HARMONIOUS COLLABORATION: THE POWER OF THREE

By Josué M. Anguiano-Vega | Ed.D. Chair, Associate Professor/Department of Administration & Leadership

The development of our children and youth does not occur in a vacuum. Neither is it a haphazard affair. Instead, the development of our children and youth should be an intentional process guided with a prayerful reflection by the caring adults present in the life of the child.

The task of developing our children and youth involves "the whole person, and with the whole period of existence possible to human beings." Where the "whole person" and "whole period of existence" is defined as someone whose mental, physical, and spiritual faculties have been harmoniously and optimally developed throughout the lifespan of the person's existence (White, 2000).

The Adventist Ecology

Adventism has historically emphasized the importance of home, school, and church in the development of our youth. Each venue plays a unique and important role. However, no one venue is sufficient to carry the entire responsibility for the development of our youth. It takes an intentional creation of environments or ecologies that provide the warmth and nurture that our children and youth need. That is why we have to understand that the continued sustainability of Adventism is predicated on the important role that each venue plays in sustaining the growth of the other venues; thus the need for an “Adventist ecology.” This “Adventist ecology” can best be defined as the set of relationships that exist between the people belonging to the home, school, and church and their mutual interdependence to each other in promoting the harmonious development of the children and youth of our church.

The Adventist home needs the support of the school and church; the Adventist school needs the support of home and church; the Adventist church needs the support of home and school. We are a system that is mutually interdependent and sustaining, and at the center of it all is the child. However, in order to accomplish the task of creating a child-centered Adventist ecology, there must be harmonious collaboration, but before considering the ways in which home, school, and church can harmoniously collaborate, let’s consider the benefits of a child-centered approach to home, school, and church.

To begin with, let’s focus on the home. What happens when we let our children take the lead in our family worships? The evidence from ValueGenesis3 suggests that those children are more likely to develop a more vibrant faith maturity, which means that they embody the behaviors and dispositions of active faith such as prayer, Bible study, and caring for others. They are more likely to develop a personal life of devotion, share the gospel with others, be altruistic, remain affiliated with the church, make sensible choices regarding dress, diet, and entertainment, embrace and adhere to our doctrinal beliefs, and develop an intrinsic religious disposition, which means they are more likely to live a life congruent with their beliefs. Additionally, children that do take a lead in family worship have been found to be less likely to develop an extrinsic religious outlook (using their religion to obtain status) and partake in delinquent behaviors like indulging in substance abuse (Anguiano-Vega, 2019b).

Now, let’s consider the school. What happens when we have warm and caring teachers that place children at the center of their work? The evidence from ValueGenesis3 suggests that those children, once again, are more likely to develop a vibrant faith maturity and personal life of devotion, share the gospel with others, be altruistic, remain affiliated with the church, make sensible choices regarding dress, diet, and entertainment, embrace and adhere to our doctrinal beliefs, and develop an intrinsic religious disposition. Additionally, children that have warm and caring teachers that place them at the center of their work have been found, once again, to be less likely to develop an extrinsic religious outlook and partake in delinquent behaviors like indulging in substance abuse (Anguiano-Vega, 2019c).

Lastly, let’s consider the church. What happens when we let our children take the lead in our church worships? The evidence from ValueGenesis3 suggests that those children, yet again, are more likely to exhibit the positive patterns and avoid the negative patterns listed above. Thus, it is imperative for us to recognize that the harmonious development of our youth is an intentional process that home, school, and church have to create in collaboration with each other (Anguiano-Vega, 2019a).

Infographic by Mishell Raedeke | www.omnidesign.ca

The Exponential Power of Three

What happens when all three venues are harmoniously collaborating in being child-and-youth-centered? Consider the exponential impact of home, school, and church harmoniously collaborating with each other on the likelihood of our children and youth considering themselves Adventists by age 40. Among those children and youth who reported that their home, school, and church were not supportive in any way, only 22% would be likely to identify as Adventist by age 40. I want to remind you that this data is taken from children attending Adventist schools. The likelihood increases to 36% when children and youth report they have one supportive environment, to 55% when two of those environments are supportive of the child and youth. When all three environments harmoniously collaborate, the likelihood increases to 62% (Bailey, Donahue, Boyatt, & Gane, 2004).

The children and youth of the Seventh-day Adventist Church represent the church now. They are our “present truth,” if you will. They are telling us, in many cases and no uncertain terms, what the reality is that we face. Let’s be perfectly clear: we are one generation away from extinction and irrelevance. I do not intend to be pessimistic about our reality, but I do feel it is important that we know where we stand. How then do we best face this reality? It is important that we are intentional and committed to having homes, schools, and churches that are perceived by our children and youth as warm and caring, interesting, and where they are safe to explore for themselves the great questions of their faith journey.

References: Anguiano-Vega, J.M. (2019a). Church Climate, Youth Worship Participation and its Relationship to Spiritual Development. Unpublished monograph presented at the Alberta Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Summer Camp meeting, July 2019. Anguiano-Vega, J.M. (2019b). Family Climate, Family Worship and its Relationship to Spiritual Development. Unpublished monograph presented at the Alberta Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Summer Camp meeting, July 2019. Anguiano-Vega, J.M. (2019c). School Climate, Caring Teachers and its Relationship to Spiritual Development. Unpublished monograph presented at the Alberta Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Summer Camp meeting, July 2019. Gillespie, V.B., Donahue, M.J., Boyatt, E., & Gane, B. (2004). ValueGenesis Ten Years Later: A study of two generations. Riverside, CA: Hancock Center Publications, La Sierra University White, E.G., (2000). True Education: An adaptation of Education. Nampa, ID: Pacific Press