Starting a Christian School

If your church is thinking of starting a Christian school to be affiliated with The Foursquare Church, these are the steps you will need to go through to get started.

Should we Start a Christian School?

A Christian school is a noble cause worth doing well. Starting a school requires much time, prayer, research, and commitment. In fact, a Christian school should only be contemplated by an established Foursquare church, which can focus a significant amount of energy, finances, and human resources on the process. In a similar way to planting a new church, a Christian school takes months of preparation. Unfortunately, many Christian schools close within the first year.

The Foursquare National Department of Christian Education stands ready to assist your church to plan for a successful Christian school. Contact us to get started.

Qualities of a Christian School

Here is the checklist of characteristics that describes the best church situation in which to begin a Christian school:

• Healthy pattern of church growth for a minimum of two years.
• Financial stability (no significant debt or building projects pending).
• Consensus within the congregation (congregation vote required).
• Educationally qualified, experienced personnel are a part of the congregation.
• No pastoral transitions in the past year or planned for the next year.
• Fully supportive of district and Foursquare policies and procedures.
• Willing to follow required building and safety regulations.
• Full endorsement from district leadership that the church is healthy.

Consult with District and Foursquare Church Staff

Talk with your District Supervisor to ensure you have their support. Somone from the Foursquare Christian Education is available for coaching throughout this process.

Gather and Review the Recommended Resource Materials

Order and review the manual, How to Start a Christian Schoolfrom the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) web site. Preschool and Daycare Directors will also want to review the materials available in ACSI store under Early Education Resources.

Download the Forward (124 KB, 9 pages), written by Foursquare Christian Education, that applies the concepts in the ACSI manual to Foursquare structure and polity. This forward when combined with How to Start a Christian School will literally save you many hours of preparation and possible frustration as you establish a Christian school. The following outline reflects information addressed in this manual and our forward that introduces it.

• Is a Christian School Right for Your Church?
• What is the Structure of a Foursquare Christian School?
• How to Develop a Feasibility Study and Community Needs Survey.
• Maintaining and Communicating Standards of Excellence.
• Legal and Business Considerations.
• How to Receive Board Approval for a Christian School.

For churches that want to start a preschool and/or daycare ministry, we recommend an additional resource, The ACSI Preschool Director's Manual, which can also be ordered directly from the ACSI web site.

Request Board Approval for Your School

Once you have thoroughly reviewed these resources, you are ready to complete the application process (20 KB, 4 pages) for Foursquare Church Board approval. This approval is necessary for a Foursquare Christian School to be legally identified by IRS as a registered non-profit ministry of The Foursquare Church. No Foursquare church can operate a school, daycare or preschool without this approval. To insure all necessary steps have been taken, refer to "The Seven Steps to ICFG Board Approval for Christian Schools," which can be found in the forward for the manual How to Start a Christian School.

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