Our History
SBCHEA became an official ministry on September 13, 2004. This was almost three years to the day from the presentation of Second Vice President General T.C.Pinckney's address, "We Are Losing Our Children" to the 2001 Southern Baptist Executive Committee:"The ideal, most biblical solution is for parents to teach their children, to be home schoolers. All our churches should welcome and openly encourage home-schoolers."
Sadly, the reality is that many Christian homeschooling families receive support from their extended family and their community, but not from their local church. The number of church-sponsored homeschool ministries is growing, but many, many homeschoolers have left the Southern Baptist Convention because of open hostility to their biblical convictions.
Since September 2001, several steps were taken to remedy this unfortunate situation. Guided by its vice president, and homeschooling father, David Shepherd. Broadman & Holman entered the homeschooling world, and in addition to publishing books by HSLDA's Michael and Vickie Farris and Christopher Klicka, launched a LifeWay Homeschool website and newsletter, edited by Zan Tyler.
Several vital links were missing. A lack of two-way communication between Southern Baptist homeschooling families and the Southern Baptist Convention, and also a resource connecting high school age homeschooled students with Christian colleges and universities was desperately needed. SBCHEA has been established to fulfill this role. In the spring of 2004, God providentially opened the doors for our ministry, through the debate over the Christian Education Resolution, co-authored by Dr. Bruce N. Shortt and General T.C.Pinckney, and famously rejected by the 2004 SBC Annual Convention. SBCHEA's founder, Elizabeth Watkins, had an article published by Crosswalk.com, expressing the frustrations of Southern Baptist homeschooling families. Four months later, after years of research and prayer, her voice was finally heard and her dream became a reality. Nathan Finn's words, "Wanted: Deliberately Christian Parents", became SBCHEA's battle cry!