Mission in Motion

We are on a mission. Can you tell? Being on a mission and being focused is very important.  That’s why 16-9 is appealing. Big ideas can often become clouded with big explanations, but what helps all of us get on board a mission is when the big idea can be expounded in a phrase. 16-9 is the trigger to remember how to be a gracious and legal Christian in the public school. Memorize the first 16 words of the First Amendment and the 9 fruits of the Spirit. (Please read the first post for more information). With any big idea, the next step is, “What do we do about it?”  CEAI, Christian Educators Assoc. Int. has been encouraging, equipping and empowering public and private school educators since 1953, but we need help because we are still the best kept secret in America.  One of our members has been inspired to reach educators through Mission in Motion.

Gail was inspired to go to her church leadership and ask for their permission and seek their vision to empower teachers in the public school as the missionaries that they are. Her church caught the vision and has begun the ministry of Mission in Motion.  The elders of the church have added teachers as missionaries to the educational division of the church and have set goals (see image above).  Teachers in Gail’s church are meeting once and month to understand their role as a missionaries in the public school and encouraging each other to be equipped. They are establishing or joining prayer groups in their schools to pray for their administrators, colleagues, students and school community.  Some are partnering with FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) and CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) to establish student groups at their schools. Teachers from this church alone represent 11 schools in the local area alone. Can you imagine the impact that just one denomination can make as they replicate this ministry?  As we partner with Mission in Motion, our goal in the 16-9 movement is to help Christian educators everywhere to be balanced, well-informed, graceful Christians who know the law and love the Lord. We want to be contagious, appealing, but never overbearing as we seek to serve others on our campuses. Thank you so much to the members of Gail’s church for being visionaries and pioneers in the development of this teacher missionary model.

Prayerfully yours,

K

Networking

Networking is nothing new.  We have always sought ways to gather with like minds. Christians are particularly good at meeting on a regular basis in church, Sunday school classes, mid-week services, Bible studies, prayer groups and more. However, as Christian educators in the public and private schools we are trying to make it on our own.  One of the most important aspects of the 16-9 movements is to bring us together socially.  We need to know and feel that we are not alone.  Will you help me find a great platform for our own social networking?  I am presently at the FETC (Florida Educational Technology Conference) and there are vibrant social networking activities all around – some you can physically attend while many others are virtual settings. Where is that perfect place for us to gather both virtually and physically? Wouldn’t it be great to find out that you have other Christian educators in your district and even in your own school?  Believe it or not, the #1 misconceptions of Christians in the public school is that they are the only one who is trying to live out their faith at their school.  9 times out of 10 when we begin networking virtually and in face-to-face events, we realize that there ARE other Christians at the same school! I’ve heard time and time again, “I didn’t know Bobby was a Christian. I didn’t know Patti was Christian either.” Before you know it, two or more Christians gathering together on one campus begins to change the way we act. Encouragement in difficult settings now finds comfort in prayer with and for others.

Please consider thinking about ways that would be best for us to gather virtually and then pull us together locally also.  At FETC, we have those who are in FaceBook, Edmodo, NIng, Moodle, on Twitter, text messaging and more.  I see our own social network as much more interactive than a FaceBook page where we could “talk” to other Christians across districts, state and even the nation.  I would love to see the platform as a private place we merely set up for you and then it just blossoms into multiple groups of interest. I would love to see an area in our social network for prayer groups, devotionals and Bible Studies.  The best part of any social network is that you are not getting inundated with emails and other annoying contacts that you don’t want, but that you come to the group “ubiquitously” – at anytime, from any place and at any pace.  Dreaming……..

Prayerfully yours,

K

The First Sixteen Words

The First Sixteen Words

Becoming a part of the 16-9 Movement means that we are seeking to understand our role in education both legally and gracefully.  We need to always begin in prayer because it is the foundation of all that we do in the classroom.  We pray for our students. We pray for our colleagues and we pray for our administrators, parents and school community in general.  We are prayerfully dependent.  Next, we are committing to learn the first sixteen words of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and the 9 Fruits of the Spirit. Why have we chosen these two challenges? The First Amendment is the basis of being a legal American Christian in the public school and the Fruits of the Spirit help us to be gracious Christians loving our students, colleagues, administrators and school family.

There are actually 45 words in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that are as alive and important today as they were over 200 years ago. It provides five basic freedoms to all Americans.  Can you name them? If so, write your answer in the comments below and I will send you a prize! The only reason I am offering this is because most Americans do not know their basic freedoms so beautifully preserved for us.  In the 16-9 movement, we will be concerned mostly about the freedom of speech and religious liberty, but we respect and honor the whole First Amendment also.   The first 16 words of the First Amendment read: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; the remaining 29 we will leave for another study.  The First Amendment applies to all Americans. These inalienable rights make these ideals reality in the lives of all Americans and were added to the Constitution based on the concept that all humans were endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights.  As Christians in the public schools, we must know when we are “Congress” and when we are an individual American.  Educators in the public schools are government employees and are subject to the laws of the United States.  We can never establish a religion nor prohibit the free exercise, thereof. In other words, we can neither encourage nor discourage the freedom of religious expression. When we are on paid time, we are “Congress.” When we are not being paid we are First Amendment Americans. We must be wise as a serpent, and as innocent as a dove. (Matthew 10:16). 

The 16-9 Movement blog is designed to help Christian educators understand their high calling as a teacher, administrator or support personnel as we touch the lives of the next generation.  We seek to be legal and to walk our walk in a way that is appealing, contagious and respectful of all. 

We are available for events, seminars, professional development, conferences and other venues that help unite us with Christian educators with this worldview.  May I invite you to join us?  Feel free to contact me anytime through email at ceai.karen@gmail.com.

Prayerfully yours,

K

Image is in the public domain provided by the National Archives

The Florida Music Educators Conference (FMEA)

The Florida Music Educators Conference (FMEA)

The 16-9 Movement made its debut in our CEAI booth at the Tampa Bay Convention Center last week. It is so important that we share the big ideas of being Christians in the public schools because we are not alone. I am convinced that there are Christians (and not just one) on every campus in America, but everywhere I go, I find that teachers and administrators in general are scared because they don’t know the law.  The 16-9 Movement keeps it simple.  Know the first 16 words of the First Amendment and the 9 fruits of the Spirit as your banner to live by in your public walk.

Being with music teachers was especially fun because they are always presented with the issue of what they can and cannot play/sing with their students. Many music teachers do what they think is right in trying to provide a balanced education, but are often misled by an administrator who thinks they can’t play anything of a spiritual nature. Every music teacher that came by the booth had a story about how their schools handle Christmas programs and each story was different.  It shouldn’t be that difficult. Can they play Silent Night? Can they have a Christmas tree in the school? I was most encouraged when I was studying this issue as it went all the way the Supreme Court. Sandra Day O’Connor summarized it as the “Reindeer Test.” We have come to know it as, “Three reindeer and a baby Jesus.”  In other words, in the public arena, if there are three secular to one spiritual, the Supreme Court of this great land has ruled it constitutional. For 16-9 educators, we want to be sure that when our “Congress” hat is on, we are honoring the law of the land with love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, gentleness, self-control, patience and faithfulness.  Is that easy to do? Of course not! But aren’t all good things worth the effort?

So, for our music teachers in the public schools who are Christians, be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove. Give your students a well-rounded, balanced exposure to all types of music within your curriculum, make sure your administrator is educated in the law and be gracious and balanced.

If you need any help with administrators, parents or other teachers who don’t know the law, sometimes all it takes is a phone call from me or our executive director of CEAI, Finn Laursen and misunderstandings are cleared.  We always want to be legal and gracious because we represent the One we serve.  Will you help me raise up 16-9 educators?

Prayerfully yours,

K

What is the 16-9 Movement?

What is the 16-9 Movement?

A movement is defined as a group of people working together to advance their shared ideas. The 16-9 Movement seeks to define the high calling of Christian educators in a legal and graceful manner. For the last few decades, we have been increasingly misinformed on how we can be Christians in the public schools. Unfortunately, most educators and administrators have a knee-jerk reaction to any mention of God. If you picture a pendulum, its movement back and forth helps us understand the difference between extremes and moderation. When the pendulum swings all the way to either side, it tends to ostracize. However, when the pendulum gently swings at the bottom, it is fluid, balanced and inviting. The 16-9 movement rocks at the bottom of the pendulum in balance and moderation.

To understand 16-9, educators in the public schools need to know the first 16 words of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and the 9 fruit of the Spirit. Let’s examine both. The first 16 words of the First Amendment are: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. The 9 fruits of the Spirit are listed in Galatians 5:22-23  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

The first 16 words of the First Amendment help us as educators and administrators understand our important role as teachers. While we are serving on the job, we are “Congress.” We can make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. In other words, we can neither encourage nor discourage the free exercise of religion.  When we begin our official day on the clock, we put on our “Congress hat.” When we are off the clock, we take off our “Congress hat.”  The 9 fruits of the Spirit can and should be worn whether we are on the clock or off the clock. What school wouldn’t want a faculty and staff of educators who are practicing love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, gentleness, patience, self-control and faithfulness?

Will you help me build the 16-9 movement to unite Christian educators in our public and private schools so they are informed, gracious and legally living out their high calling as educators?

Prayerfully yours,

K