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By: Josh Worden 

While attending the 2024 Rooted Educator Worldview Summit, Shawn Minks reflected on the current state of Christ-centered education. The Head of School at Cambridge Christian School in Tampa, Florida, has worked in Christian education for more than three decades. 

“There’s a different climate now and a different expectation and involvement from incoming parents,” Minks said. “There are a lot of ways to explain that, and most of them are not positive.” 

But despite that dour assessment, Minks optimistically described his school’s rising enrollment, new high school facility, and a growing opportunity to minister to a wider base of people. 

“These are kind of the glory days of Christian school education right now," he said. 

So, which is it? A difficult time in Christian education with negative trends, or a golden era? Can it be both? Minks believes so. There is an increased interest in Christian education, but perhaps it comes with—or is caused by—oppositional trends in culture. 

"I think these are the glory days primarily because of the growth,” Minks said. “I’d love to say families are flooding to our schools simply because of the incredibly great things happening on our campus. While there are some of those things, I think it’s more because of what is being offered and pushed at other schools. They’re flooding our admissions office because they’re running away from those things, even families that are not in the church.” 

Minks was echoed by John Stonestreet, President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, which partnered with ACSI for the 2024 Rooted Educator Worldview Summit and the upcoming 2025 Summit in Dallas, Texas. 

“Christian education right now is in the greatest moment of opportunity in our lifetimes,” Stonestreet said. “People are really concerned about what is happening in the world and how it is affecting their kids.” 

Dr. Roger C.S. Erdvig, Director of the Center for Biblical Worldview Formation at Summit Ministries, compares this moment in Christian education to a period about 50 years ago. 

“I love the idea of this being the second renaissance of Christian schooling,” Erdvig said while appearing as a guest on ACSI’s Grafted Together Podcast. “I was actually a product of the first one. I went to a school that started in the ‘60s, busted at the seams in the ‘70s, and closed in the ‘80s.” 

Erdvig sees a stark difference between the two time periods, though. While there is a high interest in Christian education in both periods, there seemed to be a more widespread approval and trust of religious institutions in the first period. 

“In that first renaissance of the Christian school movement of the ‘70s and ‘80s, you could just hang a sign outside of the church basement and it would be filled with kids,” he said. “So, you didn’t have to be as clear about things.” 

The landscape may be different now, but Christian education is still seeing rapid growth. 

“Now in the second renaissance, we’re experiencing a radical shift compared to five or six years ago when schools were closing by the dozens.” 

Erdvig cited recent data from the Herzog Foundation and its online program, SchoolBox, which exists to help founders launch Christian schools. The Herzog Foundation announced in September 2024 that it has seen more than 260 schools open in the last two years, “with many more in the works.” 

Since June 2024, ACSI has received 369 inquiries about how to start a new Christian school, with 40 already becoming ACSI members. 

“The growth is reflection of a deeper and broader desire within the Christian community to reclaim education as a means of spiritual formation,” said Joe Wilson, Head of Lower Schools and Director of Finance at Calvary Christian Academy in Florida. “So, I think there is an awakening happening with some cultural things going on. I don’t restrict that to the U.S. We’re seeing the same thing happen with our school in Guatemala.” 

This trend is not just in North America, either, as Geoff Peet has seen in Australia. Currently serving as the Executive Principal of Maitland Christian School, Peet has experienced 50 years of Christian education, 13 as a student and 37 as an educator.  

“Given that the Christian schooling movement as we know it in Australia is only about 55 or 60 years old, I’ve been around for most of it,” Peet said. 

In Peet’s early days, most schools were covenant schools. He saw that most families joined because they wanted to supplement their church participation with a religious education. 

“Christian families wanted a place where God’s Word would be honored,” Peet said. “Over time, things changed. In Australia now, only about 10 percent of people go to church.” 

Peet says the decreased church attendance doesn’t mean desire for Christian education has evaporated — it just comes from a different place. “As educators, we’ve pivoted,” he said. “Now, we’ve earned our educational stripes and our values are appealing. As people aren’t coming to church, they’re lining up 20 people deep saying, ‘We like what you do and your values.’” 

So, how can Christian schools make the most of the current time? 

“The most important component of this, in my view, is teacher formation,” Stonestreet said. “Teachers teach what they know, but really, they reproduce who they are. So, it is important that teachers are constantly cultivating their own worldview.” 

Minks warns that higher enrollment can be a curse in disguise if it becomes an idol. 

“The biggest focus for me is maintaining our culture,” he said. “We have a really special culture, and you can lose that with growth if you don’t focus on it.” 

Schools that experience enrollment growth can impact a broader range of people, and that itself is a blessing. Dr. Michael Mosley, Superintendent of Rocky Bayou Christian School in Florida, says he’s not used to having a 300-student waiting list, but it’s an opportunity to make a difference. 

“We used to be a well-kept secret, and now we’re not,” he said. “God has given us a moment in which people are increasingly realizing the quality job that Christian schools have been doing for a long time. We should be mindful that God is doing something. It’s that stewardship parable; if you were given a little, be faithful with that. If you have been given more, be faithful with that.”