Always Abounding - Fall 2018 - Volume 3

that they can approve or disapprove of
material that is being taught in the school?
Will they regulate the higher education of
the faculty or monitor such endeavors?
Has there been a trend for fundamental
institutions of learning to become stronger
in their Biblical stand after achieving
accreditation status? There are other
issues that may also be addressed, but
these are legitimate concerns.
I have talked with some pastors and
read other institutions’ explanations, but
they don’t address these issues head on.
They say, “Obviously, we would never
compromise!” That does not answer these
questions. One pastor that has a very close
knowledge of some of the institutions that
have been accredited indicated that he
knows for a fact that handbooks, policies,
and even hiring practices were adjusted to
help retain accreditation. Yes, there are
results from having big government look
over your shoulder. I know this personally
from living in the great state of Indiana.
Indiana is considered to be in the top
tier of conservative states in the Union.
For this reason, our state’s education
department has been very involved in the
school choice voucher program. At first
glance, this program appears beneficial.
The premise is that the money designated
for public education “follows the student.”
So, if a parent wants his children to get a
private education, they should be able
to get state funding for this education.
However, a school has to go through a
couple years of rigorous paper shuffling
with the state’s department of education
in order to get this accomplished. As
a staff, we prayed and thought on this
option. We then sat down together with
the church leadership and prayed through
this option. We could not get peace about
pursuing this avenue.
Over the past couple of years, our
principal has attended multiple meetings
with our state’s AACS group. At one
very interesting meeting, a senator from
our state legislator spoke to some of the
principals. This man held a chair in our
state’s department of education. He is
strongly in favor of Christian education,
and he himself has home-schooled his
own children. He told the principals that
they should have a plan in place to fund
their school without government funding.
He continued, saying that he loves helping
their Christian schools, but he also said,
“If you think that there are not strings
attached to the government funding, you
are fooling yourselves.”
CONCLUSION
As a Christian academy and as a
Christian ministry college, we have decided
not to pursue accreditation of any type.
We believe that this falls in line with the
historic Baptistic principles of autonomy
and individual soul liberty. I love to discuss
topics with good pastors, including ways to
help improve the education of our pastors,
missionaries, and full-time servants.
However, God will direct individual local
churches through their pastors, staff, and
church leadership. We somehow have
gotten away from the Biblical idea of
separation from the world, so now some
seek outside approval for the training
of God’s servants. Let’s hold fast to the
doctrines that have been established
through Scripture.
(Steve Damron is the pastor of Fairhaven Baptist
Church and president of Fairhaven Baptist College.)
UPDATE: Trinity Western University
changed its policy banning same-sex
relationships after it lost a Supreme Court
case after being denied accreditation for
its law school. (“Christian College Under
Fire for Turning Away Gay Student Who
Only Needed 6 Credits to Graduate” The
Christian Post September 14, 2018.)
10 | ALWAYS ABOUNDING