Back to School?
Lake Cities UMC and Lake Cities Chamber of Commerce welcoming new teachers to Lake Dallas ISD on 8/5/2020.
The kids are going back to school… kind of. Kids from school districts all across the DFW area are heading back to school over the next couple of weeks, but most are not physically going back. Most school districts are starting school again but are doing so in the virtual spaces we have become accustomed to over the last 6 months. While I know many of us have mixed feelings about virtual gatherings, one thing I believe we can all agree on is that education is essential.
John Wesley, one of the founders of Methodism, was as much as an educator as a preacher. His love for education is one of the many reason Methodists have been so involved and passionate about education systems. We believe education enables us to fully become who God has called us to be and that every person has the right to it. This is in keeping with the wider United Methodist Church, which states in our social principles:
We believe that every person has the right to education. We also believe that the responsibility for education of the young rests with the family, faith communities, and the government. In society, this function can best be fulfilled through public policies that ensure access for all persons to free public elementary and secondary schools and to post-secondary schools of their choice. Persons should not be precluded by financial barriers from access to church-related and other independent institutions of higher education. We affirm the right of public and independent colleges and universities to exist, and we endorse public policies that ensure access and choice and that do not create unconstitutional entanglements between church and state. We believe that colleges and universities are to ensure that academic freedom is protected for all members of the academic community and a learning environment is fostered that allows for a free exchange of ideas. We affirm the joining of reason and faith; therefore, we urge colleges and universities to guard the expression of religious life on campus.
Our calling is discovered and equipped as we are educated. Our education should not and does not end when we graduate high school or college. As adults we should seek ways to continue our education, be it in Sunday school, small group studies, or even an online courses! Education is a vitally important channel of God’s grace, a means by which we are challenged to understand our world, our failings and our potential. As a church, I pray we affirm this belief and do all we can to support education. This Sunday we will affirm the joining of reason and faith as we discuss the importance of reason in our theological understanding. Join us for worship at 8:30 AM (traditional service) or 10:45 AM (contemporary service) as we continue this conversation.
In God’s grip,
Pastor Chuck Church
