Christian Education

Christian Education

Christian education is teaching and learning shaped by faith in Jesus Christ, built on the conviction that all truth belongs to God and that faith and study belong together. It includes Sunday school and church discipleship, Christian preschools and K-12 schools, homeschooling, Christian colleges and universities, Bible colleges, and seminaries. Its purpose is to form the whole person, mind, character, and faith, so that learners come to know God, love their neighbor, and serve in their calling.

What is Christian education?

Christian education is not simply school with a chapel service added. At its heart is the belief that learning and faith are not rivals, that the God who made the world is also the source of everything worth knowing, and that a person is formed in character as much as in competence. The old proverb names the starting point.

Jesus himself is described as growing in both learning and grace, which Christian educators take as a picture of what education is meant to do for a whole person.

What is the purpose of Christian education?

Christian educators describe the purpose in several connected ways, and most schools hold all of them together.

• To know God and his world. Every subject, from mathematics to music, studies something God made or something people made with gifts he gave. Learning is a way of paying attention to his work.
• To form character, not only skill. A Christian school hopes its students will become honest, humble, diligent, and kind, because knowledge without love is not the goal.
• To pass on the faith. Scripture repeatedly charges parents and the whole people of God to teach the next generation (see Deuteronomy 6 and Psalm 78). Christian education is one way the church keeps that charge, alongside the home and the congregation, never instead of them.
• To prepare for a calling. Students are trained to serve God and their neighbor in whatever work they are given, as teachers, nurses, engineers, parents, pastors, or anything else.
• To think clearly and charitably. A good Christian education teaches students to understand other views fairly, to weigh arguments honestly, and to explain their own hope humbly and respectfully (see 1 Peter 3:15).

A short history of Christian education

Teaching has belonged to the church from the beginning. Jesus was called Teacher, and he sent his disciples out to make disciples of all nations and to teach them (Matthew 28:19-20). The early church prepared new believers for baptism through a long period of instruction called catechesis.

In the Middle Ages, monasteries and cathedral schools kept learning alive, copying manuscripts and training clergy, and the first European universities grew up in this church setting. At the Reformation, the conviction that every Christian should be able to read Scripture made schooling a matter of faith: in 1524 Martin Luther urged the councilmen of German cities to establish and maintain Christian schools for boys and girls alike.

In New England, Harvard College was founded in 1636, and a 1643 account of its founding says the colonists founded it “dreading to leave an illiterate ministry to the churches.” In 1780 Robert Raikes opened a Sunday school in Gloucester, England, teaching poor children to read on their one free day, and the Sunday school movement spread across the world. In the twentieth century, associations formed to serve Christian schools and colleges, among them the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, organized in 1976, and the Association of Christian Schools International, founded in 1978.

What are the types of Christian education?

Christian schools span every age and stage. Preschools and K-12 schools educate children day to day; high schools add college preparation; classical Christian schools recover an older model built on the great books; Catholic schools teach within the Catholic tradition; and many families choose homeschooling at home. Beyond high school come Christian colleges and universities, ministry-focused Bible colleges, graduate seminaries, and online degrees.

The denominations and associations involved

Christian schools come from across the church: Catholic, Baptist, Reformed and Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist and Wesleyan, Pentecostal and charismatic, Anglican, and a great many nondenominational or interdenominational schools. Several real membership and accrediting bodies help you place a school: the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) for intentionally Christian higher education, the Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE) for Bible colleges, the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) for seminaries, the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) for K-12 schools, and the Association of Classical Christian Schools (ACCS) for the classical movement. A school’s memberships and its statement of faith together tell you a great deal about its convictions.

Explore Christian education

• Christian universities · Larger institutions with graduate programs and a faith mission.
• Christian colleges · Undergraduate, often liberal arts, where faith and learning meet.
• Bible colleges · Ministry and biblical studies at the center of the degree.
• Christian seminaries · Graduate training for pastors, missionaries, and scholars.
• What is a seminary? · A plain definition, the degrees, and who goes.
• Christian graduate schools · Master's and doctoral study in a Christian setting.
• Online Christian degrees · Accredited faith-based study you can do from anywhere.
• How to choose a Christian college · A practical, honest decision framework.
• Should I go to a Christian college? · The honest case for and against.
• Christian schools (K-12) · Faith-based day schools for children and teens.
• Catholic schools · Parish and diocesan education in the Catholic tradition.
• Classical Christian schools · The trivium, great books, and a Christian worldview.
• Christian high schools · College preparation joined to faith formation.
• Christian preschools · Early childhood care rooted in gentleness and faith.
• Christian homeschool groups · Co-ops and support for teaching at home.
• Christian homeschool curriculum · Approaches and materials for home education.

How to find one

Christian education is finally about people and community, so begin there rather than with a list.

• Ask people who know you. A trusted local church, pastor, or campus minister can point you to schools their own families have thrived in, which is worth more than any ranking.
• Understand the tradition. Many schools belong to a denomination or a theological stream, and a statement of faith reads clearly once you know the landscape. Our guide to Christian denominations explains the differences plainly.
• Verify accreditation directly with the school and the recognized accreditor, and visit in person if you can. Sit in on a class, meet the people, and see whether the faith is lived, not just printed.

You can also explore the community and church graph on The Living Bread to connect with believers near a campus or neighborhood, so learning happens inside real fellowship and not alone.

Christian education is one part of a much larger family of Christian organizations: churches, ministries, missions, and charities. See Christian organizations and ministries and the kinds of Christian ministry.

Sources

The historical facts on this page were checked against these sources on 7 October 2026:

• New England's First Fruits (1643), on the founding of Harvard College
• History of Harvard University (Wikipedia, with its sources)
• Luther, To the Councilmen of All Cities in Germany That They Establish and Maintain Christian Schools (1524), University of Arizona Libraries
• Sunday school (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
• Robert Raikes and Sunday schools (infed)
• Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (Wikipedia, with its sources)
• Association of Christian Schools International, about ACSI

Frequently asked questions

What is Christian education?

Christian education is teaching and learning shaped by faith in Jesus Christ and by the belief that all truth belongs to God. It spans Sunday school and church discipleship, preschools, K-12 schools, homeschooling, colleges, universities, Bible colleges, and seminaries, and it aims to form character and faith as well as competence.

What is the purpose of Christian education?

Its purpose is to form the whole person: to help learners know God and the world he made, to grow in character, to receive and pass on the faith, to prepare for a calling of service, and to think clearly and charitably. It works alongside the home and the local church, not in place of them.

Is Sunday school a form of Christian education?

Yes. Sunday school is one of the oldest forms of Christian education still in wide use. The modern movement is usually traced to Robert Raikes, who opened a Sunday school in Gloucester, England, in 1780 to teach poor children to read.

What kinds of Christian schools are there?

They range by age (preschool, K-12, high school), by model (classical, Catholic, homeschool co-op), and by level (Christian college, university, Bible college, seminary, and graduate or online programs). They also differ by denomination and by how directly faith shapes the classroom.

How do I choose a Christian school or college?

Start with people who know you, understand the school's tradition and statement of faith, verify accreditation directly, and visit in person. A trusted local church can point you toward schools their own families have thrived in.