Spiritual Life
“There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!'”
-Abraham Kuyper
Southeast Christian School is not just a private or religious school. We are not just Christian in title, because we believe that bearing the name of Christ is a huge privilege and responsibility. We believe with all of our hearts that God is Sovereign over all things and that every fabric of our being belongs to Him. As such, we desire and pray for God’s Spirit to be evident in all that we do and in all that we are and our hope is that you experience the presence of Christ as you journey with us.
We seek to be a community marked by grace; a people who daily tell and model the redemptive work of Christ. As a covenant school, we chose to partner with Christian families to help educate and disciple students to become who God has ordained them to be. We take our mission seriously and each day we are guided by this mission: to prepare minds and hearts to know and serve God for His glory alone!
We invite you to browse through the following information to better understand the core values, biblical principles, and heart of discipleship that we strive to offer.
What is a Biblical Worldview?
The concept of worldviews has been around for decades but in more recent times has become largely studied and applied to the world of Christian education. According to Dr. Jeff Meyers, President of Summit Ministries, a biblical worldview is “a pattern of ideas, beliefs, convictions, and habits that help us make sense of God, the world, and our relationship to God and the world.” George Barna’s recent research indicates that an individual’s worldview (how they understand and interact with the world world) will be set for life by the age of 13. In other words, what they believe to be true about the world (God, History, Morality, etc.) at the age of 13 will be how they view the world for the rest of their lives! Why wouldn’t we provide our children with every possible opportunity to develop a Christ-centered, biblical worldview while they are young – what greater gift can there be to give?
As C.S. Lewis put it, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” We want our students to see their entire world through the lens of God’s eternal Word. When they are here learning about Science, Math, History, Language Arts, they are not only learning basic skills and essential information, they are also learning to see and understand everything they encounter through the lens of the light of Christ.
In a world where countless voices vie for the attention of your children, we strive to surround them with God’s Truth and teach them to apply that Truth to all areas of their lives. The development and practice of a biblical worldview is essential to who we are.
Chapel
Each week, our entire K-8 community gathers together to celebrate what God is doing in our community and to study God’s Word and worship together. Watching students from over 40 different churches and denominations come together and worship together is something that makes SCS unique. Whether we are in an all-school chapel, or a grade specific chapel, we continually work to provide the rhythm of worship and Word to celebrate what God is doing in our school and community. It is not uncommon for local pastors and other leaders to speak during our chapel times. Parents are encouraged to attend these times and worship with us!
Statement of Faith
The statement of faith is a common agreement that all of our staff and families agree to follow. For a detailed overview of our statement of faith, please see: (insert link to this section of website here).
Staff Devotions and Worldview Development
As an ACSI accredited school, all staff are required to make routine Bible study a part of their ongoing professional development. Our weekly staff devotions allow our team to unite around our mission and to encourage each other in both our individual and corporate walks with Christ. Staff worship together, apply scripture together, and carry each other’s burdens in prayer as we dedicate ourselves to seeing God’s kingdom come, His will be done in us and through us. Additionally, our team will be equipped in both the development of and application of a biblical worldview through specific professional development on a monthly basis.
Tribes
When students enter middle school, they are assigned to a grade-level, gender specific community group that we refer to as tribes (as in the 12 tribes of Israel). The chief purpose of this time is to ensure each of our students have one staff member that is praying with them, for them, and modeling what it means to walk with Christ on a daily basis. These groups follow a structured time of sharing, teaching, and praying for one another as well as some intentional fun and community building.
Fall Retreat
Each Fall, we start the year with a dedicated spiritual retreat for our entire middle school. This 4 day retreat in the beautiful mountains of Colorado encourages our students to begin the year by setting specific patterns and disciplines for their own spiritual walk. During retreat, students will participate in nightly chapel services, morning devotions/journaling, and evening cabin devotions where they will be encouraged to seek God’s will for their own lives. And, of course, no retreat would be complete without a TON of wild and crazy activities. Students can participate in high ropes, 100’ slip and slides, team challenges, glow in the dark dodgeball, and much more! This event is a fantastic opportunity for our new middle school students to engage with others and to learn about what SCS middle school life is all about.
Service Learning
One of our core values at SCS is Service. We work to provide grade-level specific, developmentally appropriate service learning opportunities for all of our students from PS-8th. Past service projects have included opportunities like packing boxes at the Operation Christmas Child Warehouse, visiting elderly at local nursing homes, partnering with Extreme Community Makeover to serve the inner city of Denver, playing Bingo with refugees, painting fences for the city of Parker, hosting canned food drives to support SECOR, or adopting Veterans and first responders. We are always on the lookout for specific opportunities to serve and have a specific goal this year of each grade level completing 2 service learning projects over the course of the year and a building-wide goal of 1500 acts of service! We would love to partner with you or your organization if you have a specific need.
Missions
Each year, we set aside an entire month to learn about the role of missions and the Great Commission. Chapel guests from various parts of the world have shared about what it means to serve Christ in different cultures both near and far. Students are encouraged to learn about, pray for, and even partner with these organizations as they seek God’s purpose for their lives.
We also have the unique privilege of hosting an international mission trip for our 7th and 8th grade students every other year. Through Praying Pelican Ministries, our students have had the chance to host VBS and to support building projects in Belize where we partner with a sister Christian school and serve the community. This trip provides students and families the opportunity to serve others and to experience what it means to live out the Great Commission.
Mission Club
Missions club is an incredible chance for our middle school students to practice leading our K-5 students in discipleship. Starting in September, this after school program encourages scripture memorization and personal application of God’s Word. Students are split into groups and walk with a mentor student (and adult) through structured lessons each week.
Bible Instruction and Apologetics
We believe that knowing the Word of God is critical to the lifelong success of our students. Each day, students are required to attend Bible as a core class and will spend time learning about the nature of God, His will for their lives, and the role of the Christian in the world today. By the end of their 8th grade year, students will cover the entire Bible at least twice and will also be challenged to think critically about how God’s Word applies to them personally. They will learn to understand and own their faith through various courses that culminate in an 8th grade seminar where students have to demonstrate and defend their beliefs.
