CHCA Eagle's Eye 2014

Refreshingly insightful
…[creating ] an environment where … guided by expert Christian
teachers, students wrestle with increasingly complex, timeless,
essential questions in order to strengthen their minds and their faith
Theological Integration
by Dean Nicholas, PhD,
Martha S. LindnerHigh School Principal
A New Model for Creating a Christian Mind
12
CHCA is indeed intentional about being academically
excellent as well as Christ-centered in all we do. While
academic excellence is widely understood, the term “Christcentered”
is more ambiguous. This is one of our most
deeply held core values in our school, yet its meaning has
become nebulous. If we were to ask various people within
our community what Christ-centeredness meant, the only
consensus would be the initial response that Christ is the
center of everything we do. But if pressed past the jargon,
one would find as many different answers as those asked. And
this creates an institutional dilemma, because a term that can
mean anything to anyone actually means nothing for all. So
how do we understand Christ-centeredness as it relates
to CHCA, and how does this inform the way we instruct our
students?
When we think about the role of a Christian school, we must
first think about vocation. What is a Christian school uniquely
called to do? This is a significant consideration and one that
is too rarely considered. We must remember that a Christian
school is a para-church organization, or an organization that
comes alongside the church. That is an important distinction
because we are different in our function or calling from a
church. As we come alongside the church, our purpose is
to develop Christian minds to consider how we live out a
Christian life and how we engage God’s world. In order to
think as broadly as possible in this arena, we have used the
metaphors of “Head, Heart, and Hands”. By Head, we mean
the intellectual investigation of the areas of Bible, Theology,
Church History, and Spirituality. This takes place not only in
our Christian Studies curriculum; it is woven throughout all
subject areas. By Heart, we mean the spiritual formation of our
students through weekly chapels, worship and the expression
of each student’s God-given talents. By Hands, we mean the
acting out of the Head and Heart components in practical
ways. This is carried out formally through service and outreach,
and informally by creating an environment in which we expect
everyone in the community to live out the teachings of Jesus.
And while we deal with the Head, Heart, and Hands, as an
academy, our number one calling is to educate our students.
So it should not be surprising that our primary focus is on the
Head aspect of the equation.
So what is “Theological Integration”?
Theological Integration is the process by which our teachers
engage the “Head” of our students on a deep level about how
thinking in a “Christ-centered” way affects all areas of study
and learning. Our Theological Integration is rooted in the
biblical text. But we are careful to use the language of
“Theological Integration,” rather than the older term “Biblical
Integration,” for how we attempt to theologically enrich our
curriculum. As a multi-denominational school, it is important
that certain denominational interpretations are not given
priority and/or preference by teachers based on their own
personal interpretations. The Bible is our foundation, but we
must acknowledge that we all read the Bible based on our
theological presuppositions. For instance, both Calvinists