What Is Reformed Education?

Christian Schools of Florida
and the Reformed Faith

Christian Schools of Florida is an accrediting, support, and resource association serving schools in the state of Florida that subscribe to the basic doctrines and principles of Reformed theology. Member schools differ in patterns of governance. Some are owned and operated by local churches. Some are operated by parent associations. Member schools differ in their mission. Some are intended only for children of Christian families. Some are intended for children with or without family faith. Some serve both communities.

What all member schools have in common is 1) the affirmation of one of the historic doctrinal statements of the Reformed faith, including the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the London Confession, and 2) translating these beliefs into high-quality, biblically-based education.

What is Reformed Faith?

Definitions are multitudinous. Generally, all the churches that grew from the sixteenth-century revolt against the Roman Church, can be called Reformed. However, the term "Reformed" specifically designates that branch of the Reformation of the Western Church that grew from the Reformation in certain Swiss free cities and cantons, in non-Lutheran Germany, and in Hungary, Bohemia, and southern France in the early and mid sixteenth century. Most schools within Christian Schools of Florida have roots in the Christian Reformed Church and the Presbyterian Church.

Generally member schools of CSF affirm the following central doctrines of Reformed theology:

GOD

  • God is sovereign over all things and determines all things.
  • God is central to all things.
  • All things are intended for God’s glory.

BIBLE

  • God has spoken propositionally to mankind through the Old and New Testaments.
  • The Bible is the sole rule for what is to be believed and practiced.
  • The Bible is reliable, without error, and absolute.

SALVATION

  • Man is a sinner and is in need of a savior.
  • God has provided salvation for sinful man through the substitutionary life and death of Jesus Christ.
  • Jesus Christ is the only Savior of sinners. He is God’s eternal Word.
  • The Church of Jesus Christ is composed of all those in heaven and earth who have placed their faith in Him alone for salvation.

FAITH

  • Salvation is granted through faith alone.
  • The Christian life is to be lived by faith.

COVENANT

  • God works through covenants, most importantly the covenants of redemption, works, and grace.
  • God’s covenant blessing most normally moves through generations through families.

CULTURAL MANDATE

  • God has given mankind a unique position and responsibility in His creation: to fill the earth, subdue the earth, and rule over it. He is to be a change agent, governing, reforming, and restoring his culture.

GREAT COMMISSION

  • God has given to His people the commission to evangelize and disciple the world.
  • God has given to His people the commission to live all of life for His glory and with fidelity to the Bible in every area of human existence and endeavor, including politics, academics, culture, technology, and the arts.

SCHOOLING

  • Schooling is primarily the responsibility of parents and not the church or the state.
  • Schooling is to be biblical in every aspect.
  • Schooling is to prepare children to fulfill the Great Commission and the Cultural Mandate as members of His kingdom.

What is Reformed Accreditation?

Accreditation is the application of prescribed indicators of quality and substance to the task of schooling children. Christian Schools of Florida examines schools regularly to affirm that member schools are faithful in basing their various programs on the Holy Scriptures, are, in fact, training children for effectiveness in the Cultural Mandate and the Great Commission, are excellent in the means and methods used to this end, and employ teachers and administrators who themselves are committed to these principles.

Teacher Training

Because Christian Schools of Florida has state-recognized programs for teacher certification, re-certification, and inservicing, teacher training can be accomplished with quality and with regard to a Reformed worldview that evidences a commitment to the truths of Scripture.

Fellowship, Support, and Resourcing

Christian Schools of Florida provides opportunities for fellowship and growth as CSF administrators, likeminded in their approach to Christian education, meet in the fall, winter, and spring. Strategic planning, inservice, and workshops are offered. Teacher conventions, clinical educator training, and accreditation team support are offered throughout the year, and attention is given to a Reformed world and life perspective. CSF participates as a member organization in both the Florida Association of Academic Nonpublic Schools (FAANS) and the National Council for Private School Accreditation (NCPSA), maintaining a Reformed voice in the decision-making and actions of those organizations at state and national levels.