Promoting the Church School: Funding the Career Teacher
Murray Wideman opens with a blunt premise: if a school wants a career teacher, it must pay that teacher adequately. He anchors the point in Jeremiah 22:13, warning against using a neighbor’s service without wages. Drawing from experience at Cedarville Christian School, he highlights the advantages of hiring a married brother from the congregation. He then raises several practical challenges, including setting compensation high enough to honor the role without discouraging other forms of congregational giving, exploring whether stronger congregations might help newer or smaller ones support a career teacher, and ensuring long-serving female teachers can easily submit expense receipts so classroom costs do not quietly erode their income. Finally, he rejects the language of “voluntary service,” insisting that if teaching is to become a true career, reimbursement must match the support expected in other professions.
This talk is part of a series titled "Promoting the Church School" given at CSAI 2026. See below for additional talks in this series.
Promoting the Church School: Identity
Promoting the Church School: Funding the Career Teacher
Promoting the Church School: The Ministry's Role
“Promoting the Church School: Funding the Career Teacher” was presented by Murrey Wideman at Christian School Administration Institute (CSAI) 2026.
