As the summer is nigh upon us, I have been thinking about what exactly I want to speak to parents about this summer with regard to our program. Our team from the Abbey is in full promotion mode at camps over the next seven weeks, and I wanted a compelling way to say our story in a way that was both memorable and concise. The following is what I came up with. I would love to hear any feedback from you who have heard about our program. If you want to share a link of this without this commentary at the top, thank you in advance, and please do it from our Abbey blog!
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At Worldview’s Bridge Year Program, we really want to
impress on students and have them take away three primary things from our program:
1.
To apprehend their faith. The word apprehend has
two meanings, both of which are extremely applicable to the Bridge Year. The
first meaning is: “To take hold, or to arrest.” We teach using the Socratic
method, which means that the classroom is driven by dialogue and questions and
answers rather than a monologue of lectures. Because of this, students have to
prepare ahead of class in order to do well academically, which teaches initiative
and responsibility for studies.
The second meaning of apprehend is: “To
understand or comprehend.” We use classical literature for our reading, and our
curriculum constantly revolves around examining the foundations of the concepts
being dealt with, the biblical understanding of the subject, and the
consequences of those foundations on modern society. We want to create students
who understand the roots of order and civilization, so that they can better
identify the worldviews found in our culture and provide an answer to them with
truth and grace.
2.
To apply their faith. If students grow in
academic and intellectual knowledge but miss out on the practical difference
that makes in their lives, we consider ourselves to have failed. Our students
participate in formulating their own evangelism tools, synthesizing their own
biblically correct zoo and museum tours (courtesy of Bill Jack), and
participate in numerous hands-on leadership practicums such as a camping trip,
rafting trip, and high ropes course where the concepts they are learning in
class have the opportunity to be implemented in real-life scenarios.
On top of these, we require students to have
a certain number of community involvement hours per week. We call it community
involvement very intentionally because we don’t want students to segregate
doing evangelism and being in an everyday community, but rather our goal is for
them is to go into the community and make friends with people who may not be
believers. Doing this allows them to put a face and name with a different worldview
than their own, which brings the element of compassion to what they are
learning.
3.
To articulate their faith. In this present
culture, our safe areas in Christianity are shrinking, and more and more as we
identify ourselves as Christian we will be viewed as bigoted, judgmental, and
close-minded. We want to train up leaders who not only apply the Christian
faith to their lives, but can speak eloquently, persuasively, and coherently on
what Christianity is and the practical consequences it has on our lives. It is vital that we stand firm on our
beliefs about abortion and homosexuality, but beyond standing firm, we want to
speak as to why we hold those beliefs in such a way that communicates care and
love for those around us. We believe that Christianity has consequences not
only for the future life but for this present one, and we want to train leaders
who can stand, lead, and give a consistent defense of their faith in truth and grace.
As 2 Corinthians 10 reminds us, we wage a
war against ideas and lofty arguments that set themselves up against the truth
of God, and whomever it is in the next generation who can speak well to give an
answer to the questions of society will lead the culture – and that is what
we’re doing at Worldview Academy’s Bridge Year.
When I was a freshman in college I was in a Psychology 101
class, and the professor stood up on my second day of class and stated that
there wasn’t room in her classroom for religion.
I had been to Worldview Academy at that point for multiple
years, and I knew she was wrong, and I had learned to identify that a statement
like that was as close-minded as she thought that I was. It wasn’t that I
didn’t have the answer; I had it from camp. What I didn’t have was experience; prolonged
practice of being put in situations where I knew in a situation like that what
to say and how to say it.
That is why I view this program as so important. I want
every student who comes through our program, if they are ever faced with a
situation like that at college, in the workplace, or in the public square, to
know how to stand and speak in that moment. This program
will routinely and methodically put students in a place of pressure so that
when opposition comes, it will not be as if something strange is happening, and
it will not be the first time they have pushed themselves to stand.
That is our vision. I hope you will consider us for your
future.
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Please pray for us this summer. Staff teams are on the road currently, and camp kicks off tomorrow!
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