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.
New Book by Association of Christian Schools International and Cardus Reveals Roadmap to Financial Sustainability for Christian Schools
Colorado Springs, Colo.– The Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) and Cardus have partnered to release a timely new book sharing research on how Christian schools are adapting to and embracing change as they advance the mission of Christian education. Chronicling the stories of 11 Christian schools and networks across the U.S., “Future Ready: Innovative Missions and Models in Christian Education” identifies innovative structures and strategies to support long-term mission attainment and overall school health.
The publication is a collaboration by authors Dr. Lynn E. Swaner, Dr. Jon Eckert, Erik Ellefsen and Dr. Matthew H. Lee.
According to Swaner, ACSI Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer and Cardus Senior Fellow, the release of this resource comes at an opportune time.
“It has perhaps never been more imperative that Christian schools embrace a fundamental mindset change around what it means to sustain their missions into the future,” she shared. “The stories of the 11 Christian schools and networks our team researched will inspire school leaders with new ideas and approaches to address the myriad of challenges and new opportunities facing their schools.”
Some of the innovative structures and strategies explored in the study include school mergers, online academies, microschools, Christian school districts, entrepreneurship and facilities leasing, and leveraging school choice programs.
David Hunt, Cardus Education Program Director, shared, "The most common questions I hear from Christian school leaders are around financial challenges, like how to make up for lost revenue from the drop in international student enrolment since 2020. But I also get questions about changing school models, hybrid schools, and finding ways to come alongside homeschool families,” he said. “In ‘Future Ready,’ you'll read about what 11 exemplary Christian schools have done – and are doing right now– to overcome challenges similar to yours. Every Christian school leader will benefit from Future Ready's fresh, creative insights."
‘Future Ready’ is already receiving recognition from thought leaders across the globe.
Dr. Ashley Berner, Director at Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy, shared that “the scholars who crafted this book bring substantial research credibility and practical wisdom to their study of the future of Christian schools. They challenge leaders to broaden their outreach to historically underserved young people, build cultures of opportunity and innovation, and sustain the mission of Christian schooling while exploring new models. ‘Future Ready’ should be required reading for Christian school leaders and their boards.”
Dr. Jay Ferguson, ACSI Board Chair and Head of School at Grace Community School in Tyler, Texas, explained, “Christian schools are developing novel, creative business strategies that can serve as a guiding beacon to all. ‘Future Ready’ gathers top minds in Christian school research to unpack these innovations, drawing out themes and ideas that can assist all leaders in designing new models for their own schools’ future viability.”
Swaner anticipates the release will serve as a much-needed roadmap to sustainability for Christian schools.
“Encouraging our school leaders to think innovatively about how we accomplish our mission of discipling the next generation is very important,” she shared. “We want to equip leaders so that Christian education continues influencing our culture far into the future.”
The book will be available for purchase on ACSI’s Purposeful Design website in print or Ebook format in November 2022. A free excerpt of the book is available now at https://www.acsi.org/futureready.
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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About Cardus:
Cardus is a Christian, non-partisan, not-for-profit public policy think tank focused on the following areas: education, family, work & economics, communities, end-of-life care, and religious freedom. Cardus conducts independent and original research, produces several periodicals, and regularly stages events with Senior Fellows and interested constituents across Canada and the U.S. Their work in education involves original research and policy studies on educational pluralism, excellence in education, and graduate outcomes.
To learn more about Cardus, please visit www.cardus.ca. You can follow Cardus on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.