Our Future
- The Goals
- The Reason
- The Compact
- The Work
- The Call
Our Strategic Goals
With such an army of youth, rightly trained, might furnish how soon the message of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming Savior might be carried to the whole world! (Education, pg. 271)
The long-term goals that will guide our school until the year 2016 are all expressed in terms of the love of God. We intend that every aspect of our ministry ultimately reveal the glory of God--His character. It is only by beholding Him that their characters will be transformed to reflect the lovely character of Jesus. Then the Father will have an army of youth who will dedicate their best energies to labor as Christ labored for the souls of mankind.
1 MISSION IDENTITY & MEANING
To help all students make connections between God’s love, His purpose in their Christian education at Battle Creek Academy, and His mission for their lives in these last days.
2 ROUNDED STUDENT DEVELOPMENT
To inspire a love for God in each student such that they will combine their best efforts with our best efforts toward their spiritual, academic, physical and social excellence.
3 SCHOOL CLIMATE, CULTURE & FACILITIES
To educate all students in an environment that bears the ethos of God’s love while affording them the full potential of the school’s facilities.
4 LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT
To grant all students a model of God’s government of love in the school's approach to sound Christian leadership and conscientious stewardship of the ministry.
Why A Strategic Plan
THE MODEL: Balanced, whole-person, redemptive education that develops the ability “to think and to do” and restores in students the image of God. (Education, pg. 17 by Ellen G. White)
A strategic plan is a map for the future. Battle Creek Academy has adopted this plan to guide us through 2016. It is the result of collaboration by students, faculty, administrators and the constituent community. It provides the direction for our instruction, curriculum, budgeting, staffing and partnerships that will keep our school Christ-centered, student-focused, mission-driven and Spirit-led.
Why do we need a long-term strategic plan? With our limited resources, we have chosen to focus on the goals and strategies that will best prepare all our students for “a useful and joy-filled life, fostering friendship with God, whole-person development, Bible-based values, and selfless service in accordance with the Seventh-day Adventist mission to the world” (Seventh-day Adventist education mission statement). That means being fully transparent in the decisions we make to guide God’s school, and concentrating our resources on the programs, practices and staffing that will best develop the student completely.
Some of the strategic plans towards our goals are indeed lofty but this speaks to the times in which we live. We believe that we are in the eve of the Second Advent of Jesus Christ, in prayerful anticipation of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on our students. It is our students, rightly trained, that will form an army of youth to fearlessly promulgate the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We want them to know Him, to love Him, and to be singular to His glory. Thus, our purpose at Battle Creek Academy will be to bring glory to God by nurturing the complete student in Christ.
A Compact and Commitment
The congregation as a community of faith provides an atmosphere of acceptance and love in which it disciples those within its sphere of influence in a personal faith in Jesus Christ and in a growing understanding of the Word of God. This understanding includes both an intellectual aspect and a life of conformity to God's will. (General Conference Policy Manual (2003), pp. 221-228)
Fulfillment of this purpose requires a compact with the Battle Creek Academy constituency and the families of our students. It is our responsibility to have highly effective education ministers in every classroom who (a) understand and have bought into the Seventh-day Adventist philosophy, mission and model of education, (b) competently executes their ministry to the glory of God, and (c) are committed to their own learning.
The commitment from our client families would constitute (a) getting children to school on time with no unexcused absences (b) making sure they do all required work, (c) and demonstrate support for the school’s leadership, faculty and programming. This home-school partnership, in concert with the commitment of the student to their own learning, will create the best conditions under which each student can reach their truest potential in Christ. If they stay with us they will graduate ready for college, career, and life in partnership with Jesus.
The plan’s success also calls for a commitment from the other agency of Seventh-day Adventist education—the local church community. Through much prayer and working together to implement this plan, we can inspire every student with a passion to willingly consecrate every faculty to the service of Jesus Christ.
The Counsel
It is not enough to fill the minds of the youth with lessons of deep importance; they must learn to impart what they have received. … It is necessary to their complete education that students be given time to do missionary work--time to become acquainted with the spiritual needs of the families in the community around them.
They should not be so loaded down with studies that they have no time to use the knowledge they have acquired. … Whenever possible, students should, during the school year, engage in city mission work. They should do missionary work in the surrounding towns and villages. They can form themselves into bands to do Christian help work (Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, p. 545-547 by Ellen G. White)
A Call to Action
In reviewing our past history, having traveled over every step of advance to our present standing, I can say, Praise God! As I see what God has wrought, I am filled with astonishment, and with confidence in Christ as leader. We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history. (Christian Experience and Teachings of Ellen G. White, pg. 204, paragraph 1)
We have confidence in Christ as leader. The key to successful planning is to do His Will. Elder Don Livesay’s (President of Lake Union Conference) keys to Adventist Education captures the approach well:
- Bring our students to the foot of the cross.
- Provide first-class quality education.
- Train our young people in the mission and message of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.
Children and youth, like their adult counterparts, are saved to serve. True union with Jesus makes one care about what He cares about—the last great effort to save the perishing. More than a sentimental religion, students need opportunities to make their theology their life experience. Service is to become part and parcel of the school curriculum to the point where it is the culture of the school. It is not something that happens in a sprinkling throughout the school year but becomes interwoven into the curriculum. Outreach to our local community is one of the most powerful tools of evangelism. Acts of kindness in the local community can spread the love of Christ to hearts of suffering people and soften the heart for the seed of truth like nothing else. Consequently, it makes a theoretical religion taught in the classroom valid and real. It makes Jesus real in the life of a young person. It inspires them to believe that the spiritual truth we emphasize in the curriculum is more than a theory but is a reality. We are given counsel:
Join Us
All are invited to embrace this plan with us. Pray for our students, teachers, leaders, and consider how it may be possible for you to partner with us. Let us do whatever it takes to build the complete student in Christ together.