An Interesting Parallel

Since its birth in 1983, there has been a great exodus from the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), the largest Presbyterian denomination.  The PCUSA leadership has put less stress on the evangelical message and more on the political message, and on social activism. The U.S. public education establishment too, has turned toward political and social activism, and as a result, the teaching system that once led the world in public educational achievement has fallen behind.  Could this result be caused by the latter-day emphasis on socio-political, liberal goals to the exclusion of the divine underpinnings of morality and individual responsibility that our founding fathers felt were essential?

America is slipping!  We have fallen in reading, math, and science.  Additionally, we find in 2006 that only thirty-nine percent of adults between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-four have attained a postsecondary degree, placing us tenth among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, and twelfth when the four non-OECD “partner” economies are included. This level of postsecondary attainment shows no sign of improving across the generations.  About thirty-nine percent of Americans aged twenty-five to thirty-four have attained a postsecondary degree—but this is less than the attainment rate of Americans aged thirty-five to forty-four (forty-one percent) and aged forty-five to fifty-four (forty percent). In contrast, in seventeen other countries, the postsecondary attainment rate among those aged twenty-five to thirty-four was at least five percent higher than those aged thirty-five to forty-four.  America is falling behind, and I believe that much of the decline is because we have left the basic ideological underpinnings and discipline that helped our nation to excel as one nation under God.

The educational foundation in the United States of America was greatly influenced by the Presbyterian Church.   By 1730, the Scots-Irish Presbyterians had made their way into the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia on the western frontiers of the British Colonies.  The frontier settlements served as a buffer against the Indians, and enjoyed religious freedom because they were virtually ignored by Virginians further to the east in the Anglican-dominated tidewater region.  Thus, the Presbyterian influence in education greatly touched much of our nation in the early days without interference.

By 1740 the Presbyterian Church had ninety-five congregations, primarily on the eastern seaboard, and they had a great impact on many areas of society. In politics, they were inspired by Calvin’s affirmation of law as a structure of God’s grace, and by the doctrines of election and vocation as theological bases for participation in political affairs. Presbyterian clergy and laity were nearly unanimous in supporting the American Revolution, and John Witherspoon —  Presbyterian president of what later became Princeton University, founded in 1746, was the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence. Calvinist ideas underpinned the shaping of the American political structure with its system of checks and balances, separation of powers, and constitutional limits to authority.  Additionally, the Presbyterians were instrumental in establishing scores of other schools.

Presbyterians have stressed the need for a highly trained clergy and a literate laity who could understand the Bible. The academy of John Calvin, established at Geneva in the 1540’s, was the central educational core in Europe. One of the first things that the Church of Scotland did when its privileges were restored by King William III, was through its General Assembly to make ample provision for the education of the people. Schools of different grades were established in every parish throughout the kingdom, which were supported by public funds, to the extent that education was available to the poorest in the community.  This thinking was passed on to America!

As in Geneva and in Scotland, wherever Presbyterianism has been planted, it has invariably shown a similar love for learning. The first emigrants to this country were no exception. Many schoolmasters were among emigrants to America, and at an early period, each Presbyterian settlement made suitable provision for its schools. Even among the servants, it was a rare thing to find a person that could not at least read God’s Word. The Scots-Irish embraced the conviction of John Knox to put a school in every parish for the education of the general public.

Colleges and seminaries were set up!  The synod of the Carolinas enjoined upon all its presbyteries “to establish within their respective bounds one or more grammar-schools, except where such schools are already established.” Through the influence of an educated ministry, a large number of classical schools and academies were speedily organized, which acquired a wide and deserved reputation. In these institutions, many of the youth of the country received an education, which fitted them subsequently for usefulness in the liberal professions of law and medicine, although the basic purpose of schools had been to raise up and qualify ministers for the rapidly increasing congregations. As instructors of the rising generation, the Presbyterian clergy exerted an immense influence for good upon society, then in a state of formation, and subsequently their example fostered a zeal for education in other denominations, and influenced these other religious bodies to found schools and colleges.

By 1775 when the United States was a fledging nation, there were 588 congregations with a membership of 63,063 clustered overwhelmingly in the Delaware Valley around Pennsylvania, central New Jersey, and the Chesapeake Bay of Maryland and Virginia.  Presbyterians were the second largest denomination next to Congregationalists.  It has been observed, “Much of the language and aspiration contained in the Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776 is widely acknowledged to carry the distinctive stamp of non-conformist Calvinism,”* and about one-fifth of the signatories of the U.S. Constitution were Presbyterian.

The Presbyterian Church and America share a lot, and the Church has greatly influenced educational development, but as far as the proclamation of the gospel is concerned, there has been a shift from the focus of the evangelical message a progressive, socio-political activism.  Membership and influence has fallen by over one million since the 1960’s.  In comparison, the public schools before the 1960’s cultivated discipline and spiritual responsibility, but afterwards, a shift took place toward what I call social-political goals.

There seems to be a parallel here between the Presbyterian Church’s membership drop and the declining achievement in our public schools.  American students are spending more time in academic classes and being examined more rigorously, but there is little evidence that all of the additional academic activity has resulted in higher academic achievement.  Could it be caused by the same problem—the neglect of the spiritual core?

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* Kennedy, Billy. Our Most Priceless Heritage – The Lasting Legacy of the Scots-Irish in America. Greenville, SC: Emerald House Group Inc., 2005.

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by Joe Renfro, Ed.D., Radio Evangelist, Retired Teacher and Pastor, Box 751, Lavonia, Georgia 30553, 706-356-4173, joerenfro@windstream.net