Why a Christian Education?

You may come to the conclusion that you know that your child should be in a Christian School but you simply cannot afford it, even with sacrificial changes in your spending. Please do not lose heart! Take a moment to review our Ministry Philosophy of Tuition & Financial Aid. We have seen many examples of God’s provision for families in some amazing ways.

We encourage you to schedule an Educational Success Consultation to  discuss your financial situation with our administrator. With God, anything is possible!

 Consider the implications of the following quote from Paul Tough’s book, “How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character” Boston: Mariner Books, 2012. Print. Page 150:

“Over the past few years, it has become clear that the United States does not so much have a problem of limited and unequal college access;  it has a problem of limited and unequal college completion. Among the thirty-four member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation, or OECD, the United States still ranks a respectable eighth in its college enrollment rates. But in college completion – the percentage of entering college freshmen who go on to graduate – the United States ranks second to last, ahead of only Italy. Not long ago, the United States led the world in producing college graduates; now it leads the world in producing college dropouts.”

The issue in America is not that we need better programs and choices. We need better character. America’s educational leadership in the world is deteriorating. Lack of character development is the issue. The Word of God is the answer and remains the guiding light in a quality Christian education.

At Christ Lutheran School we believe providing academic choices to families is desirable, but we do not try to compete with the breadth of programs offered by public schools. We believe academics are very important but without strong character development the child’s ability to succeed as an adult will be unnecessarily thwarted. The Word of God, not human opinion or the latest “expert”, is the final authority on character development. We are striving to integrate it’s precepts into everything we do.

To learn more about how to improve your child’s potential to succeed in life, schedule an Educational Success Consultation  with our administrator.

Some parents feel led by the Lord to homeschool their children in a family Christian environment. Other families homeschool in order to “avoid” their local public school system. Some families homeschool due to the flexibile schedule it provides.

In all of these cases, the parents remain responsible for the development of their children. Consider, however, that Christ Lutheran School provides opportunities for parents to be involved in the educational process of their child through a variety of volunteer opportunities. With small class sizes and a gifted teaching staff, children learn social skills and receive hands-on science instruction that is often difficult to provide in a true homeschool setting.

Your child will thrive at Christ Lutheran with challenging academic and elective classes, as well as extracurricular activities such as athletics, music, and drama, all in a secure, Christ-centered, Christian education environment in Albuquerque.

You can learn more about these options by scheduling an Educational Success Consultation with our administrator.

There is a common misconception that Christian Schools shelter children from every temptation and sinful exposure. That is not true, nor is it even possible. All children come into the world with a sin nature, and are prone to selfishness, anger, malicious talk, coveting etc. All of us are exposed to many of the worldly influences that all children are exposed to in movies, books, television, the internet and more.  

At Christ Lutheran School we seek to prepare our children to engage the world with Christ, not to shelter them from the world. We accomplish this by bringing the Word of God into every circumstance of a child’s life in order to build a Godly foundation and develop critical thinking. Hence the goal is to produce adults that have been trained for Godly living and thinking in a world full of temptations where they battle their own weaknesses as a fallen human being. They learn: “I can do nothing apart from Christ”.

To learn more about how to effectively prepare your child for the “real” world, schedule an Educational Success Consultation with our Christian private school administrator.

There is no doubt that Christians are called to be salt and light in the world. But we need to better understand what this means in relation to our children.

To bring a Christian influence into a dark and sinful world we must first be authentic, Christ-centered, Christians. You must ask yourself, “Is my child a baptized believer?” If the answer is yes, the next question is, “In what way can my child be salt and light?”

Statistics tell us that the Church is currently losing 70% of it’s worshiping children to the world when they reach their 20’s.

The questions need to be asked: Is my child so rooted in their faith that they can have an impact for Christ in their school? Can they effectively share, explain, and defend the gospel? Can they disciple another believer, teaching them how to walk in a relationship with Jesus? Can they defend the faith when under attack even from a teacher? Can they withstand the bombardment of secular teaching, immoral values, destructives thinking and worldly-centered acquaintances? Can they do seven plus hours a day without any harm or destructive influence to their Christian values and beliefs?

In the vast majority of cases, the answer would be no, and if the answer is no, then your child cannot effectively be salt and light in a hostile environment. And in the rare case where the answer may be yes, you are putting your child into an environment that is not Christian in philosophy and one that is exposing them to daily teachings that replace God in every subject and in every area of life. How many young Christians can carefully discern that they are being taught worldly ways of thought?

You might ask, why is it so difficult for them to be “salt” and “light”? It’s really quite simple – they are children. Children are to be raised up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. They are to be carefully instructed in the things of God while the “clay is soft” (hearts and minds easily influenced). This is the very process God ordained, that they might become salt and light. Their primary calling is to be a good student that grows and matures into a disciple that wears the name of Jesus Christ, and who bears fruit (salt and light) as they engage the world.

That brings us full circle back to the Christian parents’ responsibility. We are called to protect and nurture our children in the ways of Christ so that they can grow up to be world changers for Christ – no longer little saplings, but instead, strong oaks for the Lord!

To learn more about the amazing opportunity of a Christian education in Albuquerque, schedule an Educational Success Consultation with our administrator.

We thank God for Christian teachers who are called to serve in the public schools. However, due to an increasingly hostile culture, they are not allowed to teach about God which puts them into an incredibly difficult situation. They are trying to be an influence for the Lord, but the most important tool they have, they are not allowed legally to use – the Word of God (the Bible).

Children and adults alike need to learn and be transformed by the power of the Word of God. It is the very basis of all truth and a reverent fear of its Author (God) is foundational to growing in wisdom. In John 17:17, Jesus prays for His people and says, “Sanctify them by the truth, Your word is truth”.

Christians grow in faith and become more like Christ as they hear the Word of God. Their Character is shaped with integrity and respect. Yet the Book of Truth and its Author have been expelled from public education. This is why Christian education is so critical for our generation.

To learn more about the life changing benefits of enrolling in a Christian private school in Albuquerque, schedule an Educational Success Consultation with our administrator.

We will never know where you might be in your Christian walk today if you had daily study of the Bible in a Spirit filled community of faith from Kindergarten through high school or even college! There is no benefit in such speculation. But we do know that the Word of God is ignored in the public arena and teachers are forbidden to teach it. Yet, to us it is the power of God to transform a life and that is exactly what it does in the heart of a young person as their beliefs and values are being formed.

In the public arena their values are being largely shaped by secular humanism with God being not only irrelevant, but non-existent. If you believe the Word of God should be systematically used in the development of your child’s character and values, Christian education is your only option.

Christian education is vital for shaping the lives of our children. Statistics demonstrate that 70% of children raised in the church are leaving their faith when they reach college. The influences of a secular educational system greatly contributes to young people leaving the church to live “in the world”.

While a Christian education is certainly no guarantee your child will remain in the Kingdom of Faith in Jesus Christ, it does enable him to receive an excellent education with a Biblical worldview shaped and molded in a loving and grace-filled, Christ centered, educational environment.

To learn more about the benefits of enrolling in an Albuquereque Christian private school, schedule an Educational Success Consultation with our administrator.

Here’s the good news for Christian schools. The incredible exception to these abysmal college completion rates are private Christian and Catholic schools. Here’s the 2012 4-year college completion rates of over 15,000 high school sophomores randomly selected in 2002:

4-Year College Completion Rates

Education Longitudinal Study of 2012

High School Sophomores: 10 Years Later

2002 High School Type Bachelor’s degree or higher (Percentage)

Public (including Charter Schools) 31.1%

Catholic 61.9%

Other Private 57.1%

In other words, our high school students graduate at TWICE the rate of public educated school children. Even adjusting these numbers to reflect the current national public school graduation rate, the college graduation rate for children who attend Christian high schools is still about 17 percentage points higher that their public school counterparts.

(On a related note. Hispanics who attend religious schools are 9 times more likely to attend college. 9 times!)

To learn more about the benefits of a Christ centered education, schedule an Educational Success Consultation with our administrator.

Source: Ramirez and Carpenter: “Understanding the Under-achievement Gap”