I won’t soon forget some of the early conversations about Evangel Classical School. Before we had a name or a mascot, we had an interest in not being insular. Trinity Evangel Church started ECS in order to serve some of her own people who wanted to educate their Marysville kids with the classical model. But from the start, we were hoping to be able to extend blessing far beyond one local church. Today, we serve families from over thirty different churches in the area, and I’d love for that number to double in the coming years.
The whole of the New Testament assumes believers’ mutual dependency. This is how Christian community works. Further, if our aim involves actual cultural transformation, it’s silly to suppose that we can effect that ourselves, no matter how big our school gets. Ergo, we cheerfully aim to lock arms with other Christian institutions in our cultural advancement efforts.
But not every Christian institution – churches, schools, businesses, ministries, etc. – makes the most sense for us. There are lots of reasons for this, most of which are obvious.
From time to time, and going forward, I’d like to highlight some of the institutions with whom we identify most readily. You may hear these groups referenced around the school on occasion, and you may be benefited if I were to give some context for our glad identification with them.
First up: Trinity Evangel Church.
First, full disclosure: I’m a pastor at Trinity Evangel Church, and I like it. I’m on the TEC payroll. Feel free to take my comments with as many grains of salt as you wish. I only wish to explain the happy association between the institutions and why it makes so much sense.
The connection between Evangel Classical School and Trinity Evangel Church is as old as the school, and were it not for the church, the school would not exist.
The mission statement of Trinity Evangel Church is a good one:
We are laboring in joy to cultivate a Trinitarian community of worshiping, maturing disciples who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord over all the world.
The term community here does not simply refer to the congregation of TEC. Rather, this cultural work starts with the worship of the saints at Trinity and then extends outward from there. Christians should influence and shape the culture in their neighborhoods and workplaces; their cups are filled up in their Christian contexts (e.g., church and school), and spill out in their other contexts. When this happens, the Lordship of Christ comes to bear on society.
This is also the intent of Evangel Classical School. Because Jesus is Lord, we are training our students to export their lessons and effectiveness in their own homes and churches and even (as they get older) their own clubs and sports teams and so on. Little by little, we wish to populate north Snohomish County with Christians who acknowledge Christ’s Lordship, and who have both the interest and the ability to engage culture accordingly.
And the idea for this approach comes from the church that started the school in the first place.
This is the substance of the Calvinism of Trinity Evangel Church, and allowing for disagreement on secondary doctrines, it’s the philosophy of Evangel Classical School.
By the grace of God, there are a number of healthy, effective churches represented at ECS. As I am often asked about the relationship between TEC and the school, I answer: we are deeply associated, and hopefully this helps to explain why that is the case. May our association with other churches soon be as deep.
Risus est bellum!
Jonathan