“The vision of The Rock School is to make disciples…”
Becoming a Christian is not only a moment of conversion but a lifetime of formation. As such, we understand that we are engaging students in what Eugene Peterson called “a long obedience in the same direction”.
Discipleship is a comprehensive effort in which we approach a student’s faith formation holistically by providing opportunities for:
Engaging the Head
Engaging the Heart
Engaging the Hands
Students have opportunities through prayer, worship, and contemplation to learn to sense God’s presence and to become more aware of Him at work in their lives and in those around them.
Students engage in a serious study of the Christian faith by learning about church history, creeds, scriptural contexts, apologetics, cultural engagement, and sound theological doctrines. Students are invited to wrestle with the challenging questions of faith and culture in this present age.
Students have regular and frequent times to read passages within our sacred text and the opportunity to reflect on these readings both individually and in small group settings. Reflection on scripture is intended to be different from times of study and instead utilize practices such as lectio divina to allow the Word of God to speak directly to the reader.
Students consider how God may be using their awareness of His presence, their study of theology, and their reading of scripture to lead them to action in some way. Students have opportunities to journal about how the Lord may be directing them in their personal transformation or to act in a broader context to “cooperate with God in the work of redeeming the world.”
Each Monday morning, our entire K-12 staff and student body come together for All-School Chapel. We honor God in this way by giving Him our “first and our best” – the first hour of our school week. Each Chapel service consists of singing, creedal confession, Scripture reading, and a short sermon.
The emphasis of chapel is on faith formation – helping students to strengthen their resolve and commitment to the Christian faith and how to live it deeply and actively.
We follow the Christian Calendar in our Chapel preaching in order to allow students to live the story of the Bible over the course of each school year:
We root each sermon in a Scripture passage, not in a topic or story. We use the New Living Translation (NLT) in Chapel and Discipleship classes.
There are many different churches and denominations represented within our school family, so our chapel services focus on the things that we all have in common as Bible-believing Christians. The theological differences that divide the body into various denominations and faith groups are left to the home and church to teach.
Our chapel services are broadcast live online at www.livestream.com/therocklions.
Each year, students have the opportunity to put their faith into practice through various service projects. Additionally, we plan an annual international missions trip for high school students to work with one of our partner organizations (usually in Central America).
Join us for our next Open House to learn more about our discipleship efforts and how we integrate faith and learning to provide a distinctively Christian education.
The vision of The Rock School is to make disciples of Jesus who possess the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to courageously cooperate with God in the work of redeeming the world.
