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Homewood Statement of Faith and Policies Document-Printable PDF
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Please take time to read and review the
The goals of Homewood Christian Association are:
- To glorify the Lord Jesus Christ in all our activities and
communications.
- To provide opportunities for families to support and
encourage one another in our efforts to teach at home.
- To offer educational and social opportunities for our
children: field trips, Project Fair, and other activities.
- To establish a link in a chain for information to be passed
on to individual home school families from local, state and
community-wide organizations.
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- The Bible is the inspired and infallible Word of God and
constitutes completed and final revelation. The Bible, in its
original autograph, is without error in whole and in part,
including theological concepts as well as geographical and
historical details.
- God has existed from all eternity in three persons: God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ was
God who came in human flesh being fully God and fully man except
without sin.
- All men are in violation of God’s righteous requirements and
His holy character both by nature and by act, and therefore are
under His wrath and just condemnation. The central purpose of
the coming of Jesus Christ was to pay the penalty for man’s sin
through His substitutionary death on the cross—the successful
accomplishment of which was attested to by His subsequent
visible, bodily resurrection.
- Salvation is offered as a gift, free to the sinner. This
gift must be responded to in individual faith, not trust in any
personal works, but in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ
alone.
- We hold as a belief and conviction that marriage is ordained
by God as a union between a man and a woman. Children are given
by God as a stewardship to the parents (father and mother) and
not the state. Further, we hold that parents have wherewithal
and authority to educate their own children. (Proverbs 22:6,
Deuteronomy 6:6-7, Ephesians 6:4)
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Policies for Homewood Activities:
Because we are representing Jesus Christ as well as Homewood in our conversation, attire and behavior, we ask that members follow these policies while attending Homewood events.
- Parents are responsible for the behavior of their children during Homewood functions. Children (or parents) who behave in a manner that is out of control, which damages the reputation of the group, will lose the privilege of attending future functions.
- Please restrain your children from running in buildings and climbing on structures that are not playground equipment.
- Be sure that tour guides and others are listened to attentively.
- Show respect for property by disposing of all trash and by leaving the area as it was found.
- Restitution for property damage caused by any student, sibling, parent or their guests will be the sole responsibility of the person(s)/family causing the damage and not Homewood Christian Association. This applies to all venues for official Homewood events: church facilities, homes of members, field trip locations, library, or any other location being used for an official Homewood event.
- Please dress modestly and in good taste. Dress code applies to parents and their children. Shorts may be worn, but not short-shorts. Skirts and dresses must be at least of mid-length (to the knee). Midriffs, halter tops, halter dresses, spaghetti straps, strapless tops, strapless dresses, tight or low cut clothing are not to be worn to Homewood events. Under- garments should not be visible on any person (adult or student) at any time. Clothing with inappropriate graphic designs or written messages may not be worn at HCA events.
- Alcohol or tobacco use will not be allowed at any Homewood function.
- Members who consistently display overtly self-serving agendas may risk losing Homewood membership. Examples of this include joining Homewood for the purpose of advertising a business or of promoting a political or social agenda.
- The Homewood Christian Association name (including the use of “Homewood” and “HCA”) and any logo(s) or motto(s) may not be used in any print or electronic media (including but not limited to web page, blog, MySpace, FaceBook, YouTube, or any medium yet to be invented) for unapproved or unofficial Homewood activities without written permission from the Homewood Christian Association Steering Committee.
- Members of Homewood who consistently disregard Homewood policy will be asked to leave Homewood Christian Association.
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Leaders of Homewood events and regularly scheduled activities must be confirmed by the HCA Leadership Council (Treasurer, Leadership Coordinator, Activities Coordinator, Membership Coordinator and the Policy Executives). Some of the criteria that will be considered include:
- being an active member of Homewood for a minimum of one year;
- being active in a church with a doctrinal statement in agreement with the HCA Statement of Faith;
- having demonstrated qualities of spiritual discernment, excellence in communication, responsibility in planning and implementing activities, and the ability to effectively delegate.
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Homewood E-mail Loop Etiquette:
The purpose of the Homewood e-mail loop is to encourage and inform. With this in mind please observe the following:
- Homewood e-mail loops are available for Homewood members only.
- Sending a message to homewoodchristian@yahoogroups.com, or chathomewood@yahoogroups.com delivers that message to all members who have joined that loop. All Homewood members are required to join both loops, though they may choose to receive the e-mails on a daily digest or to receive “no mail” and simply read the posts online in the Yahoo group. Keep in mind that any documents attached to e-mails will not be delivered in the “daily digest” or “no mail” settings. Also remember that daily digest messages arrive a day later, which is a disadvantage with posts that require a timely response.
- Those with multiple e-mail addresses MUST send messages though the loops using the address with which they originally subscribed. Yahoo will not deliver the message otherwise. (You are recognized as a Yahoo group member by your e-mail address.) Families may subscribe with more than one address (eg: husband and wife may each be subscribed if desired). However, the loops are only for parents—children may not subscribe.
- Always fill in the subject line of your e-mails clearly and completely.
- Always identify yourself by first and last name when sending any e-mail through the Homewood loops. This is a courtesy to other group members as well as a necessity to the loop moderators who will be responding to e-mails which violate Homewood policy.
- Please use great discretion in forwarding information from the Homewood Loop to those outside of Homewood. Remember that Homewood sponsored events are for Homewood members ONLY, unless otherwise stated.
- All items must be in good taste, legitimate, and to the point.
- Debates of any issues/topics/opinions/events will not be allowed at any time for any reason.
- “Forwards” (warnings, lost children, requests for assistance, etc.) should be verified on one of the urban legend websites for legitimacy before posting. Please do not post something that you have not personally verified as truthful. Please remember, too, that any forward not specifically relating to homeschooling belongs on the Chat loop.
- Political announcements/information (anything that relates to political parties, elections, candidates, campaigns or other government issues) may NOT be posted on EITHER of the Homewood loops. The only exceptions are the weekly HSLDA and THSC updates. Polling locations and generic voting information may be posted on Chat Homewood.
- Personal information such as addresses or phone numbers should not be sent over the loop unless this information is pertinent to a HCA function. Use your Homewood Roster. (This roster is for members only and should not be forwarded, duplicated or shared with anyone who is not a current Homewood member.)
- Read all your e-mails before you send a new one. This will eliminate duplicate information.
- Use the “reply to all” function only if your response is intended for all of HCA. Use the “reply” function when you want your response to go only to the sender.
- When you ask a question and another member responds privately (sending their answer only to you), that response should remain private—it should not be shared with the loop unless ALL personally identifying information (their names, names of their children, etc.) has been removed, or unless they give you permission to share. Remember, sometimes there is a reason a response was sent privately.
- If something offends you and you feel that you must opine, respond only to the offending individual and not to the entire group.
- Do NOT send the same message to both loops. That duplicates information for everyone and is unnecessary. Choose your loop carefully. Guidelines for choice of loops are found below.
- When sending (or forwarding) an announcement about a local homeschooling event (field trip, class, etc.) that is NOT sponsored by Homewood Christian Association, please indicate that it is “not a Homewood event” in the body of the announcement. Homewood events are governed by our code of conduct and our dress code. Non-Homewood events may not be. Many new members are confused as to which events are Homewood-sponsored events and which are not.
- Please do not take personal offense if the group moderators or the Homewood Policy Executives respond to one of your e-mails (publicly or privately) informing you that your e-mail was inappropriate or that you are not abiding by the written loop policies. These individuals are charged with enforcing Homewood policy and that means that at times they will have to bring clarification and/or correction to group members. The appropriate response is a private “thank you for letting me know” and NOT a public response to the loop of any kind. If you feel a public response is necessary, please request permission first.
- Homewood provides its e-mail loops as a service to its members. Abuse or disregard of loop policy may result in suspension of privileges.
- The Homewood Policy Executives have the final authority in the operation of the Homewood loops. Members have the responsibility of reading all policy-related messages posted by the Policy Executives and/or the Homewood loop moderators.
There are two loops to better serve our group: Homewood and
Homewood Chat. The purpose of each loop is as follows:
Homewood
- Announcements about Homewood activities
- Homeschool conferences
- Curriculum or homeschooling questions
- Curriculum buying and selling
- HSLDA and THSC updates
- Educational/academic events and websites that would be of interest to homeschooling families
Chat Homewood
- Advertise/sell non-curriculum items
- Encouraging personal anecdotes
- Fundraisers for Homewood students in non-profit, 501 (c)3 organizations
- Q&A about non-homeschooling topics within the bounds of 1-20 above
- Prayer requests
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Protocol for Homewood Activities:
The home schooling community has grown tremendously in the last
several years. This growth has produced many opportunities for
students and parents. Therefore in an effort to avoid re-inventing
the wheel all new activities that would bear the Homewood name must
be discussed with the Homewood Activities Coordinator and Policy
Executives prior to the activity/event becoming an official Homewood
event or activity.
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Buying and Selling:
Homewood events are not for the purpose of buying and selling
goods or services.
Therefore, the transfer of funds is not allowed at these events. The
only exceptions to this policy are: paying for Homewood membership,
registering for classes at the annual Homewood Information night,
and purchasing/selling curriculum and family business items at the
Homewood used book sale.
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To apply for Homewood membership, simply download the Statement of Faith and Policies Document and follow the instructions given on the first page.
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Many families have questions about home schooling in Texas. Helpful information can be found at these sites:
Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA): www.hslda.org
Southeast Texas Home School Association (SETHSA): www.sethsa.org
Texas Home School Coalition (THSC): www.thsc.org
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