The church's pastor announced that they are launching two new schools in Los Angeles in response to a rapidly changing world.
California pastor John MacArthur announced during a recent Grace Community Church conference that the church is setting up two new schools later this year. The pastor argued that it was time people "get serious" about educating children in a rapidly changing world.
The Christian Headlines reported that the schools will be named Grace Academy and will feature a hybrid teaching model that is part-private school and part-homeschool program. It will also have an in-class instruction of 14 hours per week and an at-home instruction of 16 hours per week, according to its website.
"We desperately have to capture this young generation," MacArthur, who leads the Grace Community Church in the suburbs of Los Angeles, said during the recent Shepherds Conference. "You can't just throw them to the educational system...I think parents are now saying, 'Look, we have a responsibility as parents; we can't just turn these kids over to anything.'"
Another prominent pastor from California by the name of David Jeremiah shared the same sentiments last year, arguing that it's "time to rethink Christian education." In his opinion, public schools "are no longer a fitting place for Christian young people to be because they will be so brainwashed by" teachings that are not biblical. Shadow Mountain Community, where Jeremiah pastors, also runs a private school called Christian Unified Schools.
MacArthur believes that the "ground is moving" with the culture. He said that the "time to get serious" is now, adding that Grace Community Church "decided months ago" that they cannot expect all Christian families to send their children to public schools, which he called "dangerous." The church leader referenced Florida's "battle to keep teachers from teaching transgender stuff to kids in kindergarten" and the recently passed parental rights law.
MacArthur explained that this movement pushed the church to "start a school program, a hybrid homeschool-resident deal" and "make a difference as widely and broadly as we can, which is part of the think-biblically approach."
The Grace Community Church concluded, "We want to help people think biblically. It's the only safety; it's the only hope."
Grace Community Church's move to establish schools with a conservative, biblical approach comes days after Transgender Day of Visibility, during which several agencies under the Biden administration declared their support for trans kids through "gender-affirming care." The Office of Population Affairs and Department of Health and Human Services' National Child Traumatic Stress Network released documents outlining what encompasses "gender-affirming care," which includes puberty blockers and hormone therapy, invasive, non-reversible surgeries to remove reproductive parts, and the use of preferred pronouns, names, public bathrooms, and more.
In December 2021, former Lieutenant Governor of New York Betsy McCaughey wrote in the New York Post, "From the youngest age, students are being brainwashed with gender ideology. Children - as young as 5 - are being encouraged to disregard their anatomy and choose their gender based on their feelings."
McCaughey argued that "militant transgender activists" are pushing their agenda onto very young children, with teachers talking about "nonbinary" and "transgender" even before they have learned hot to multiply. She alleged that students are "indoctrinated" and called upon parents to "stand up to the transgender militants."
