new church life: september/october 2017
and teach their children to do the same.
This is critical. What Plato said centuries ago still resonates today: “The
only two questions that matter in all of history are: Who is teaching the
children? And what are they teaching them?”
In his Outlines of History almost 100 years ago, H. G. Wells said: “Human
history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.”
The race is ever more urgent.
We see the growth of the Church as the greatest cause in the history of
the world. And what our teachers are doing – what we all should be doing
as occasional “teachers” – is on the leading edge of this cause. The Church
may be barely known in the world but this is among the most essential work
anywhere.
Esther Yardumian, a much-loved teacher in the Academy Girls School
for many years, said in a memorable “all-purpose valedictory” before her
retirement: “We teach not so much to communicate the truth as to prepare the
mind to accept truth for its own.”
This is the essence of what the Academy and New Church education are
all about: leading young minds to truth and acknowledgment of the Lord.
Teaching truth – not just facts, not just career preparation – is an alien concept
in much of academia today. For our teachers, it is their use – their calling. For
all of us, it is an inspiration.
In his seminal book, Education For Use, the late Bishop Willard D.
Pendleton says use is “that doctrine which, when rightly understood, will give
unity, meaning and purpose to the curriculum of New Church schools.”
It also gives unity, meaning and purpose for life. The Mission Statement
for the Academy Secondary Schools says: “Our core purpose is to prepare
students for a principled an