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 Welcomes "Accomplished, Strategic” Leader as New Chief Operating Officer
Colorado Springs, CO – The Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) is pleased to announce the appointment of John Klingstedt as its new Chief Operating Officer.
Klingstedt will serve as the driving force in ACSI’s continued transformation by implementing effective workflow strategies and leading all essential processes, including: reviewing efficiency of current ministry, program and business functions, and planning changes and updates to day-to-day operations.
He will also ensure organizational alignment with the Association’s “Three Pillar” strategic plan, assisting key personnel in the coordination of vision and global strategy for all ACSI offices and partnerships.
He assumes his new role today.
ACSI President Dr. Larry Taylor shared his excitement about Klingstedt joining the Association’s Executive Team.
“Before my transition to ACSI, I served as Head of School at Prestonwood Christian Academy for 20 years. During this time, I served alongside John for nearly two decades,” he shared. “He is one of the most accomplished, strategic leaders I’ve been blessed to work with. I’ve seen his leadership and truly believe his skillset will fill a felt need at ACSI in powerful ways. We have been without a COO for over two years, so this is a much-needed position. He is a devoted follower of Jesus Christ with the utmost commitment to biblical principles and standards of excellence.”
Klingstedt joins ACSI with more than 20 years in Christian education leadership. He most recently served as the Chief Operating Officer at Prestonwood Christian Academy, during which time he facilitated the expansion of educational ministry to over 2,000 students and annual tuition and project revenues of nearly $60 million. He served as the key cross functional leader with direct reporting and oversight of Finance, Treasury, Human Resources, Development (fundraising), Marketing, Admissions, Facilities, Operations, Technology and Media departments. He led multiple special projects including technology, virtual education, satellite campus launches, mission mobilization, and ministry partnerships. He was also instrumental in strategic plan development and implementation and was responsible for direct risk management including policy making and implementation, organizational moral integrity criteria, insurance reviews, security and crisis management.
Prior to Prestonwood, Klingstedt served in corporate leadership positions— positions he believes gave him a unique perspective for his new role at ACSI. He served as Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer at a top ten cable television company where he monitored and maintained complete financial reporting with revenues of over $500 million; maintained bank compliance on a $1 billion credit facility with 42 participating banking entities; and performed due diligence, forecasting and accounting research for more than six mergers and acquisitions. He also established best practices and internal benchmarking data used to compare activity at various field locations allowing management to evaluate operational results.
“I’ve truly benefited from ACSI’s services over the years serving in leadership at Prestonwood Christian,” Klingstedt said. “I’m thrilled to be joining an organization of passionate individuals who are committed to advancing Christian education globally.”
Klingstedt holds a Bachelor of Science in Business from Oklahoma State University and is ordained as a minister at Prestonwood Baptist Church.
Taylor believes the addition of the COO position will amplify the organization’s reach and overall effectiveness.
“It’s a very exciting time at ACSI,” he said. “Klingstedt’s skillset and leadership will greatly strengthen our ability to better serve our Christian schools.”
To learn more about ACSI, please visit the website or connect with the ACSI Care Team by calling (800) 367-0798 or by emailing careteam@acsi.org.
About ACSI:
Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, 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 through multiple services including teacher and administrator certification, school accreditation, legal/legislative assistance, and curriculum publishing. ACSI supports more than 5,000 member schools throughout the United States and around the world, which collectively serve approximately 1.2 million students. Through additional training programs, materials, and expertise provided to other educational groups worldwide, ACSI’s overall influence and positive impact reaches more than 26,000 schools operating in 100 countries, together serving 5.5 million people.
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