These guidelines have emerged as a result of conversations in the Unity Christian School community on how to grapple with the issue of diversity. They are a work in progress and not a finished policy. They are designed to provide a framework for the discussion of a very important and difficult issue. These guidelines are offered here with the hope that they will stimulate discussions in other Christian schools as well. For further information, please contact Ed Noot at Unity Christian School.

Our Unity Christian School community
is firmly committed to assisting its students
in developing their God-given potential
to enable them to join in the work
of building the kingdom of God.

As a community, Unity Christian School believes that all students are entitled to learn in a safe and healthy environment. We believe that our schools should be places where our students are welcomed and embraced for who they are in Christ. We believe that all students, regardless of their varying abilities, race, family situations, etc., are to be treated with respect and dignity.

We believe that:

• God loves all of his children equally.
• Jesus died for all who accept him.
• We are called to love our neighbor as ourselves.
• All students need to be accepted for who they are —they are created in the image of God and loved by him.

Christian schools receive their responsibility to educate students through a trust relation established between the enrolled families and the school. Students are entrusted by their parents to Unity Christian School for an education that is presented from a Christian worldview, including biblical, Christian content toward the goal of Christ like living. Our mandate is to remain faithful to the trust that parents have placed in the school for the welfare of their children. The second part of our mandate is to remain faithful to the biblical, Christian tradition on matters of belief and morality.

Unity Christian School affirms the following principles:

• All people are created in the image of God.
• All of life is sacred.
• All cultures and races are to be respected as part of God’s world.
• Our bodies are temples of Christ and ought to be treated as such.
• Gossip and slander are wrong. Our words are to be used to build others up, not tear them down.
• God calls us to care for the poor and oppressed.
• Discrimination against others, for whatever reason, goes against what we believe and is not acceptable.
• All students deserve to learn in a safe and secure environment.
• We are all fallen due to the effects of sin, and are all in need of God’s forgiveness. We know that mistakes will be made and reconciliation will need to occur in order to bring about the restoration of relationship, community, and trust.
• Christians love each person by doing good to them, speaking truthfully and kindly. Christians attempt at all times to love others as we would wish them to love us. Christians attempt to love others as Jesus has loved us.

The area of discrimination based on sexual orientation or same gender attraction (SGA) is one that our school is facing or may face in the future. In this day and age, this type of discrimination merits special consideration.

Unity Christian School affirms the following principles when dealing with concerns around SGA:

• Throughout the vast majority of Christian tradition, sexual activity outside of the heterosexual, monogamous marriage has been considered sinful.
• Having “same gender attraction” is not a sin. It is a reflection of human fallenness and is not the best will of God for any person.

Unity Christian School will seek to embody these principles with an attitude of:

• Humility—since we all may fall into temptation and sin at any time.
• Mutual Understanding—our frail moral condition means we must be compassionate and listen to each other’s struggles.
• Mutual Respect—though sinful, each of us deserves to be respected and honored, for we bear the image of God and are the objects of his love.
• Goodwill—being committed to do no harm to one another, but to build each other up in the faith.

The atmosphere at Unity Christian School must be made to be and to feel like a safe place for all its students. Our school also reflects an atmosphere of humble understanding and respect for each other’s human frailty, and our commitment to love one another as we have been loved by a gracious God. Everything that we do must be framed within these principles. Unity Christian School avoids principles and attitudes that lead to hatred or contempt for others.

Unity Christian School is careful and thoughtful as we interpret scripture. A sound, biblical worldview is done with exegetical excellence within the context of the general themes of the entire scripture.

This document outlines the basic beliefs to which Unity Christian School adheres. It is meant as a framework from which all other policies stem, such as our Community Standards Document, Admissions Policy, Discipline Policy, etc.

Unity Christian School would look to Society of Christian Schools in British Columbia documents for specific guidance as necessary.

As an education committee, we endorse the SCSBC’s Same Gender Attraction document and would use it as guidance should the need arise.