Swimming Against the Stream: Re-dedicating to Parochial School Education in a Post-Christian Context

Speckhard, Peter

Etd

Swimming Against the Stream: Re-dedicating to Parochial School Education in a Post-Christian Context

Public Deposited

MLA citation style (9th ed.)

Speckhard, Peter. Swimming Against the Stream: Re-dedicating to Parochial School Education In a Post-christian Context. rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/48427bb4-d837-4cce-8b90-b0cbdfbba52f.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

S. Peter. Swimming Against the Stream: Re-dedicating to Parochial School Education in a Post-Christian Context. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/48427bb4-d837-4cce-8b90-b0cbdfbba52f

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

Speckhard, Peter. Swimming Against the Stream: Re-Dedicating to Parochial School Education In a Post-Christian Context. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/48427bb4-d837-4cce-8b90-b0cbdfbba52f.

Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.

Creator

Speckhard, Peter

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Abstract

This project evaluates a congregation's readiness to continue offering K-8 parochial education despite the contextual changes that make offering such a ministry increasingly difficult. The key question is whether the congregation understands the purpose of the parochial school in the same way that those who started the school understood their purpose in doing so. Institutions, including parochial schools, have a tendency to take their raison d'être for granted and begin to exist for the sake of perpetuating themselves as institutions. To re-dedicate to parochial school ministry in a worthwhile way that serves the true mission for which it was founded, a congregation must evaluate its own assumptions about, goals for, and perceptions of the school ministry. This project provides a template for honestly evaluating the pros and cons of continuing to operate a parochial school in difficult circumstances and honestly comparing the stated, original purposes for the school with the actual purposes for the school in the minds of the congregation members. It offers an example of one way to take a congregation through this self-examination process and in this case, how to help the congregation re-dedicate itself to parochial school ministry.

Year