The Big Shift: The Big Issue

Blueprint Schools exists to serve faith-based schools. A great majority of the schools we serve are ministries of a church.

This is how many faith-based schools were formed. A church wanted to provide the families of their congregation with a Christ-centered education, so it started a school. The church building was expanded to include classrooms. The offerings of the church members paid the heating bill, salaries of the teachers, and for desks, supplies, and books. The Board of Education listened to and considered the needs of its congregational families, making plans and decisions according to its members’ needs. At Blueprint Schools, we call this the Historical Model.

THE HISTORICAL MODEL

• MISSION: Provide Christian education.

• AUDIENCE: Children of the congregation.

• GOAL: Discipleship.

• FOCUS: Inward.

The model is still serving many congregations and their schools well. But in the past couple of decades, many faith-based schools have started pursuing another opportunity for their ministries: to serve the needs of children not just in their congregation, but from their communities, as well. The hope of this shift was to reach families and their children in the community with the Gospel and to use the school as an outreach tool of the congregation. With this hope, some schools began shifting into what we call the Outreach Model.

THE OUTREACH MODEL

• MISSION: Provide Christian education.

• AUDIENCE: Children of the congregation AND the community - those from other churches and those without church homes.

• GOAL: Discipleship AND outreach.

• FOCUS: Inward AND outward.

While the mission of the school stays the same, the audience, goal, and focus of the Outreach Model expands.

The Big Issue from the Big Shift

The big issue from the Big Shift happens when we don’t talk about the shift as a SHIFT. Many schools just decide that they’d love to share their mission with more families in the community and then start accepting non-member students.

But issues ensue when a school wants to be an Outreach Model, but still operates in one or more ways like a Historical Model. Just to clarify: both models are great and have a place!

Both models are have great possibilities and opportunities, but to run effectively and productively, a ministry has to choose a model and operate accordingly to its realities.

Faith-based schools are considering a myriad of issues, but one of the biggest issues out there is building a sustainable model that supports their mission, audience, and goals. Because it is such a big issue, we’ll be addressing the SHIFT in a series. In the next article, we’ll break down the particular realities to be addressed when moving from a Historical Model to an Outreach Model. Until then, God bless the work you do to support students and their families with Christian education!

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Blueprint Schools helps educational teams build thriving organizations so they can focus on supporting students, providing excellence in education, and sharing their Gospel mission with families. For more information on our services, schedule a consultation. We’ll listen to your ministry’s unique mission, model, and needs, as well as answers questions about how our team might help your ministry overcome its challenges, take on new opportunities, and thrive.