Parental governance
From the foundational belief that God gave parents (not the state) the task of raising and teaching their children, our schools were set up to be governed by Boards whose members were drawn from a School Association of parents and like-minded supporters of Christian Education. And while some individual churches and denominations in Australia have founded their own Christian schools directly, our parents (and others in our movement) believed that this was not the primary role of the church. Therefore, our school, while holding a reformed evangelical position, is not under the control or supervision of any parish or denomination (including, as is sometimes mistakenly believed, the Christian Reformed Church next door).

God’s Covenant with Christian Families
Under the concept of covenant (i.e. that God uses the institution of the family to carry forward the kingdom of God), schools like Shire were not set up as a mission to evangelise the local community (a task which was considered the role of the church), but rather for the nurture and education of the children of Christian parents. There are two important points to note here:

While not every family in our community would identify as Christian, we are committed to reflecting Christ’s love by valuing, respecting, and welcoming every child and family equally.

Although we are not primarily a “mission” organisation, we rejoice that God uses our school to change lives through the good news of repentance and forgiveness in Christ.

God’s sovereignty over all areas of life
Under a sovereign God, there is no division between sacred and secular parts of life, and therefore a Biblical worldview or lens should inform English or Geography lessons no less than it would a school devotional talk or a Christian studies class. As Abraham Kuyper so aptly put it: “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine! ”

Christian Staff
To authentically impart a Biblical lens into the operations, teaching practice and curriculum of the school, all our staff need to be active believing Christians, not just supportive or tolerant of Christian belief. While this does narrow the recruitment pool, it is an essential part of our DNA, and we would be not be able to operate within our founding principles without it.

In closing, I would like to share two quotes from the movement’s early history, the first by the Rev. J. Deenick at the inaugural meeting of Christian Education National (then called the “National Union of Parent Controlled Christian Schools”) in 1966, and the second from a speech by Tony Smit, the chairman of Maranatha Christian School, at the school’s opening in 1970:

“It is for this and for no other purpose that we establish our Christian day school movement. Education ought to be Christian education, ought to acknowledge the cross and the crown of Jesus Christ, and ought to prepare for his return, so that generations come and go, but the church remains, and Christian service and Christian life and Christian culture and Christian learning remain”

“This school is a parent-controlled Christian school. It is a fairly new concept for Australia. This school is not run or supervised by a church. Neither is it run by the state. To put it simply, this is a school established, maintained and directed by a society of Christian parents. It is a school in which God and his Word, both the living Word in the Lord Jesus Christ and his written Word in the Bible, occupy the central place”

[Source: Justins, C. (in Ireland, J. et al, 2004) Pointing The Way]

As we head towards our 50th anniversary, may we be inspired to take up and carry the flame for Christian education that was lit by our faithful pioneers more than half a century ago.

For further learning, see this online resource by CEN: What is Christian Education

Mr David Stonestreet
Principal