The Elephant in the Room: Church Schools Are Drowning—Champions Needed!

ISBN 978-1-63961-783-8 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63961-784-5 (digital)

Copyright © 2022 by Sadrail Saint-Ulysse, PhD, MDiv

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

To the memories of my parents, Eglantine and Saint-Hilaire, who never experienced a formal education

To my siblings, especially my eldest sister, Aida, who introduced me to the Seventh-day Adventist faith and education at a very young age

To my lovely wife, Malou, who inspired me to join the Adventist school system as an educator

To my son, Sadou, who challenges me with his bright and inquisitive mind

Finally, to the memory of Dr. Edna I. E. Hunter, for being a champion to church schools at the Collingwood Park Seventh-day Adventist Church and Meadow View Junior Academy

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

—Deuteronomy 6:6–9 (NIV)

Foreword

I first met Dr. Sadrail Saint-Ulysse in 2015 as a Christian Education growth coach who teaches marketing as an intentional ministry. With our first encounter, there was an immediate attraction of like-mindedness with a singular purpose of making Christian education better and accessible to all families.

In this book, Sadrail takes you into his world—a place of Christ-driven honesty, transparency, grace, passion, history, humility, and most importantly bravery! At his core, Sadrail is a courageous leader who is not afraid of ‘the elephant in the room’ and ‘can get into some good trouble’ concerning the challenges that impact Christian education.

In my coaching practice, working with hundreds of Christian schools across the nation, I have found that successful outcomes in Christian education happen while working together in a community that includes the home, church, and school.

This book will help you embrace the inculcation power of the triple-braided cord of home, church, and school. In Ecclesiastes 4:12, the Bible tells us that though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Can a child with the home, church and school form the foundations for a Christian life separately or bound together?

Let’s do some math to find out!

Time spent at church engaging our children averages out to be approximately 2-4 hours a week. The arithmetic accounts for 1 hour for the church service; 1 hour of Bible study and up to 2 additional hours if involved in church activities like Pathfinders or Adventurers. The final calculation shows that some children will only get 1 hour (attend church service only), some 2 hours (church and Bible study), and some more if they participate in other available church activities. Is 2-4 hours each week enough time to equip our children for a secular world and a life-long walk with Jesus Christ?

Next, let’s account for time spent at home. According to the 2019 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a parent with children under the age of 18 will spend about an average of 1.36 hours per day caring for and helping household children. This data includes physical care, reading, playing (not sports), and activities related to education. Is an average of fewer than 10 hours a week at home enough time to equip our children for a secular world and a life-long walk with Jesus Christ?

And lastly, depending on state requirements as recorded in the National Center for Educational Statistics, children spend an average of 7 hours a day for approximately 180 days of instruction each year in public school. This does not include any before or after-school activities; excluding weekends and holidays. The school hours and days are similar for Christian schools. Is 35 or more hours each week at school enough to expose (public school) or equip (Christian school) our children for a secular world and a life-long walk with Jesus Christ?

Draw your conclusion on which portion of the cord is the strongest. If braided together, can the cord be even stronger?

You will learn in this book that Christian schools are in urgent need of many things:

Engaged churches and pastors

Action school boards

Dedicated teachers

Parents as partners

Community collaboration

Unification of the ministry of church and school along with funding for students and facilities.

Along the way, you will begin to understand why systemic change can reap a significant return on investment for those who champion!

As members of a triple-braided community, we can become purposeful ‘champions.’ Personified, we are helping ‘champions’, praying ‘champions’, loving ‘champions’, cooking ‘champions’, clean-up ‘champions’, fundraising ‘champions’, willingness-of-spirit ‘champions’, and so on.

It is critical to stop and think about what kinds of ‘champions’ we want and what kind of ‘champions’ we don’t. We don’t want ‘champions’ that are negative. We don’t wish for accusing ‘champions’, gossiping ‘champions’, or demanding ‘champions.’ We do want ‘champions’ that say-I can help, ‘champions’ that applaud, and check writing ‘champions’! We do want ‘champions’ that are positive cheerleaders and ‘champions’ that never discourage!

‘Champions’ are stay-at-home and working moms and dads, uncles and aunts, grandparents, pastors, board members, donors, and friends who care passionately about children and Christian education. It is you and I, as ‘champions’ that make the difference.

Becoming a ‘champion’ does not mean a huge time commitment. Any gift of time or talent makes a more considerable difference than you can imagine. Becoming a ‘champion’ can give you great joy! Each school has tasks to fit every schedule and interest. There are even tasks that do not involve coming to the school at all and can be accomplished from home.

So what are we to do? This question forms the strategy for what lies ahead in making Christian education better and accessible to all families. Sadrail and I both know firsthand the transformative power of champions!

Enjoy the read. Embrace the challenge. Be a Champion! Go with God!

Teresa L. Kelchner

Christian Education Champion, Advocate, and Coach.

President, www.ChristianEducationMatters.com

Co-Founder, www.MinistrySpotlight.com

Founder, www.ChampionsForChristianEducation.com

Preface

As I wrote and did research for this book, I almost concluded that this book was not needed because of the excellent materials produced by the brilliant minds of the Seventh-day Adventist Church worldwide. These materials are readily available on the Internet in several websites such as The Journal of Adventist Education, Circle, and Ministry, to name a few. I decided to go ahead with this project because while there are all these valuable resources, they are written in the form of articles and reports that are not too often searched for by our teachers, principals, pastors, administrators, and church members.

I borrowed from the work of these brilliant authors of our Church and added my humble and candid voice in this book. I did a lot of rewriting so as not to offend any individual or entity while at the same time addressing the issue at hand. It was not an easy undertaking. However, I praise God for the opportunity to write this book, with the prayer that it may help bring and keep more students in our church schools at the elementary and secondary levels.

Furthermore, as an educator and pastor, as I looked for practical and valuable resources in the forms of books, I found very few to name; I only found two: How to Kill Adventist Education (and How to Give It a Fighting Chance) (2009) and Peril and Promise: Adventist Education at the Crossroads (2012). These two books have helped me tremendously in my ministry as a superintendent of schools, and I pray that this book may be a blessing to some. My prayer is that the number of elementary and secondary church schools that we currently have in the North American Division and especially in the New Jersey Conference and Columbia Union, where I have been serving since 1998, and throughout the world Church, may grow and not be diminished as we await the soon return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Maranatha!

Acknowledgments

The views expressed in this book are mine. I owe a great debt of gratitude to the brilliant minds of the Seventh-day Adventist educators and friends for their contribution to The Journal of Adventist Education and other sources. In writing this book, I turned to their great work on behalf of Adventist education. Also, special thanks to my colleagues and friends who were selected to review the first manuscripts. I will not name them because I am fully responsible for the good and especially the bad in this book. Thank you!

I thank the New Jersey Conference administrators, especially presidents, whom I have worked with from 1998 through today. Each one has helped shape my thinking and standing for Adventist education. I also thank the teachers, principals, school administrators and staff, pastors, board members, church members, and elders whom I have worked with to benefit our precious students in the New Jersey Conference.

Furthermore, a special thank-you to Meadow View Junior Academy (MVJA), its district and constituent churches, and Collingwood Park SDA Church and The Grace Place SDA Church for their prayers and support in working with my wife and me to try many ideas and programs to promote, support, and making it a reality for MVJA to be a school where every student can be enrolled and remained regardless of his or her family’s financial ability. Great will be your rewards in heaven. Thank you!

Finally, my heartfelt gratitude to Dr. A Kay Schaaf for her editing assistance. She has encouraged me to rewrite my manuscript to include the wider Christian Church, for which I am grateful. My family and I praise God for Dr. Kay’s friendship and encouragement through the years.

To the entire team of Christian Faith Publishing for helping me make this book a reality. I praise God for using Christian Faith Publishing to help me with this book.

Introduction: Time to Get into Good Trouble for Church Schools

Time to Get into Good Trouble for Church Schools

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

—Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

The New York Times published an essay written by Congressman John Lewis, the civil rights leader, on the day of his funeral. Congressman Lewis penned the following words shortly before his death: Though I am gone, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe.¹ I am standing for church schools, Adventist education in particular at the elementary and secondary levels, since I am a Seventh-day Adventist educator and pastor. I also call on Christian church members to do the same by standing for