BOARD AFFIRMED APRIL 2021

This Statement of Faith outlines what we believe as we engage in the task of Christian education. This is the faith on which our school was founded. This is who we are; this is what we promote, practise and teach.

As an open enrolment school, we recognise that our student and parent community includes a variety of faith and lifestyle beliefs. All are welcome in our school. Nevertheless, it is important when joining the school community, that families understand what the school promotes, practises and teaches. We recognise the right of parents and students to hold different positions on lifestyle or faith as private matters.

God

There is one God and He is sovereign and eternal. He is revealed in the Bible as three equal divine Persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God depends on nothing and no one; everything and everyone depends on Him. God is holy, just, wise, loving and good. God created all things, visible and invisible, from His own sovereign will, and by His Word they are sustained.1

The Lord Jesus Christ is the eternally existing, only begotten Son of the Father. He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, truly God and truly human. He lived a sinless life and died for our sins. He was buried, rose from the dead in bodily form and ascended into heaven. Jesus is King of the universe and Head of the Church, His people whom He has redeemed. He will return to gather His people to Himself, to judge all people and bring in the consummation of God’s Kingdom.2

The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. He convicts people of their sin, leads them to repentance, creates faith within them and regenerates them. He is the source of their new, sanctified life bringing forth His fruit in the lives of believers. He gifts believers according to His sovereign will, enabling them to serve God.3

The Bible

The Bible, also known as the Holy Scriptures, is the divinely inspired, authoritative, infallible written Word of God. The Bible is necessary and sufficient for our knowledge of God, of ourselves and the rest of creation, including education.4

God’s Plan for Humankind

[The Bible teaches] In the beginning, God created humanity, both male and female, in the persons of Adam and Eve, in His own image. God established marriage as a union for life between a man and a woman, to the exclusion of all others, for companionship and intimacy, and as the rightful place for sexual activity and procreation. As God’s image-bearers, humans were created to live in relationship with our Creator, to love, serve, worship and enjoy Him forever as they faithfully exercise dominion, under God, through possessing, caring for and enjoying God’s creation.5

All of human life is grounded in faith commitments. It is unfolded either as service to God or of a substitute for God. Sin alienates us from God and each other. All have sinned, have fallen short of the standards of God, and are under God’s judgement. God holds each person responsible and accountable for choices made and actions pursued. Human responsibility and accountability do not limit God’s sovereignty. God’s sovereignty does not diminish human responsibility and accountability. Salvation from the penalty of sin can only be found through our Lord Jesus Christ, through repentance from sin and faith/trust in His substitutionary, atoning death on the cross and resurrection from the dead.6

A Christian

A Christian is someone who responds to God’s grace, accepts God’s call to acknowledge and follow Jesus Christ as Lord. Christians seek to live authentic biblically grounded lives in community with other believers, dependent and in partnership with the Holy Spirit across all spheres of life, including education.7

Christian Schools

Christian schools partner with families in teaching children that the world and everything in it belong to God. Christian schools weave this understanding all through their curriculum and in their everyday practices.8

God wants His family to protect and nurture every person as an individual who has dignity and worth from before they are born. He wants His people to work for justice in every society and to protect and care for His creation. He wants us to love others as He loves them.

This is God’s world and Jesus Christ is at the heart of all things. Jesus is the ruler and King of everything we do. He is Lord in our schools, in our homes, in our lives and in our hearts. Everything we do can be done with thanks for everything God has given us as an act of worship to Him.

[1] Gen. 1, Deut. 6:4, Matt. 28:19, Mark 12:29, John 14:8–18, Col. 1:15–20

[2] Isa. 53, John 1:1–14, Luke 1 & 2, Acts 1: 1–11, 1 Cor. 15:3 – 5, 1 Cor. 15:24–26, Col. 1:15–20, Heb. 1:1–4, Rev. 20:11–21:8

[3] 2 Cor. 3:7–18, John 14:16– 18, John 15:26, 1 Cor. 12:3, Titus 3:3– 8

[4] Deut. 10:12–13, 2 Tim. 3:16–17, 2 Peter 1:19–21

[5] Gen. 1:27–28, Gen. 2:15, Gen. 3:16–20, Matt. 19:4–6

[6] Rom. 1:18–20, Rom. 3:22–24, Rom. 6:23, Rom. 12

[7] John 14:16–18, John 15:26, Rom. 6:23, Rom. 12, Titus 3:3–8, 1 Peter 2:21

[8] Deut. 6:6–7, Deut. 10:14, Ps. 24:1, Eph. 6:4