PACIFIC CHRISTIAN SCHOOL CHRIST-LIKE LIVING, CRITICAL THINKING, AND JOYFUL SERVICE
Pacific Christian School www.pacificchristian.ca
“...nurturing students in Christ-like living, critical thinking, and joyful service to become faithful citizens in God’s world.”
PACER PRESS
ELEMENTARY CAMPUS 671 Agnes St. Victoria, BC V8Z 2E7 elementary@pacificchristian.ca SECONDARY CAMPUS 654 Agnes St. Victoria, BC V8Z 2E6 secondary@pacificchristian.ca Phone 250-479-4532
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Pacer Press
Educational Excellence
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everal weeks ago, I was asked if I would write “a few paragraphs” on the topic of Educational Excellence as an introduction to the further exploration of Pacific Christian School’s mission statement that you will find in this edition of the Pacer Press. This set me wondering: What of worth could I possibly communicate in a few paragraphs on a topic that has filled many books and has been one of the primary visionary topics for Board discussion at PCS over the past year? As I thought about this, my mind kept returning to the ideas presented by Dr. Jamie Smith, a philosopher and professor at Calvin College who was the speaker at the Christian Schools Canada leadership conference last Fall. In his book, Imagining the Kingdom, Smith writes that a distinctly Christian Education has a unique mission. It is not just about informing students – ensuring that they gain the information and skills that allow them to advance to the next level of schooling or the workforce. It is, more importantly, about forming students’ entire beings. Smith describes Christian education as “a holistic education that not only provides knowledge but also shapes our fundamental orientation to the world.” He goes on to say that as students graduate from Christian schools, they “are sent into God’s good (but broken) world equipped with new intellectual reservoirs and skills for thinking; but ideally they are also sent out from the Christian [school] with new habits and desires and virtues. They will have been habituated to love God and his kingdom – to love God and desire what he wants for creation – and thus engage the world.”
Smith contends that for much of the modern age, we have emphasized the development of the mind and a Christian worldview. We have operated under the assumption that if we just teach people to think and believe the right things, right action will follow. However, this is based on a very incomplete picture of what a person is. As human beings, we are not just “brains on a stick,” as Smith puts it. Rather, we have bodies, feelings, emotions and desires. Formation and transformation must include our whole beings. Having the right ideas in our mind will only bear good fruit if our hearts and desires have become oriented to God’s good purposes for his creation: Most of our action is not “pushed” by ideas or conclusions; rather, it grows out of our character and is in a sense ‘pulled’ out of us by our attraction to a [desired goal]. ... If the alumni of Christian [schools] are going to be “prime citizens of the kingdom of God” who act in the world as agents of renewal and redemptive culturemaking, then it is not enough to equip our intellects to merely think rightly about the world. We also need to recruit our imaginations. Our hearts need to be captured by a vision of [an end goal] that “pulls” out of us action that is directed toward the kingdom of God.” Education Excellence – to the glory of God is the vision of Pacific Christian School. It is fleshed out in the mission of nurturing students in Christ-like living, critical thinking and joyful service to be faithful citizens in God’s world. This mission captures so well the necessity of an excellent Christian education to focus on the formation of all parts of our being. Yes, we must engage the mind (critical thinking), but also the character (Christ-like living). And practicing joyful service engages our actual physical bodies in a way that orients us to be people who love and serve. When we put this mission into practice as we engage subject matter, participate in athletics, create and perform art, plan schedules, set policies, and carry out the full breadth of activities involved in being an educational institution, we embark on an educational project that is truly formative – and this, I believe is the essence of Educational Excellence – to the glory of God. Lorna Herzog, PCS Secondary Assistant Principal Note: all quotations are taken from:
Smith, James K. A. Imagining the Kingdom: How Worship Works. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013.
Pacer Press
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Christ-like Living
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few years ago during my Grade 6 Bible class, something special occurred as we gathered in a circle, quietly waiting on the Lord and praying. Students prayed for one another without my initiation or direction. One student even made it his job to hand out Kleenex to students who were moved to tears. This significant moment clearly taught me that nurturing children to live like Christ is the work of God’s Spirit, for it is “God who works in us, both to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose.” (Ph’p 2:13) God tasks those of us who care for children - both parents and teachers - to value and encourage this divine process. Simply put, God nurtures His creation by whatever means He chooses. I declare a Christian world view, but God gives understanding. I teach from the Scriptures, but God blesses His word. I challenge children to live for the Lord, but He clarifies their call and empowers them to obey it. Increasingly, I accept that my role is to step back and let God work by creating a place where He’s more readily welcomed into our daily lives. This can be during regular class times, but intentionally setting aside time to just be with God allows His Spirit to nurture, or nourish, appetites for Him in ways that lectures and worksheets may simply not accomplish. In The Wounded Healer, Henri Nouwen stresses the need to be hospitable without filling guests’ stays with busy-ness. “The paradox indeed,” he writes, “is that hospitality asks for the creation of an empty space, where the guests can find their own souls,” (Image Doubleday, Toronto, 2010, p. 98.). I lay hold of this concept as a teacher: children are invited into my class, into what should be a loving and Christconscious environment where empty space is carved out in order to find a bit of our souls in Christ’s presence. For Jesus, communion with His Father was a vital aspect of His life, and an example for us to follow. Allowing time in my classroom for communion with the Lord, no matter how simple that may seem, can help foster a love for Christ and fuel a desire in all of us to live a life pleasing to Him. Tom Snell, PCS Elementary Teacher: Gr 6
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’ve recently been reading a devotion book called Extreme Devotion, which contains accounts of believers who have been persecuted for their faith. In a couple of the devotions it focuses on believers’ cries to “know God, and make Him known”. I love this because I believe that this is a huge part of what Christ-like living looks like for believers, for our school, and especially what it should look like for me. I believe the drive to know God calls us to a relationship with Him, to seek Him out (which can involve prayer and scripture reading), and seeking out His will and His heart for our lives. I believe that these are all important parts of the Christ-like living that Jesus calls us to. I believe the desire to make God known calls us to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19), to love deeply, to serve selflessly, and to live lives that reflect the Lord, and show the world just how loving, full of grace, and good our God is. I also believe that these are key parts to a living a life that imitates Christ. But in everything, I believe a defining factor in living a Christ-like life is the way that we choose to love each other. After all, it was Jesus who said, “This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other,” ( John 13:35). I believe striving to know God, desiring to make Him known, and loving deeply form a solid foundation to spring from, as we run the race marked out for us with perseverance and an incredible God at our side. Jenna Wild, Current PCS Secondary Student In addition to playing on the girl’s senior basketball team, Jenna is helping to lead a weekly bible study with secondary school international students as well as a weekly bible study with grade 7 girls.
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Pacer Press
Critical Thinking
ere is an interesting and important difference between teaching our younger students in the elementary school and our older students in the secondary: to send our younger students safely into the world, we need to teach them to obey authority. But to keep our older students safe (for example, from political and corporate forces with a vested interest in our passivity and ignorance), we need to teach them to question authority. To that end, critical thinking is a crucial skill. “Critical thinking,” while prominent in our vision statement, is sometimes less well understood than “Christ-like living” and “joyful service.” The problem seems to be that, for most of us, “critical thinking” sounds like something an overly judgmental person would do. And, in fact, critical thinking is about judgment — but in a good way! The history of the word makes the point: kritikos is Greek for “able to judge.” Critical thinking, then, is simply making a judgment. But in order to be critical thinking, it must be an informed judgment! And to do that, the basic process involves four steps: (1) identify the problem or issue, (2) gather information, (3) analyse that information, and (4) make a judgment. This process is no mystery to us, and we use it every day in all sorts of situations (deciding whether to buy or lease a car, how to vote, which church to attend, how to interpret a Bible passage, etc.). The basic idea is simple. The actual practice, however, is not. It turns out that we must use both judgment and creativity in all four steps of the process. Is something a problem or not? Are we seeing something new that others have missed? Which information should we gather, and which should we ignore? How shall we set up the criteria? What counts as a pro, what counts as a con, and how shall we weigh the relative strengths of each? How will we consider the sources of our information, watching for how they may be biased? Are we connecting the ‘dots’ of our information in a new and creative way? Will people understand that? This process, like all growth, is sometimes unsettling. But again, it is something we all do (or should!). And the more we are aware of and practise critical thinking, the better off we all will be. This is why critical thinking is such an important part of our vision. By teaching and modelling it, we are equipping our students to read the Bible more responsibly, to understand more fully what “Christlike living” involves, and to become more faithful and effective citizens in God’s world. Paul Teel PCS Secondary Instructor: Math / Christian Studies
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Joyful Service
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he Merriam-Webster Dictionary describes “joyful service” as causing great pleasure or happiness through the action of doing work for others. If our joyful service was only based on this definition, we would struggle greatly when our service is met with resistance or frustration. I Thessalonians 1:3, describes joyful service as labour prompted by love. Some days, joyful service comes easily; however, on the days when there are struggles we have to remember that we are serving the Lord when we give of our time and efforts to others. We hope we have the opportunity to positively touch the lives of those around us. Even when our service doesn’t feel joyful it helps to remember what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9:12, “This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.” Train your mind to seek Him in every moment, every situation. Sometimes you can find Him in your surroundings: a beautiful sunrise, a child’s smile, a delightful connection with a student. At other times, we must turn inward to find Him. He is always present in our spirit. Seek His face, speak to Him, and the joy that we find in that relationship will carry us through as we joyfully serve Him. (Romans 12:2) (Psalm 105:4) Andrea Loussarian, PCS Elementary Educational Assistant Janet Simmonds, PCS Elementary Teacher: Kindergarten
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am a proud PCS staff member and feel honoured by God to have been placed in this role within this community. I am committed to helping the school to accomplish its mission of nurturing students in Christ-like living, critical thinking and Joyful service to be faithful citizens in God’s world. We lead by example, the way Jesus did when he came to Earth: demonstrating joyful service at home and at work on a daily basis helps our children and students join us on the path of walking with joyful service. Moreover, our joyful service brings joy to God. God has asked us to offer our lives to him and worship him with joy, as expressed in Psalms 100: 2, “Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” God likes to see joy, even in the midst of great difficulties and adversities. Walking the path of joyful service is sometimes not easy but I surrender myself to being an instrument of the spirit and allowing God to take the lead. Today, I challenge you, the way I challenge myself every day, to walk the path of joyful service. It may be as simple as giving a friendly word or a smile to someone, or assisting someone in a simple and easy way – to take something down from a high shelf, to open a door, or to give directions. Working for a faith-based organization, inspired by all the members of our community who strive towards Christian education with such passion, creativity, positivity and determination, drives me to walk the path of joyful service. Veronica Godoy, PCS Accounts Receivable Clerk
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Pacer Press
Faithful Citizens in God’s World For God So Loved The World
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n this fast paced world, as a parent, grandparent and educator, I sometimes find myself focussed on the academic skills and knowledge children need to function in the world. When I stand back a bit and consider the bigger picture, I am reminded that the development of character and citizenship is critically foundational to becoming effective participants in this world, God’s world. Building character and citizenship does not just occur naturally but is the combined responsibility of parents, family and educational institutions. PCS embraces this by actively providing students with opportunities to understand and critically consider concepts such justice, mercy, freedom and rule of law in preparation for a lifetime of service. My children have been grown up for quite some time now, and I see the citizens they (and many others) have become. Sometimes what I see in them amazes me. I sense in them a deep, thoughtful consideration for life. I see a strong commitment to treating others with respect and compassion. I see acceptance that takes inclusivity to a whole new level. I sense a deep concern for the condition of our environment and a willingness to do without for the sake of others. I sense a deeper understanding of community and I see intentional seeking of common good. What is the most amazing of all is that, regardless of where they are in their walk of faith, much of what I see in them is reflected in Galatians 5, the fruits of the Spirit. Faithful citizenship is about experiencing the love of our Creator. It is about understanding how much He loves us and the world. It is his power through us that enables us to live productive lives in this, his world. Wilma van Wiltenburg, Parent of PCS Alumni
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have learned that I don’t have the wisdom or knowledge to concisely define what it means to be a faithful citizen in God’s world. However, I do have enough wisdom and knowledge (just) to know it when I see it. I see it a lot working at PCS. I saw it when my wife was hospitalized prior to the birth of our twins and the entire PCS community, from students, to staff, to parents, supported us with prayer. I saw it when some students who spent time with Jordan Czop came to me, nearly vibrating with excitement, to tell me they were going to put on a bake sale to raise money to help. I see it when teachers, support staff, administrators, office staff and janitors all give of themselves to make PCS a place that is welcoming, loving, supportive and nurturing. I see it when I talk with students that spend their free time organizing food drives, or collecting warm clothing for the homeless of Victoria. I can’t define it, but I love it when I see it. Tom Bingham, Secondary School Educational Assistant
Pacer Press
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fter our oldest son graduated, we felt that it was time to begin exploring options in teaching/missions work. We had been talking about it for years. Was it finally time? After minimal exploration, we knew emphatically that God was ‘calling us’ to go to Venezuela. In spite of our doubts, doors opened, and things fell into place: jobs for both of us, financial support and housing for our family of four, travel plans. We were praying, and feeling peace and passion. We felt that we were being faithful to God by going to a foreign country to serve. But teaching internationally exposed my wife and me to a whole new perspective on God’s will. In many international schools, teachers need to decide in the first quarter whether they plan to stay where they are, to apply for jobs elsewhere, or to return home. Soon after settling in to Venezuela, we found ourselves assaulted by pressure and expectation to make that decision. “Just pray that you will know God’s will,” people said. Along with many other teachers who had come to South America following God’s leading, we needed to decide then and there what we would do the following school year. It was only October. If we chose to stay, we could really dig in and invest in the programs and people we were working with. If we chose to leave, we would have to make an official announcement to staff and students, and more or less begin our good-byes. We did not feel peace. We did not see doors open, but instead realized that friendships and opportunities were going to close on us either way. What would happen if we misjudged “God’s will” and made the wrong decision? Then we asked ourselves this question: What if God doesn’t care as much about where we are as who we are? Can we be missionaries in Venezuela or Zambia or Victoria? Yes, if we choose to. Can we live selfishly and egocentrically in Revelstoke, China or Madagascar? Of course! Can we serve and live a life worthy of the calling Christ has on our lives anywhere at any time? Can we give praise to our maker from wherever we happen to be? That is our ultimate hope. The ultimate question: Are you serving as God’s faithful citizen in Victoria, B.C.? Gabe Kremler, PCS Middle School Athletic Director
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hen people ask me where my children go to school, I love to share that they attend Pacific Christian School. I’m not always able to elaborate in these casual conversations, but given the chance, I would share that much of what I love about our school has something to do with our vision and mission at PCS. The school’s vision of Educational Excellence to the Glory of God translates into an experience for my child that I believe is unmatched in our city. It means that in every aspect of our school environment, the people who make my child’s day ‘happen’ are pursuing excellence in what they do. Not only that, the pursuit of this excellence is not for our own sake or pride, but for the purpose of bringing glory and honour to our King. The excellence we strive for is not me-focused, but Godfocused. This constant pursuit of God-focused excellence provides my children with an outstanding education that is not only about their minds and bodies, but more importantly, is also about their spirit and soul. They are taught to exercise their minds through the curriculum and are taught the ways of the LORD with diligence, faithfulness and integrity. Educational excellence to the glory of God is this strategic, disciplined and intentional approach to teaching the whole being of each of our children. How do we know we are successful? The evidence is my children living like Christ, thinking critically through life’s challenges, and joyfully serving those around them. The evidence is all around us in over 1000 people on our campus. Praise God! Heidi Young-Thompson PCS Parent and Secretary of the VCES Board of Directors
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Pacer Press
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e hope you’ve enjoyed this edition of the Pacer Press and our exploration of “Educational Excellence to the Glory of God.” We also included a few of our ads on this page. You might have seen them in various publications in the Victoria area. If you see them in the future, be sure to use them to tell others about PCS! You are encouraged to continue connecting with the PCS community. Thumbnail, our weekly e-newsletter is a good way to learn about upcoming events. If you aren’t on the distribution list, be sure to sign up by emailing us at development@pacificchristian.ca.
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Grad class of 2014
Educational Excellence to the Glory of God
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