What can Christian Schools learn from churches?

I recently discovered a pastor by the name of Carey Nieuwhof. He writes a blog and runs a podcast about leadership in churches. (Oh yeah, he pastors a church too.) I've been really impacted by what he writes and the interviews he has on his podcasts. I highly recommend that you follow him. Check out his blog.

One recent post really made me think. He's been writing about trends that are impacting churches and wrote a blog post about the ones he thinks will be a big impact on churches in 2018. I've been wondering how many of these will and should impact Christian schools too. First, go read his post here. Then I'll share my two cents as to how this might apply to Christian schools here:

So here are my first thoughts on each point Carey raises as it relates to Christian schools. I'm certain we could go a lot deeper that these first surface impressions.

Point 1: A Move Beyond Church In A Box

The local school isn't going away and shouldn't go away. But why are we constrained by the four walls of a building? or even the kind of building? How can we leverage the tools we have to extend the reach of our schools?

Point 2: The Digital Will Become Real

I've heard from too many teachers/parents/administrators who don't believe that this is true. I've even heard it from students. This change is coming. Are we ready to act in this space?

Point 3: Location Independence Will Rise

I think this will become increasingly true at the high school level. The one reason it won't develop as strongly at the elementary level is because of Day Care. The local elementary school provides a place for parents to have their children during the day. That means that there must be a physical locale to which they go. But even with that true it will become increasingly possible to use remote tools in the classroom. What opportunities are there for us here?

Point 4: Pop-Up Churches Will Become More Common

This idea intrigues me. What if we did pop-up Christian schools? Day camps, week camps in the summer? Project Base Learning experiences that travel around the province? This is an interesting idea, although I'm not really sure how it would apply in the school context. I would love to explore it though!

Point 5: The Rise Of Preaching (More Than Teaching)

When I first read this point I didn't see how it could possibly apply to schools. But my thinking on this is changing. I see it in the way we run our schools. The emotional, relational, experiential components of school have become increasingly more important. I've certainly a significant change it what happens in the classroom during my short career as a teacher.

Point 6: A Desire For Non-Downloadable Experiences

I love the contrast between this point and his earlier points! Even as the digital becomes more important, the non-Digital is critical! We must identify those learning experiences that really only work in face to face settings and make those central to what school is. The challenge is, what are those experiences that are best face to face?

Point 7: The Team Is Eclipsing The Solo Leader

I find this pointing interesting. I see how much difficulty the Christian schools are having in finding administrators to run the schools. I wonder if the leadership model we're using needs to change and perhaps Carey's points about the team may hold parts of the answer.


So, there are my first thoughts. I think there's a lot more here to contemplate. I'd love to hear your thoughts too.