The Mission
of GMS
"We thank Jesus every morning for being able to take our children to a safe, Godly environment, where they do not have to fight off the worldly wolves but can focus on learning and growing and maturing to become all the great things that God has for them."
Deric and Carla Parker, parents of GMS alumni.
GMS Mission Statement
Greenwood Mennonite School
is an extension of the
church and Christian home,
educating students
in a Biblical worldview,
from an Anabaptist perspective,
in Christian values,
and in relevant academics
to be effective citizens in the world.
Philosophy
We believe that God created man in His own image. We believe that sin entered the human family as a result of man’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden. Man therefore needs to be restored to fellowship with God. This is possible today because God has communicated with man through His Word, the Bible, and because Jesus died for man’s sin, rose again, and now intercedes with God for us.
We believe that the central task of Christian Education is to guide students to a better knowledge of God’s truth and acceptance of His will for their lives. We believe that God gave parents the responsibility of educating their children and that the parents have delegated some of this responsibility to the Christian school. The home, church, and school must therefore work together in close harmony.
We believe that the child, because of a depraved nature common to all mankind, needs firm, redemptive guidance and discipline in order to develop into the complete person God intends him to be. As the child becomes mature enough to understand God’s plan of salvation, Christian teachers will attempt to guide him in accepting Jesus as his Savior.
We accept the Bible as central in Christian education. We conduct classes devoted exclusively to the study of the Bible and interpreting truth in other studies in the light of Scripture. We are firmly committed to Anabaptist principles of Biblical interpretation and to separation of Church and state.
We believe that only by ministering to the whole child--mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual--can we deal effectively with any single area of his/her personality.
POSITION STATEMENTS
Statement on Peace
We believe that it is the will of God for His children to follow Christian love in all human relationships. This excludes retaliation and revenge. God pours His love into the hearts of Christians so that they desire the welfare of all others. The supreme example of this love is found in the Lord Jesus. He Himself taught Christians not to resist those who do wrong unto them. This requires His disciples to renounce violence in every relationship. Only love must be shown to all people. We believe this applies to every area of life: to personal injustice, to situations in which people commonly resort to litigation, and to international tensions and wars. As peacemaking Christians we must aggressively, even at the risk of life itself, do whatever we can to alleviate human distress and suffering. (Matthew 5:38-48; John 18:36; Romans 5:5; 12:18-21; I Corinthians 6:1-8, II Corinthians 10:3-4; James 2:8; I Peter 2:21-23; Article 18, Mennonite Confession of Faith).
The Dignity and Sanctity of Human Life
We believe God created each human being in His image. All human life is sacred. Any actions and words which communicate anything about the worth, dignity or value of any human being therefore reflect on the honor of the Creator. We reject hatred, slander, gossip, and derogatory racial and ethnic comments; these destroy the dignity and honor of human beings as bearers of the image of the Creator. We also believe that citizens of the kingdom should respect life at all stages and should not participate in the termination of human life, whether through abortion, infanticide, murder, warfare, capital punishment, suicide, or euthanasia. We believe that each person we encounter is a person for whom Christ died, whether they are yet a brother or sister in Christ or not.
Marriage and Human Sexuality
We believe God created each person in His image, wonderfully made as male or female. In a broken and fallen world, God’s Word continues to affirm the sanctity of one’s biological sex (Gen. 1:27, 5:2; Ps. 139:14).
We believe marriage was the first institution ordained by God. We believe God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other. We believe God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity or cohabitation be engaged in outside of marriage between a man and a woman. We believe any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, and the use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God (Gen 2:20-24; Matt. 15:18-20; 1 Cor. 6:9-10, 6:18, 7:2-5; Heb. 13:4).
Statement on Holidays
CHRISTMAS – This is a celebration of the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. The emphasis of GMS at this time will be upon giving because God first gave when He sent Jesus to be born. Our focus is to be upon Jesus, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, who came to bring peace on earth. Each Christmas, in lieu of gift exchanges in our classrooms, we promote giving to a world or local need as a Christmas project.
EASTER - GMS will stress the empty tomb and resurrected Christ.
Instead of Halloween, GMS will stress Fall Harvest and thankfulness for God’s provision.
We do not allow ghosts or evil spiritual images to be used at school.