If you’ve spent any time around kids, you already know something important: they are always learning. The real question isn’t if they’re being discipled, it’s who is discipling them and toward what. That’s where Adventist Christian education steps in. At its best, it’s not just about math facts, reading levels, or science projects. It’s about shaping hearts that know Jesus and lives that follow and serve Him.
Let’s be clear: education is never neutral. Every classroom is teaching a worldview. Every teacher is modeling values. Every system is forming habits. So the goal of Adventist education isn’t just to add a Bible class onto a regular school day; it’s to create an environment where everything points students toward a relationship with Christ. That’s true discipleship.
Ellen White puts it this way in her book Education: “True education means more than the pursual of a certain course of study… It has to do with the whole being, and with the whole period of existence possible to man” (13). A few pages later she concisely clarifies this purpose: “The aim of education is to restore in man the image of his Maker” (15). That’s a big statement. That’s the end goal. Not just prepared students, but transformed lives. It reminds us that education isn’t just about what students know. It’s about who they become.
Within the Dakota Conference, this commitment to transformation and discipleship is seen through intentional classroom experiences in each of our schools, where students have regular opportunities to actively engage in service outreach and giving. This helps shape a mindset where faith is lived, not just learned. Students conduct church services, raise money for missions, sing at their local nursing homes, or collect food and funds for their local food banks. Discipleship happens in both the planned and unplanned moments. It happens when a teacher prays with a student who’s struggling. It happens when forgiveness is practiced instead of just talked about. It happens when students are encouraged to serve each other, not just succeed for themselves. That’s not accidental; that’s intentional.
A powerful reminder in Education says, “The work of education and the work of redemption are one” (30). If you miss that, you miss everything. Adventist education isn’t a side project to the mission of the church—it is the mission, lived out daily with young people. When a student learns to see God as their Creator in science class, that’s discipleship. When they learn integrity and honesty in their work, that’s discipleship. When they discover their gifts and how to use them for God’s kingdom, that’s discipleship.
And here’s the part we can’t ignore: kids today are being discipled everywhere else. Social media, entertainment, peer culture—they’re all shaping beliefs, identity and purpose. If we’re not intentional, those voices will drown out ours. Adventist education gives students something different. It creates space for them to ask real questions about faith. It connects biblical truth to everyday life. It surrounds them with adults who are not just teaching subjects but modeling what it looks like to walk with Jesus daily. And modeling matters. Students don’t just remember what teachers say; they remember who teachers are. A caring teacher who reflects Christ can have an impact that lasts far beyond graduation. That’s why Adventist education places such a high value on the spiritual life of the teacher, not just their academic ability.
So when we talk about Adventist Christian education, we’re not just talking about a school option; we’re talking about a discipleship pathway. A place where kids learn to think, yes, but also to believe. A place where they grow academically, but also spiritually. A place where Jesus isn’t just mentioned, but followed. And if we’re serious about raising up a generation that knows Christ and lives for Him, then we need environments that do more than inform. We must create and nurture environments that disciple for God. And that’s what Adventist education is all about.
Lynnette Struntz (not pictured) is education superintendent for the Dakota Conference.
