Statement of Faith
The Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) was founded in 1978 when several regional U.S. school associations joined, becoming a united voice to advance excellence in Christian education. The leaders’ vision was to inspire, challenge, and resource educators and schools. First headquartered in La Habra, California, ACSI moved to an expanded facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1994. Today, ACSI serves nearly 24,000 schools in more than 100 countries.
As an association we are committed to:
Biblical Fidelity and Prayer
Immerse ourselves in the Holy Scriptures and prayer, both individually and corporately; consistently measure all association actions, programs, and resources against the teachings of the Word of God; and recognize our total dependence on Him.
Biblical Foundation and Focus on Jesus Christ
Serve schools and educators that represent a range of evangelical, Protestant backgrounds; all our schools and educators will hold to the ACSI Statement of Faith.
Members We Serve
Allocate our resources, including time and finances, in such a way as to bring maximum benefit to our members, and respond promptly to constituent needs.
Stewardship
Act with faithfulness and integrity and exercise diligence in program administration, with thoroughness and research-based expertise in the production of resources, and with fiscal accountability, realizing that ACSI ultimately belongs to God and we ultimately answer to Him for all we do with that which He has entrusted to our care.
Diverse Worldwide Constituency
Be authentically international in structure and practice, promoting international, national, and regional organizational leadership for the mutual benefit of all member schools; develop programs, resources, and services with all constituents in mind, utilizing insights learned from colleagues from around the world and evidencing the high value we place on gender, ethnic, age, and cultural differences.
Staff and Their Growth
Establish personnel resource and organizational policies and practices that encourage equitable and competitive wages, support for continuing professional growth, and commitment to collaborative goal setting, accountability, and consistent implementation of evaluation systems.
Public Engagement
Influence public policy and public perception that have an impact on Christian schools and the rights of Christian educators everywhere, seek appropriate representation to protect the rights of parents to be free to choose the educational program that in their view best meets the educational and spiritual needs of their children, and work in collaboration with families, churches, governments, and other leaders and organizations to promote school compliance with all applicable laws and to promote the ability of private individuals or groups to establish and support Christian schools without restriction or reservation.
ACSI Statement of Faith
- We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative, inerrant Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:21).
- We believe there is one God, eternally existent in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:1, Matthew 28:19, John 10:30).
- We believe in the deity of Christ (John 10:33), His virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23, Luke 1:35), His sinless life (Hebrews 4:15, Hebrews 7:26), His miracles (John 2:11), His vicarious and atoning death (1 Corinthians 15:3, Ephesians 1:7, Hebrews 2:9), His resurrection (John 11:25, 1 Corinthians 15:4), His ascension to the right hand of the Father (Mark 16:19), and His personal return in power and glory (Acts 1:11, Revelation 19:11).
- We believe in the absolute necessity of regeneration by the Holy Spirit for salvation because of the exceeding sinfulness of human nature; and that men are justified on the single ground of faith in the shed blood of Christ and that only by God’s grace and through faith alone we are saved (John 3:16-19, John 5:24; Romans 3:23; Romans 5:8–9; Ephesians 2:8–10; Titus 3:5).
- We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; the saved unto resurrection of life, and the lost unto the resurrection of condemnation (John 5:28–29).
- We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 8:9, 1 Corinthians 12:12–13, Galatians 3:26–28).
- We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life (I Corinthians 3:16, 6:19–20, Romans 8:13–14, Ephesians 4:30, Ephesians 5:18).
- We believe that the term marriage has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture (Genesis 2:18–25). We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other (1 Corinthians 6:18, 7:2–5; Hebrews 13:4). We believe that God’s command is that there be no sexual intimacy outside of or apart from marriage between a man and a woman.
- We believe that God wonderfully foreordained and immutably created each person as either male or female in conformity with their biological sex. These two distinct yet complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God (Genesis 1:26–27).
Our Statement of Faith is not exhaustive of all of our beliefs. The Bible, as the inspired and infallible Word of God, speaks with absolute authority regarding the proper conduct of mankind and is the unchanging foundation for all belief and behavior. The ACSI Board of Directors holds final interpretive authority on biblical meaning and application with regard to faith, doctrine, policy, practice, and discipline.
ACSI releases findings from nationwide survey of Christian schools’ reopening plans and outlook for the fall
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., August 12, 2020 – The Association of Christian Schools International is pleased to announce the release of data from its second nationwide survey of Christian schools’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a specific focus on reopening plans and the financial outlook for fall 2020. Nearly 550 Christian schools representing diverse geographic locations and school sizes responded to the survey, which was conducted in late July.
Dr. Lynn Swaner, ACSI Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, Cardus Senior Fellow, and lead author of the report, says the findings of the survey point to the continued nimbleness of Christian schools in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The majority of Christian schools will be ready and open, in person, for the fall,” Swaner said, citing survey results that indicate well over 80% of schools are planning for an on-time, physical return to campus. More than half of schools will also offer a distance learning option for school families, should they desire or need such an option.
When schools reopen their doors, some of the most frequently planned modifications, in light of COVID-19, include use of handwashing and personal hygiene protocols (97.2% of schools), expanded or enhanced cleaning (94.5%), reconfiguring or reducing campus gatherings (94.5%), modifications to student outings like field trips (91.9%), limitations on visitors to campus (91.6%), re-arrangement or re-purposing of physical space (90%), use of student cohorts (88.2%), and illness protocols (81.5%) including testing and contact tracing. Personal protective equipment (PPE), such as masks, featured in 87.2% of schools’ plans for faculty and staff, and 76.9% of plans for students. Survey data show that schools strongly considered state and local health department guidance, as well as staff and family input, in developing their plans for reopening.
“This type of information is an excellent resource for heads of school,” said ACSI President Dr. Larry Taylor. “The findings included in the survey helps administrators feel confident in their decision-making as they consider how best to enter into a new school year. It also helps them share the most current information and best practices with boards, parents, faculty and staff,” he added.
In terms of financial outlook, just over half of schools (52.8%) reported decreased enrollment, with a drop of 6-10% being the most frequently cited range of decreases. Another 21.3% of schools reported steady enrollment numbers as compared to last year, but a full quarter (25.8%) of schools reported an increase in enrollment. Qualitative data collected through the survey suggest that this uptick in new student enrollment at Christian schools is due to families’ dissatisfaction with the distance learning or limited on-campus instruction offered by other area schools. “These findings suggest that Christian schools’ value proposition, in terms of providing a high-quality educational experience that is responsive to community needs, has been made clearer to the public through the challenges of COVID-19,” Swaner said.
The financial picture for Christian schools as a sector remains complicated, however, with schools most frequently reporting increases in operational budgets; higher expenditures may be linked to the finding that over two-thirds of schools (72.1%) report additional investments in technology, as well as increased financial aid (36.4%) for the 2020-2021 school year.
As Swaner explained, “These sector-level findings suggest the importance of prioritizing financial sustainability in the months ahead, which may mean innovating to reach new markets, developing new income streams, and cost cutting through collaboration with other Christian schools.”
To address these issues, and concurrent with the release of the survey data, Taylor also announced the launch of a new grant-funded ACSI Sustainability Initiative.
“This initiative will feature research on innovative Christian school financial models that lead to missional sustainability, both through the uncertainty of COVID-19 and beyond,” Taylor said.
Findings will be co-published with Cardus, a prominent Canadian think tank, and are expected in summer 2021.
For more information, and to download the survey report, here.
A wide range of helpful COVID-19 related resources can also be accessed by visiting www.ACSI.org and clicking on the “Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources” bar at the top.
ABOUT ACSI:
Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo., ACSI exists to strengthen Christian schools and equip Christian educators worldwide as they prepare students academically and inspire them to become devoted followers of Jesus Christ. ACSI advances excellence in Christian schools by enhancing the professional and personal development of Christian educators and providing vital support functions for Christian schools by offering multiple services including teacher and administrator certification, school accreditation, legal/legislative assistance, and curriculum publishing. Serving more than 25,000 schools in 108 countries, ACSI helps more than 5.5 million students worldwide connect to Christian education.
For more information on the ministry, visit www.ACSI.org or follow on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ACSIUSA or on Twitter at @ACSIUSA