Palmetto Christian Academy (PCA) was established as a ministry of East Cooper Baptist Church in 1992. Since that time, staff and pastors have watched the school grow from 25 students in 1992 to over 800 students enrolled in the 2023-2024 school year. As the school continues to grow, leaders felt it was necessary to ensure that the mission of the school to “equip students to pursue Jesus Christ passionately as they impact the culture” remained the priority. “We see people running away from public schools, but not necessarily running to Jesus. We want to keep in mind that PCA was created to be a supplement to what is already happening in the home. Scripture does not mention a school. It establishes the church and the family as the authority. If families are not pursuing Christian development in the home, then there is a major disconnect,” Danny Beech, East Cooper’s Next Gen Pastor, explained. 

At the start of the 2023-2024 school year, a covenant renewal was launched and explained to all families at parent orientation. Headmaster JD Zubia, Pastor Danny Beech, and PCA board members talked through the need for the covenant renewal and their hopes for how the Lord would use this process to grow both the staff and families of PCA. A renewal of the covenant provides an opportunity to ensure that church leaders, school staff, and families are still aligned on shared faith, beliefs, and practice. These three categories are the prerequisites of the covenant between PCA and parents. Shared faith is the first step in committing to the covenant. Parents are asked to give a statement of how they have come to understand the Gospel and have accepted it personally before enrolling their children at PCA. The covenant also asks families to be a member of a church that aligns with the shared beliefs and to worship in a weekly rhythm as Scripture instructs. Shared practice is the most difficult to prescribe, but the heart of the matter is, God has established the church as the primary means for his people to grow in Christlikeness and that is how PCA desires for families to grow in the knowledge of Christ. 

After the prerequisites are agreed upon, families then start showing their commitment to the covenant in their homes, churches, at PCA, and in the community. They do this by raising their kids according to Scripture at home, submitting to the authority of a local church, particularly through church membership, and showing the love of Christ to others in the school and the local community. The ultimate desire is for kids to come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. This covenant is in place to support that desire, while also acknowledging that only the Holy Spirit can work in the hearts and lives of these students. 

The renewal process will take a couple of years to fully take effect, but there has already been positive feedback and encouragement from the families and staff. “It’s been a relief to trust what the Lord is doing through the local church and trust the shepherds,” Danny shared. “We hope this renewal will bring confidence to our families that we are running the same race side by side.”