Lumen Christi Catholic School
LUMEN CHRISTI PARISH VISION STATEMENT

"Transforming hearts and renewing minds"

LUMEN CHRISTI PARISH MISSION STATEMENT

To build a faithful, vibrant, and welcoming Catholic community that is:
Conformed to Jesus Christ and open to the Spirit,
Rooted in the power of the Eucharist and the beauty of liturgical worship,
Informed by a deepening knowledge and active practice of the faith,
Committed to reaching out in service to the needs of our world,
And sustained by a life style of stewardship.

LUMEN CHRISTI CATHOLIC SCHOOL MISSION STATEMENT

Lumen Christi Catholic School, as an integral part of our parish, educates our children as unique individuals through a strong academic program, infusing the Gospel Values, which compel us to love and serve in our Catholic tradition.

BELIEF STATEMENTS

We believe that:

• All children can learn.
• A quality academic program is essential.
• Parents have the primary responsibility for their children's education and faith information.
  
• Respect and honesty are both the right and responsibility of all persons.
  
• Learning the creed, sacred scripture, and traditions of the Catholic Church are essential to our children's faith development.
  
• A partnership with the parents is essential to prepare and assist our children to learn and live the Catholic faith.
  
• We show Christ's love for all by serving one another.

  We believe in:

• Parental participation.
  
• The uniqueness of all individuals.
  
• The respect for property and the environment.

Introduction

Lumen Christi Catholic School finds its essential and fundamental identity in the word “Catholic.” Simply stated, this means that Lumen Christi School identifies itself with the Catholic Church and the fullness of the Church’s mission and teaching. While recognizing the importance of a curriculum that is standards based and seeks the mental, emotional, physical and social growth of the student, Lumen Christi Catholic School will use the curriculum to accomplish the foundational mission of the Catholic school, the education and faith formation of the student.

The Vatican II document on Catholic Education describes Catholic schools as those drawing their inspiration, their strength, and their focus from the Gospel in which they are rooted and from the authentic and authoritative teaching of the Catholic Church. Lumen Christi teachers and administration have the special opportunity and responsibility to present not only academic knowledge but a more complete view of the world and the human person, a view that is suffused with the light of faith. Thus, not only in the classroom but also in all school activities, as well as in the overall environment of the school, the truth of faith will be primary. Education at Lumen Christi Catholic School proclaims that the religious and faith dimension of human experience is at the heart of its educational purpose.

Lumen Christi Catholic School proclaims:
· A view of life that is God-centered
· A view of the person that is Christ-centered
· A view of community that is Church-centered

Lumen Christi Catholic School commits itself to:
· The teachings of the Catholic Church as articulated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and through the authoritative teaching office of the Church
· The moral and spiritual formation of the human person
· The formation and expression of Gospel-based values in students and faculty
· The cultivation of Catholic culture through opportunities for prayer and worship, celebration of the sacraments, devotional practices, the presence of religious symbols and art

The Catholic identity of Lumen Christi School cannot be separated from its integral relationship to Lumen Christi Parish. The school is an essential part of the parish’s educational ministry. The parish is the context in which the school operates. It is this community, one that consists of home, school, and parish that accepts responsibility for educating the young in the way and service of the Gospel.

Summary of Gospel Values for Faith Formation
Faith formation based on Gospel Values has been part of the Catholic culture of Lumen Christi’s Parish and School communities for many decades. Foundational to these Gospel Values in the teachings of the Church are Prayer, Worship, Community, Message, Moral Formation and Stewardship. These Gospel-based, value words can be found throughout Lumen Christi’s major documents such as Parish Council and School Commission Bylaws, Parent Association Guidelines, Faculty Handbook, the Religion Curriculum and Social Justice Teachings of the Church used in School curricula. These Gospel-based, value words and concepts are described below.

Prayer and Worship
Prayer is a response to God’s invitation to dialogue with us. It is always an act of faith and of hope, which is fulfilled in our surrender to the love of God. Prayer and the Christian life are inseparable for they help us continue a loving conformity to the plan of God for us. Prayer helps us love our neighbor and unites us with the Holy Spirit who guides us to be more and more like Jesus.

Worship is the act of reverence and honor shown to God, which can be expressed in formal prayer and in the ordinary deeds of everyday human life that flow from an inner attitude of reverence and honor. Worship is also the center of the life of the Christian Disciple and the Church and at the heart of Catholic spirituality as it encompasses non-liturgical and liturgical prayer, the highest expression of which is the Eucharist.

A School Community Grounded in Prayer and Worship Include:
· An openness to seeing God in daily life (Faith)
· Prayer at the beginning and the ending of the school day
· The weekly celebration of the Eucharist
· Opportunity to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation as a school community
· Celebration of Holy Days
· Exposure to and practice of various Catholic prayer traditions and rituals including the Rosary, Eucharistic Adoration, Meditation, May Crowning, etc.
· Family participation in the Sunday Parish Liturgy and Reconciliation

Community
Christian Community describes all who, from the moment of Baptism, became a member of the Church’s family joined in common faith, hope, and love. For its vitality, Christian Community depends on the life of the Spirit, which unites members in a relationship, so intimate that St. Paul likens it to a body with each individual a part and Jesus the Head. In this Community, one person’s problem is everyone’s problem and one person’s victory is everyone’s victory.

Characteristics of Christian Community
· An openness to and an appreciation of the differences among people
· Attitudes and actions that foster a climate of acceptance and welcoming, cooperation and respect, honesty and responsibility, compassion and encouragement

Message and Moral Formation
Catholic education is an expression of the mission entrusted by Jesus to the Church He founded. Through education the Church seeks to prepare its members to proclaim the Good News and to translate this proclamation into action. Since the Christian vocation is a call to transform oneself and society with God’s help, the educational efforts of the Church must encompass the twin purposes of personal sanctification and social reform in light of Christian values.

Thus, the crucial measure of the success or failure of the educational ministry is how well it enables people to hear the message of hope contained in the Gospel, to base their love and service of God upon this message, to achieve a vital personal relationship with Christ, and to shore the Gospel’s realistic view of the human condition which recognizes the fact of evil and personal sin while affirming hope (To Teach As Jesus Did).

Message and Moral Formation Include:
· A study of Catholic History and Tradition
· A study of Catholic Doctrines, Dogma and Social Teachings
· A study of Sacred Scripture from a Catholic perspective
· Attitudes and actions that support and respect all life as a gift from God and encourage chaste living
· Attitudes and actions that promote the moral dimensions of human life and relationships based on the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, and Jesus’ Great Law of Love

Stewardship
Stewardship is a way of life that integrates the attitudes of sharing and generosity toward the goods of creation which exist for the service and welfare of all in Church and society locally and globally.

Characteristics of Those Committed to a Life of Stewardship Include:
· Attitudes of gratitude, appreciation and thankfulness
· A commitment to justice and peace
· Participation in on-going service
· Actions that display kindness, caring, and love

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