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Special Note to Pastors

Pastors are among the most insightful and concerned people with regard to the state of the culture and spiritual life of the church. Pastors are often the first to notice the value of a family based alternative to higher education because they understand the negative impact that the current secular and even Christian colleges are having on the family, church, and society.

Many pastors have seen 70 to 80 % of their young people stop attending church after they leave home with 30 to 50% of their young people practically renounce their faith during their college experience. They have also seen the effects of only 12% of their young people turning to the Bible for instruction and only 9% believing in unchanging moral truth.

Pastors are aware that, today, colleges are more laden with anti-Christ agendas than ever before and that Christians are awakening to the problems as well as the need for Christian solutions in higher education.

In centuries past, Christians dominated the setting of the public agenda which built the United States . They founded and developed universities, hospitals, charitable organizations, and became great statesmen. Today, Christians are no longer leading the dialog in the public square, but the secular forces are setting the agendas. Pietism, 501c3 incorporation of churches, government education, and escapist eschatology have influenced the mass retreat of the Christians from the public square. As a result, young people now view the church and the Christian faith as not relevant to society, which is the very essence of the secular worldview. We can recover and further develop a thoroughly Biblical worldview of education and business for the benefit and blessing of future generations as the body of Christ edifies itself (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

Several pastors have asked how they can help in the development of the family university network and involve their congregation and young people in higher education pursuits which truly bring glory to God, strengthen the family, and avoid the multitude of stumbling blocks.

Pastors can help with the development of the family university network in many ways. Here is a list to consider as you begin thinking and praying with us:

1. Offer a course yourself on a topic of choice incorporating Biblical perspectives.

2. Teach your congregation, college students, and others using the Developing a Biblical Worldview online courseware with preloaded content. Great discussion tools and follow-up tests included.

3. Host a local family university network in conjunction with us or completely independent. This involves collecting your congregation's knowledge base and making it available for college level learning. Of course, the teachers may need some worldview training to become effective in conveying such a view to the students.

4. Let people know that their is a genuine alternative to institutional higher education that keeps the family involved in the development of the student curriculum and monitoring of the quality and content. Announcements, interviews, or guest speakers would be a place to start. Hosting a family university network information night would also be effective.

5. Adapt a sunday school time for the development of a local university network and or the teaching of network courses and or curriculum.

6. Use Progeny! The Worldview Board Game in Sunday school classes to get people considering how the scriptures apply to politics, economics, education, and religion.

7. Develop scholarship programs for congregational students.

8. Use the discussion forums at http://bartlettuniversity.com/discussions to follow-up sermons or other presentations related to the Biblical worldview or learning.

9. Write an endorsement for the family university network to use when encouraging other pastors or families to become involved.

10. Write an article for the family university journal on an area of interest.

11. Organize business owners within your congregation to assist in student business incubation.

12. Develop a book store at your church that contains some or all of the books and references that will be available through the Bartlett bookstore toward builing a college level library. A list is available upon request.

13. Participate in one or more of the network classes or curriculum alone or with others in the congregation.

14. Take a close look at the network and see if there is some other creative way in which your knowledge, abilities, and influence could be used to further the development of any aspect of the network.