One Conference Takes Steps to Expand Christian Education in its Territory
By AT News Team, March 18, 2015: Against trends of decline in Adventist schools in North America, the Pennsylvania Conference has announced plans to expand its staff using funds from closed schools and set goals to expand the number of Adventist schools in the state. A pilot project in Allentown will soon open the first mission school in decades, an elementary school designed primarily for children in the larger community, not from Adventist families.
Dr. Jeff Bovee, conference vice president for education, is assisting two churches which are working towards opening new schools in the near future, as well as the urban outreach in Allentown. The concept of a mission school, in which most if not all of the students are not from Adventist families, is well understood in many nations around the world where it is the staple of Adventist education. The Allentown project is one of the first such schools in the denomination’s North American Division.
The conference is expanding the staff in its education office by adding a third professional, an associate director specifically for “mission and growth.” This additional position will be funded in part from 20 percent of the funds remaining from the sale of the Richland Adventist School in a suburb north of Pittsburgh which was sold in 2013. Eighty percent of the funds had been divided among the congregations that financially supported the school during the last ten years.
Rick Bianco has been assigned this new role starting next summer. He grew up in western Pennsylvania and has been principal at Huntingdon Valley Christian Academy (HVCA) in the suburbs of Philadelphia for the last four years where he has taught for a total of 16 years. “He has been an excellent classroom teacher and has a proven track record in leading [the school] to more than double their enrollment,” said Pastor Ray Hartwell, conference president. Bianco also directed the conference’s summer camp ministry and was an enthusiastic participant in Pathfinder Club activities.
“His passion for Christian education and his desire to help our schools grow, not only in enrollment, but in direct partnership in the mission calling of local churches to reach families and communities for Christ, will bring a major strength to the efforts of our office of education to grow the educational ministry of our Conference,” stated Hartwell. He cited interdenominational research that reports four out of five adult Christians indicate they made a commitment to Christ between the ages of 4 and 14.
The conference executive committee has funded the new position for at least three years. The goals of the new role are (1) support the development of mission schools, (2) focus on growth, and (3) develop sustainable, measurable plans.
“I am looking forward to be working alongside Rick to create an educational system in the Pennsylvania Conference that is missionally focused in bringing students and families to the foot of the cross,” says Dr. Bovee. “And am excited about teaming up with pastors, churches, Pathfinders, Adventurers, Pennsylvania Youth Challenge, Cool Camp, Simplicity, and all ministries of the Conference, to create a unified focus on reaching out to the communities where we live to build His kingdom.”
“While I can’t help but feel incredibly emotional about leaving a school where I have dedicated over 16 years of my life,” Rick shares, “God has opened many doors in order for this to happen and I’m extremely excited about the opportunity to help grow Adventist education in the Pennsylvania Conference.”
Opening their “first mission school in decades”? Wonderful! Look at the church around the world and the places where it is growing the fastest typically are the places where the schools are ALL mission schools. The only place in the world where the church schools typically are not mission schools is North America. I’m glad to see someone realizing that reality and following the model God gave us.
This concept of a “Mission School” was developed in the Ohio Conference a few years ago by then Superintendent of Education, Jay Colburn. They were targeted to be established in cities and communities in which public school was the only option that students had — with no Christian school option of any kind. Opponents to the idea launched some creative conspiracy theories about the intent and motivations behind the plan. The idea didn’t get the traction that we had hoped. I am glad Pennsylvania is trying it, and wish them success. Hopefully, the conspiracy theories will not cross State lines!
It’s about time! This is more important than any evangelistic meeting as outreach. What took so long? Conferences should take evangelistic funds and put them in this outreach. Go to the poor urban areas and to poor rural areas. Be a church that takes our nation’s problems seriously by acting. Isn’t Dr Carson doing something like this? ASI should be backing this kind of program.
Attention ASI: This would be real witnessing nationwide that would get the attention of the wealthy who would help.
“He cited interdenominational research that reports four out of five adult Christians indicate they made a commitment to Christ between the ages of 4 and 14.”
It is implied that we must operate schools, teaching reading, writing and arithmetic along with religion, in order to obtain our children’s commitment to Christ. I respectfully disagree. This single-minded view has kept us from focusing our energies and resources on other approaches in our culture to achieve children’s commitment.
I deeply hope that the “mission” school initiative in Pennsylvania works. It would be a great ministry for the church, and maybe they could even figure out how to at least break even financially if they can also figure out how to sell a product the market wants to buy. That is a crucial point, because they will be competing in an education market place and there would need to be powerful selling points for parents to select our option. I would suggest caution about emphasizing the aspect of shelter from worldly influences. This is one of, if not the foremost, reasons we operate schools for Adventist children. It comes directly out of the “come out of her my people” orientation. So there will be a need to deemphasize the “fortress” mentality and emphasize a “lighthouse” mentality.
It is nice to begin to see the Educational arm of the church finally coming around to the idea of sharing with the community’s we live in through the concept of christian education.
When a school, in Central New York, that was experiencing a dwindling number of students wanted to reach out to the home school group and other (non SDA) neighbors, we were told flat out “No Way”. When I, in my usual stubborn manner pointed out the many presentations from Mission Spotlight, if there why not here was told it was not open for discussion and let’s move on to see how we can keep this school open for the children of this church.
Sadly the school closed soon after that. A school that till then and by all historical calculation was the longest or maybe second longest continually operating school in the denomination.
let your light shine? We tried and were shut down with vigor! I guess we were just ahead of our time.
fortress vs. lighthouse like that
Who knows we may yet reach the world with a finishing message. We may finally get to go Home.
With prayers and support from Jay Colburn and Raj Attiken of the Ohio Conference, the Clifton Adventist Church in Cincinnati transformed its school into a ‘Mission’ school about seven years ago. It has been gratifying to see several community students receive quality education AND know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. As of date, nearly eighty percent of the students (current number 65) are from non-Adventist and even non-Christian backgrounds. Praise God for mission-minded leaders and well-wishers in North America.
Is the goal to only start up these mission schools in the inner city to attract minority students or will they also open these mission schools in affluent majority White neighborhoods?