is to enhance students’
civil, moral and spiritual lives, and to contribute to human spiritual welfare.”
He told the graduates: “You will be able to perform sound decision-making
with the help of your education while embracing the sound moral compass
that has been introduced to you through your Bryn Athyn College education.”
In their tandem commencement address for the Academy Secondary
Schools (page 384), the Rev. Calvin and Maggie Odhner noted that much has
changed in the Academy since they graduated 37 years ago, but not the guiding
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