Before Alisa Childers gained notoriety with the Dove Award-winning band ZOEgirl, she fell in love with Christian education as a student.
From walking into her Christian preschool for the first time, to the memory verses she still remembers from first grade, all the way to graduating from a Christian high school, Childers is a strong advocate of Christian schools.
“My wonderful Christian education is what gave me a love for scripture,” Childers said. “I remember specifically teachers encouraging me in my faith, talents, and abilities in the Lord. I hold such respect for Christian educators.”
Where did this start for Childers? Largely from educators like her English teacher from both seventh and 12th grade, Mr. Weitzel, who instilled a love of writing that came to fruition in books like “Live Your Truth and Other Lies” and “The Deconstruction of Christianity.”
“I don’t think I would have had the skills necessary to write the information that I needed to in my books if I didn’t have that education,” Childers said.
Her goal at Rooted is to help Christian educators identify views that contradict historically Christian beliefs — “progressive Christianity,” as she labels it — and to give educators language for how to address it.
Childers endured what she calls a “faith crisis” about 15 years ago while taking a class from her pastor, who questioned beliefs such as the inerrancy of the Bible and whether Jesus’ resurrection occurred.
Today, Childers helps Christians see why it is important to defend historical beliefs such as these, while providing the evidence to do so.
"It’s the topic I’m most excited to talk about because I’ve gotten a lot of great feedback from Christians who maybe saw these beliefs in their churches or among the social media influencers they follow, but they didn’t have language for it,” Childers said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to equip the church with some language for what they’re up against.”
Sharing this message at a conference of Christian educators, who will relay these messages to the next generation, makes her message that much more essential.
“As Christian educators, we’re teaching kids literally what it means to be a Christian in the world, and how that interacts with science, writing, and all the other things we teach them,” Childers said. “I hope to encourage teachers and make them feel a renewed excitement about the historic Christian worldview.”
The 2025 Rooted Educator Worldview Summit will take place June 16-18 in Dallas, Texas. Learn more and register at acsi.org/Rooted.
