Centenary United Methodist looks at starting Christian school in Cape

Fifteen parochial and private schools operate in Cape Girardeau County and northern Scott County. Leaders of a local Methodist church believe there could be room for another.

Centenary United Methodist Church in Cape Girardeau is studying the feasibility of starting a school. The discussion has been underway since last fall, said the Rev. Jeff Long, church pastor.

The church's administrative council earlier this week authorized church staff to develop a business plan for a possible school. But Long said the council's action is just another step in the planning process. No final decision has been made about starting a school, he said.

Long and other church leaders think the idea deserves serious consideration. "There is a niche for a mainline Protestant church," said Long, who has been discussing the idea in church newsletters for several months.

In February's church newsletter Long wrote that there is a demand for such schools. "Taxpaying citizens, whose money is used to support the public schools, are willing to pay extra to educate their children in private schools," he wrote.

He and other church leaders at Centenary also see a school as another way to minister to families and increase membership in the church at Ellis and Bellevue streets. "We are not on a major artery; the neighborhood around us is static -- it is not growing," Long wrote in the newsletter. Twenty to 25 church members die each year, he said.

The Rev. Karen Mustoe, associate pastor at Centenary, said the church has created new youth programs over the past six years to better serve children and families. Establishing a Christian school fits into that overall goal, she said.

The church has hired Marketing Horizons Inc. of St. Louis to conduct a direct mail survey of 1,400 households in Cape Girardeau County to gauge the demand for private education.

Long said he and other church leaders plan to put together a business plan for a possible school this summer and early fall. The goal, he said, is to have the plan completed before Thanksgiving.

If the decision is made to move forward, a class or classes could start in August 2008, Long said.

Church leaders have promised the church won't establish a school unless it can be self-supporting. "If this doesn't pay for itself, we won't do it," Long said.

At this point, church leaders don't know the cost of operating a school or the amount of tuition that would have to be charged to cover the costs.

Paul Richter, president of Christian School Development Inc. in Iowa City, Iowa, conducted a seminar at Centenary Church on Saturday. Richter said it's important for a church to decide early on what type of school it wants to operate. "You really have to develop a vision and see what is exactly the need and what kind of school will meet that need," he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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