Will Opportunity Scholarships Cost Christian Schools Their Freedom?

Currently, families in the state of North Carolina are "blessed" to be able to have access to the North Carolina Opportunity Scholarship which allows them the opportunity to choose where they send their children to school. For many, the Opportunity Scholarship provides families the opportunity to send their children to a Christian school such as South Charlotte Baptist Academy.

I put the word blessed in quotation marks because programs such as this are not perfect.

• Because South Charlotte Baptist Academy is located near the NC/SC state line, those students who live in South Carolina do not qualify for the Opportunity Scholarship.

• Many individuals argue that state funds should never be "given" to religious organizations.

• Some Christians (and I have talked with some) feel that we should not accept funds from the government because they - the government - can dictate how the money is used and may attempt to control what and how we teach and who we allow into our school.

• Others believe that we should not be dependent upon funds from the government because they can be taken away just as easily as they were given. Then what do we do?!?

I believe there is merit to all of those things which I just mentioned and they are things that I have had to wrestle with.

I would like you to take a moment to read this article, "Will Opportunity Scholarships Cost Christian Schools Their Freedom," which was written by Dr. Mike Creech, the Director of Government Relations Return America.

Many of the families of South Charlotte Baptist Academy do rely upon funds from the Opportunity Scholarship to be able to send their children to SCBA.

• What happens if a future NC legislature pulls the funding from the scholarship? I do wonder, at times, how committed parents are to Christian education especially if they have to pay for it all themselves.

• What if the NC legislature begins to make "unreasonable" demands of SCBA for accepting these scholarship funds.

As pastor of South Charlotte Baptist Church, I can tell you, emphatically, that, should any of the above happen, I have already determined to respond in the way in which was suggested in the article mentioned earlier:

• We will receive scholarship students while remaining faithful to our Christian mission.

• We will not surrender biblical teaching.

• We will not allow the government to determine our theology or Christian polity.

• We will not abandon Christian standards simply to preserve revenue.

• If a future government ever requires us to choose between scholarship money and faithfulness to Christ, the money shall be forfeited.

Can we prepare in the event that any of these take place and South Charlotte Baptist Academy has to come to a point of not accepting these funds from North Carolina? Is there anything that can be done - now - to place ourselves in a position where we do not even need funds from North Carolina?

I believe that there is something that can be done - now - to prepare for such a time as that. It is called the Ron Faulk Endowment Fund.

Several years ago, through the generous donation after the passing of one of the strongest supporters of SCBA, Mr. Ron Faulk, we were able to establish this endowment fund not for our immediate use but to plan ahead for a time when we could be fully self-sufficient.

Currently, the Ron Faulk Endowment Fund has accumulated to just over $300,000. We praise the Lord for that and, while that is a good start, to get to a level where it would be truly beneficial, we need to see the RFEF accumulate to at least $17 million! Yes, that seems like an impossible task but, as I say, when confronted with a seemingly impossible task, "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!"

We are doing our part by investing some of our current funds into the RFEF. May we ask you to do the same? You may not be able to invest a million dollars but could you invest $100? What about $50? What about $10? Every amount will help us reach our goal! And it will be an investment in "the generation to come!"

Would you please stop right now, click here, and make even a small investment?

Thank you!

P.S. - If you have time, read this article, "The Promise, The Reality, and The Lie," about the North Carolina "Education" Lottery. (It was also written by Return America.)