Mars Hill Academy Foundational Documents
History and Philosophy of the Foundational Documents
In June of 2001, the School Board formed an ad hoc committee
called “Foundational Documents Committee” with the
express purpose of doing the following:
“To identify, establish, refine and coordinate the defining
vision, philosophy, assumptions (both theological and cultural)
of MHA. A subordinate purpose of the committee is to ensure the
effective communication of the above values and priorities to
the MHA parent community.”
Families that are considering Mars Hill Academy for their children
should carefully read this document in order to understand the
basis for the covenantal education we offer. When reading, please
begin with the Mission Statement and end with the World &
Life Assumptions, the latter being most important in defining
MHA as a Christian school. Also, it would be helpful to remember
that these four “statements” should be read in light
of one another, which allows for each document to help interpret
and illuminate the others.
- The MHA Mission Statement
is a brief statement of what our most central purpose is as
a school. It is intentionally brief, suitable for parents to
easily pass on to others and for use in situations where a lengthier
statement (or discussion) would not be appropriate.
- The MHA Vision Statement is
intended to provide a “snapshot,” if you will, of
the most important parties in the school – students, staff,
and parents – and what our vision is for them. It is more
manageable in scope, but still remains sufficiently broad.
- The MHA Educational Foundations
are the convictions, ideas, and beliefs that we have about education
in general, and MHA in particular, which are rooted in our World
& Life Assumptions and provide the foundation for many of
the specific ideas, values, and emphases that will make MHA
a unique place to go to school. Again, these are not intended
to be exhaustive, but sufficient and representative.
- The MHA World & Life
Assumptions are just what they say they are: ideas, opinions,
and judgments that we assume to be true about the most basic
and fundamental issues. They are necessarily non MHA-specific
and non-exhaustive. Everyone, including the unbeliever, makes
assumptions; Christians should be conscious and intentional
to ensure that we know what our assumptions are and how they
affect how we look at the world.
MHA Mission Statement
Mars Hill Academy exists to assist parents in the duty of covenantal
training of their children by offering academic instruction from
a consistent, integrated Christian perspective, by equipping our
students to learn for themselves using the proven classical method,
and by providing them with an orderly and engaging atmosphere
conducive to the attainment of our goals.
MHA Vision Statement
We aim to graduate young men and women who think clearly and
listen carefully with discernment and understanding, who reason
persuasively and speak precisely, who are capable of evaluating
all human knowledge and experience in the light of the Scriptures,
and who do so with eagerness in joyful submission to God. We desire
them to recognize cultural influences as distinct from biblical,
and to be unswayed toward evil by the former. We aim to find them
well prepared in all situations, possessing both knowledge and
the wisdom to know how to use it. We desire they be socially graceful
and spiritually gracious; equipped with and understanding the
tools of learning; desiring to grow in understanding, yet fully
realizing the limitations and foolishness of the wisdom of this
world. We desire they have a heart for the lost and the courage
to seek to dissuade those who are stumbling towards destruction,
that they distinguish real religion from religion in form only,
and that they possess the former, knowing and loving the Lord
Jesus Christ. And all these we desire them to possess with humility
and gratitude to God.
We likewise aim to cultivate these same qualities in our staff
and to see them well paid so that they may make a career at Mars
Hill. We desire them to be professional and diligent in their
work, gifted in teaching, loving their students and their subjects.
We desire they clearly understand classical education, how it
works in their classroom and how their work fits into the whole;
that they possess a lifelong hunger to learn and grow and that
they have opportunity to be refreshed and renewed. We desire to
see them coach and nurture new staff and to serve as academic
mentors to students. We look to see them mature in Christ, growing
in the knowledge of God, their own children walking with the Lord.
We aim to cultivate in our parents a sense of responsibility
for the school; to see them well informed about the goals of our
classical and Christ-centered approach. We desire them to grow
with the school, involved in and excited about the journey. We
aim to help them to follow biblical principles in addressing concerns,
to be inclined to hearing both sides of a story before rendering
a verdict, and to embrace the Scripture’s injunctions to
encourage and stir one another up to love and good works.
Finally, in our relationship with our community, we aim to be
above reproach in our business dealings and supportive of the
local business community. We further seek to exemplify the unity
of the body of Christ, to develop greater fellowship and understanding
with churches, and to bring honor to our Lord in all our endeavors.
MHA Educational Foundations
Education Defined
Learning takes place each time a person experiences something
new. Education, however, is more than the sum total of facts,
people, processes, skills, and experiences imparted in the classroom.
Fundamentally, education involves the transmission of a manner
of thinking about the most important and inescapable ideas that
would result in changed behavior. Historically speaking, one distinguished
the education that took place through the study of the Liberal
Arts (Grammar, Logic, Rhetoric, Astronomy, Arithmetic, Music,
and Geometry) from the varied vocational training programs that
taught a student a skill or task in order to be a productive member
of society. The ancient Greeks would have reasoned that the former
was the only suitable form of education for a free man (hence,
the derivation of “liberal” education), while the
latter was appropriate for the slave, who didn’t have to
think, but merely obey and execute. We wish to maintain this important
distinction between education and vocational training at MHA,
believing that we are called, as a classical and Christian school,
to do the former. It is important to note that while a well-educated
man could easily learn the skills of the slave, it is unreasonable
to believe that the slave could do the reverse. Historically,
a school like MHA (and most certainly the universities and colleges)
dealt in education, not in vocational training, which was best
suited for apprenticeships and trade schools. The fact that many
(if not most) have abandoned a liberal education for a vocational
one provides an even greater impetus and rationale for the existence
of genuinely classical and Christian secondary schools and colleges.
Classical and Christian Methods
While no pedagogy is inspired, the method of educating children
initiated in classical Greece, developed in Rome, and brought
to its fullest and brightest expression in the Middle Ages –
the Trivium - is the best human system for developing the intellectual
capabilities of children and young adults. Our Grammar School
will teach students to memorize and observe, in addition to providing
each student with basic proficiency in writing, reading, and arithmetic.
Our younger Rhetoric School students will be taught dialectic
– or logic – and how to reason from a logical and
explicitly Christian perspective. The ordered relationships between
ideas, events, and data will form the backbone of their study.
Finally, our older Rhetoric School students will be given ample
opportunity for self-expression, creativity, and the evaluation
of seminal ideas in man’s dealings with God and His creation.
A multi-year study of classical rhetoric will provide the students
with the necessary tools to do this well. The MHA Board, Administration,
and Faculty are whole-heartedly committed to this model of education,
which aims to teach students to think and learn for themselves.
We will strive to grow in our understanding and implementation
of what a classical education involved in the past and what it
will look like at MHA for future generations seeking to “recover
the lost tools of learning.” Dorothy Sayers’ lecture,
“The Lost Tools of Learning” and John Milton Gregory’s
book, The Seven Laws of Teaching will be the primary instruments
we use to judge whether we are successful in doing this.
Classical and Christian Content
The philosophical, literary, scientific, and theological heritage
of the Christian West is a rich one. It is our intention to make
the students very familiar with it. We do this for two reasons:
First, in order to know where one should go in the future, it
is imperative that one understands where he has been. We must
have context. The content of our students’ study at MHA
is designed to equip them to know, understand and critically evaluate
their heritage that forms the foundation for nearly everything
they see around them. Second, we believe that because Christianity
has seen its deepest roots in the West, its cultural “artifacts”
are the most deeply Christian (with important counter-examples
noted) and, therefore, most lovely. Since the Scripture commands
us to meditate on these things, we do so without apology.
Classical and Christian Results
Mars Hill Academy students will gain the ability to learn independently
from teachers. They will be well equipped to learn a new language,
read and understand primary source documents, reason inductively
and deductively as the situation demands, and they will, by God’s
grace, find biblical principles at their disposal as they consider
the important issues of the day. They will also be avid readers
and interdisciplinary thinkers. They will be poised and persuasive
when speaking publicly. Their writing will be elegant and forceful;
creative and purposeful. In short, they will have been prepared
with the tools of learning. College professors, employers, and
friends will find MHA graduates to think from principle, write
and speak in measured and well-reasoned thoughts, and be diligent
in seeing a job or task through to its completion. They will also
find them unapologetically Christian in their convictions and
desires.
Students
Students come to Mars Hill Academy ready to work for a time and
at a level commensurate with their physical and mental abilities.
MHA is a student’s workplace. The social interaction and
spiritual training that takes place during school hours are subordinate
goals for a school. They are better taught in the context of church
and home. Work is a gift from God, given before the Fall, which
should be relished and enjoyed, not despised. Thus, a sense of
responsibility and diligence, not to mention joy, should characterize
MHA classrooms. Students in the School of Rhetoric will evidence
an increasing social maturity, intellectual curiosity and independence,
and Spirit-given fruit that will cause them to love the true things,
the good things, and the beautiful things. In general, MHA students
will perform at a level equal to or higher than most of their
peers. Finally, we also desire to see appropriate expressions
of God-given masculinity and femininity throughout the life of
the school. Our social interaction, dress, speech, and programming
will all attempt to adorn, rather than destroy, the fact that
God created two beautiful and complementary persons when he made
man “male and female.”
Teachers
MHA teachers will be bright, highly motivated, industrious, and
humble. They will love each student in their classroom, viewing
each child as a gift from God and teaching as an opportunity to
sow seeds of grace and truth deep within the students’ hearts.
They will also evidence a strong desire to grow intellectually
and spiritually throughout their lives and be eager to discover
and implement classical teaching methods, knowing that recovering
the lost tools of learning begins with them. Most importantly,
they will possess a radically God-centered worldview that informs
all they set their hands to do. They will not be perfect, but
competent and teachable. They will not assume to know their students
better than the children’s parents, but offer encouragement
and helpful criticism as appropriate.
School Board
Our School Board consists of Christians who have demonstrated
themselves to be spiritually mature and gifted for school leadership.
Board members possess a love for and a commitment to classical
education, never believing they fully understand all that it encompasses
but always seeking to grow and learn. They will provide institutional
vision, leadership, and serve as spiritual examples to the school
community, resisting the influences and biases of the prevailing
culture, where appropriate, to boldly direct the school in pursuit
of its mission, vision, and goals.
School
MHA aims to assist parents in fulfilling their God-ordained duties
to “bring up a child in the fear and nurture of the LORD.”
As such, MHA operates as a servant to its parent constituency.
We have obviously chosen a particular means of doing this: classical
and Christian education. Parents may, or may not, agree with MHA’s
approach to the training and education of children and yet, choosing
to join the MHA community, signal their intention to joyfully
submit to the school’s stated philosophies, policies, programs,
etc. While believing very strongly in the uniqueness and efficacy
of the classical method, we wish to affirm the legitimacy of other
approaches to education, provided they are intentionally Christian.
Life Together
We desire that MHA would support both the family and the church
in their respective missions under God’s providential hand,
neither assuming too much nor doing too little for either. Parents
will be encouraged to remain vitally engaged in their child’s
education. In addition, we pray that God would grant us an atmosphere
of love, forbearance, hard work, joy, and intellectual curiosity
that would inspire and edify us while honoring Him. We will resist
the temptation to gossip, think ill of one another, or to presume
the worst, making sure to obey God’s word with regards to
our personal relationships. Parents, not teachers, will bear the
primary responsibility for remaining informed about their child’s
progress at MHA. The staff will attempt to help parents in this
endeavor through regular and helpful communication. Our school
culture, academic and co-curricular programs, and personal relationships
should imitate, as God gives us grace, the examples and teaching
laid down in Holy Scripture and in the most truthful, good, and
beautiful traditions of the Christian West.
MHA World and Life Assumptions
The Westminster Confession of Faith, Larger Catechism and Shorter
Catechism define the scope and elements of Christian truth that
Board Members, Administrators, and Teachers must affirm and adopt
to be considered for positions at Mars Hill Academy. While we
see no need to add a second doctrinal definition, as we believe
the Confession to be sufficient, we do want to emphasize certain
theological truths as they relate to education. The Westminster
Confession of Faith, the Larger Catechism and Shorter Catechism
should be considered part of the World & Life Assumptions
that support and animate the MHA Educational Foundations, Vision
Statement, and Mission Statement.
Sovereignty
God alone is sovereign and non-contingent. He possesses absolute
authority over all things. He has created all things, sustains
all things, and governs all things. He is the fountain of all
being and truth. He works all things together for His own glory,
which is the ground and the goal of all creation, providence,
and redemption.
Holy Scripture
The LORD has revealed Himself to us authoritatively, perfectly,
and therefore sufficiently, although not exhaustively, in His
Son, Jesus Christ, and in His written expression of his wisdom,
the Bible. It is the only infallible rule of faith and life for
the Church and as such, should be treasured, studied, believed,
and humbly acted upon by all who call themselves Christian. As
one theologian put it, “The Scriptures speak authoritatively
in all that they address and they address everything.” We
would agree, with the caveat that they do not address everything
in the same manner, or with the same degree of specificity. We
reject any attempt to pit a thoughtful, contextually sensitive,
and theologically astute reading of Scripture against a warm,
heartfelt, devotional reading. We must not leave “interpretation”
to the scholars and “application” to the pastors.
Every Christian should do both. As Christians, we confess our
need to study, meditate, pray, and obey more than we commonly
do, believing that in the Scriptures we will find real life.
Creation
The Scriptures tells us unequivocally that God created everything
and it was good. The author of Hebrews tells us that we understand
this truth “by faith.” We repudiate, therefore, the
modern tendency to accommodate the Creation account (Genesis 1
and 2) to modern scientific discoveries and theories, believing
that the goal of Christian scientists is to teach a humble science
– one that is ultimately governed by the truths of the Scriptures.
Because the origin of all created matter has intrinsic unity,
the Christian scientist finds meaning and purpose in scientific
inquiry, seeing it as an essential component of the command to
have dominion over the physical creation. The fruit of man’s
labors, provided it proceeds from a heart of faith and not sin
or selfish ambition, is good, as well. We rejoice that God was
pleased to create flesh, not merely spirits, and assume that God
desires us to use our bodies and the entire earthly and heavenly
creation around us for His glory. Man was created male and female,
that is, he created man differently. We reject the modern notion
that we should, for all practical purposes, ignore this distinction
and treat men and women (and boys and girls) the same.
Antithesis
Because of man’s fall in Adam, Christians find themselves
surrounded by ideas and actions that are squarely opposed to the
way of thinking and living revealed in Holy Scripture. This notion
is perhaps best captured by the word antithesis. Some of these
ideas and actions are easily recognizable as pagan in origin,
while others are extremely subtle, and as a consequence, require
tremendous discernment. It is very likely that in order to provide
a truly God-centered and Christian education (not to mention classical),
it will be necessary to break completely free from the educational
philosophy and policy around us. As Christians living in a fallen
culture, we must be careful not to make unbiblical assumptions
about any area of life, but commit ourselves to a diligent study
of Holy Scripture and pray that God would give true discernment
as we live in the midst of an unbelieving world seeking to take
“every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”
Worldview
Christianity is more than a set of propositions supported by proof
texts. It is rather an entire system of thought. A worldview shapes
our perspective and interpretation of everything else in the world.
Christianity must be viewed as a whole and not just as a collection
of discrete elements. As the Dutch theologian, journalist, and
statesman Abraham Kuyper said, “There is not a single square
inch of creation over which Jesus Christ does not shout, ‘Mine!’”
The Christian’s worldview is the “lens” through
which we see, understand, and teach all things. It is antithetical
to all other worldviews and thus, requires that we present all
ideas and concepts as part of a larger whole defined by Christian
truth.
Christian Aesthetic
Perhaps nowhere is the absence of genuinely Christian thinking
more evident than in the realm of aesthetics. Ethics and epistemology
(the science of knowledge) have received ample evangelical attention,
but not aesthetics. We are the worse for it. We believe that the
infallible rule of Scripture and the historic witness of the Church
call Christians to make judgments of “good-better-best”
and “bad-worse-worst” in every area of life. Paul’s
aesthetic manifesto is quickly summarized in Philippians 4:8,
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things
are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure,
whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report,
if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy --
meditate on these things.” God has called us to embrace
a life of moral and aesthetic virtue, preferring cultural icons
and artifacts that have enduring, classical power and grace.
History
Paul tells the Corinthians that the Israelites’ experience
in the Wilderness was recorded “for their instruction.”
MHA affirms the legitimacy and necessity of cultivating a historically
informed mind, so that we might follow our ancestors in their
faithfulness and repudiate their sin. Every generation, every
culture, and every age demonstrates the fallen character of man’s
heart in unique and often subtle ways. To think that our own contemporary
age is exempt from sin would be naïve. C.S. Lewis labeled
this perspective “chronological snobbery.” We need
our brothers and sisters from past decades, centuries, and millennia
- a council affectionately known as the “democracy of the
dead” – as well as contemporary voices to help us
see the emptiness of our current perspective and situation. Even
pagans know that those ignorant of the past are doomed to repeat
it. Therefore, Christians individually and collectively should
acknowledge our dependence on and need for an historical perspective.
The LORD exhorts the people of God living in physical, moral,
and spiritual exile to "Stand by the roads, and look, and
ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in
it, and find rest for your souls…” Christians should
relinquish the modern evolutionary assumption that only what is
“new” is worthwhile, preferring instead to walk on
the ancient path of Christian faithfulness and mercy that stretches
back to the garden of Eden.
Children
Children, like all men and women, have been uniquely “knit
together” by God in their mother’s womb and bear the
image of God in their entire person, which means their lives have
a dignity and significance that is unparalleled in the created
world. At the same time, because of the Fall, children are now,
by nature and experience, sinful, self-centered, and stand under
God’s holy wrath, apart from the saving work of Christ.
Even assuming God’s supernatural work in a child’s
life, they remain, by definition, immature and need the loving
training of parents, grandparents, pastors, teachers, and other
adults to bring them to a mature status in Christ. Parents are
fully responsible for this training, even when they have delegated
a portion of it to another.
Family
The family is the most central of divinely appointed, human societies,
as it is the “training ground” for godly living in
all others. Our homes are “little churches” and “little
states.” Without biblically virtuous homes, the Church and
the State are hopelessly lost. We believe God has called Christian
parents into a personal and corporate covenant with Himself –
through His body, the Church – and that when God blesses
a man and woman with children, those children are holy because
they are children of the covenant. These “covenant households”
are led by covenant heads (fathers), to study, pray, worship,
and live together in a spirit of love, respect, and peace that
comes from the LORD. Fathers should set biblical priorities for
themselves and their children and reject the unbiblical priorities
of the culture around them. Mothers should assist the father in
the training of covenant children, as the Scriptures indicate
the inestimable role that mothers have in shaping the character
and piety (and worldview) of their children. Family life should
be shaped by a joyful, Word-centered intentionality. Families
led by godly fathers should be deeply committed to Christian education
as a duty and privilege, and desirous of growing in their understanding
of what constitutes a classical and Christian education, taking
advantage of all available opportunities (books, tapes, conferences,
spending time at the school) to do so.
Personal Holiness
The Scriptures command and empower the Christian to be holy because
God is holy. For this reason, we must strive to live lives that
are above reproach, refusing to allow temptation and sin to rule
our bodies, hearts, and minds. Stated positively, we are to “love
the LORD our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength,
and love our neighbor as ourselves.” In doing this, we fulfill
the Law of Christ and give evidence of the Spirit’s fruitful
work within us. Christians must resist the inclinations of their
own hearts and the deceptive activity of Satan. When Christians
do sin, we should be quick to repent, ask forgiveness from God
and any offended party, and offer restitution. Adult Christians
should model these ideals to their children, in addition to teaching
them “as they go along the way.”
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