Church community is a school for young and old in the discipleship of Christ. True education is a matter of awakening the soul, of quickening the inner life so that the whole person is attuned to Christ and his cause. All members must learn to do concentrated work with mind and spirit to the full extent of their capabilities. If we love Christ, we will take an interest in the work of God throughout history and will have concern for the social, political, and cultural movements of our time.

It is in this context that the education of children and young people takes place. Children should not be molded to conform to the wishes or ambitions of their parents or anyone else. Every child is a thought of God. Education means nurturing the innate divine spark within each child and helping him or her to become the person God intends.

The Ten Commandments and the New Testament state with good reason, “Honor your father and your mother. . . that it may go well with you.” Children’s emotional and spiritual well-being begins in their relationship to their parents; it is parents, not any school or community, who have the primary authority and responsibility for educating their children. Obedience and respect for parents and other adults is the basis of a strong character.

Permissiveness and indulgence must be avoided in the education of children, but so too must moralism and legalism. Parents and teachers must be mentors to children as they guide them on their path to adulthood. Anyone who seeks to coerce or assert power over the soul of a child commits a grave sin. Corporal punishment in any form is prohibited.

Where possible, our communities run their own nurseries and schools. Bruderhof schools seek to provide each child with a happy and constructive childhood and to educate the whole child; this includes rigorous academic instruction; craftsmanship and practical skills; singing and the arts; unstructured play and sportsmanship; and the experience of nature. Beyond this, history and literature are studied in a way that traces connections across centuries and cultures.

Our schools emphasize respect, self-discipline, and a strong work ethic. But what matters most is that children develop their capacity to love by caring for and serving others.

Adolescence and young adulthood, like childhood, have their own God-given qualities. A church community, just like every other human society, needs the disruptive exuberance of youth and should welcome it, otherwise it cannot remain flexible and alive. We should never force young people to act as if they were grown adults, but should help them to focus their enthusiasm constructively. We must enable them to arrive at their own convictions and, so long as they remain sincere and respectful, to bring their thoughts to expression, even if the result is awkward or unusual.

After secondary school, many of our young people pursue some form of training at the university level or in a trade (although the church community is under no obligation to provide them with such training). Others find opportunities to volunteer, or learn practical skills in the workplace.

When young people who have grown up within our communities choose other paths in life, the church community will provide support on a case-by-case basis as they establish themselves on their own. We welcome continuing relationships with such young people, provided there is mutual respect. Whether they stay or go, our prayer is that they find God’s will in a life of service to others.

* This online version of Foundations is for reference only. For the authoritative version, see the print edition.