The SBC is sending a confusing message. A popular theme this year among Southern Baptist churches, was The Seven Pillars of a Kingdom Family. The message being sent is that it is preferable for the mother to go to work outside of the home, in order to afford to send her children to a church-based school. Many churches offer classes in support of working mothers, but few to encourage the homeschooling mother. We have committed to surviving on one income, in a two-income world, and to live out Paul's commandment in Romans 12:2, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

By not conforming, we have lost many sources of encouragement, support, and friendship. The loss of secular, school based support was easy to accept. What was hard was the rejection of church members. Our family's decision to homeschool was a calling from God. Why were my pastor, Christian friends, and denomination not supportive? At one point, I was ready to walk out on the Southern Baptist Convention. However an article appeared in a May edition of The Baptist Press, "Wanted: Deliberately Christian Parents":

"The good news is there are some encouraging trends in evangelicalism that just might help bring about a needed reformation in Christian parenting. First there is homeschooling while not for every family, many a parent has realized that homeschooling provides a natural atmosphere where they can actively evangelize and disciple their children…. Many homeschooling curricula are Christ-centered, making it easier to talk to children about spiritual things. By all indications, homeschooling is only going to become more popular as time goes on." – Nathan Finn 
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I wanted to shout, "Here am I! I searched the archives of The Baptist Press for other homeschooling articles that I may have missed. To my delight, the majority of the March 12, 2003 issue dealt with Kingdom Education, including homeschooling!

"The Christian school movement in our churches is going to take the denomination by storm in the next 10 to 15 years. By the end of that time it will be as unusual to find a church that is not sponsoring or supporting a Christian school and a home school network, as it is today to find a church that does not have a Sunday school program.

This movement and the homeschool movement together are going to radically reshape the way America does school in the next two decades." Ed Gamble, Executive Director of the Southern Baptist Association of Christian Schools. ("Christian schools, Homeschooling make gains among Southern Baptists" by Tammi Reed Ledbetter  [ - Read More - ] )