Southern Baptist homeschoolers are finding a voice. On today's Home School Heartbeat , host Mike Smith speaks with Elizabeth Watkins, who is organizing Southern Baptist homeschoolers.
Mike Smith:
My guest this week is Elizabeth Watkins of SBCHEA at the Southern Baptist Church and Home Education Association. Elizabeth, what do you hope to achieve with your movement?
Elizabeth Watkins:
Well, I hope by building a denomination-wide network of supports for these families, we can address the concerns that are causing them to leave the convention. And the secular humanism of the public school system has had a huge influence on the church, the most obvious one being the segregation of families by age. And many homeschoolers have expressed a desire for family-integrated Bible study and also mission and evangelism opportunities. The conflicts really occur when these homeschooled students go into the youth ministry that is so focused on public schools. And so we want to provide an alternative such as a college-preparatory discipleship and leadership development program for these students. I have already begun working with the leadership of several Southern Baptist colleges and universities to partner with us in this goal. We believe we're not only training the future leaders of our country, but also the church.
Mike:
How's the cooperation in that area?
Elizabeth:
I've been amazed at how cooperative. Dr. David Dockery, the president of Union University, has already provided us resources to suggest to our parents, and Bible study, and resources for the university. Several of the colleges have already approached us.
Mike:
That's great news! Thank you, Elizabeth. And listeners, please join us next time as we continue our discussion of the Southern Baptist Church and Home Education Association. I'm Mike Smith.
For more details on the ministry of the Southern Baptist Church and Home Education Association, visit our website at www.homeschoolheartbeat.com. Or call us toll-free, 1-866-338-8614.
