Viking Connections - BCS Alumni Newsletter

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Refer a Friend

The Hoover and DeYoung families catching up in the parking lot at Clyde Hill.

Dear Bellevue Christian Alumni,

Last weekend, my wife Camille (Conley, ‘96) and I got together with fellow alumni Jeff (‘02) and Melinda (Teague, ‘03) Hoover. While we graduated across the range of a decade, our lives came together when our children were classmates at the Mack campus a few years ago. We took the five kids to the playground at the Three Points campus where they played together and the four adults caught up in the sunshine.

We all graduated from Bellevue Christian, where our faith was shaped by the school’s teachers and culture, and we are all raising kids in Christian households in the modern age, yet we don’t see the world the exact same way. We don’t sit around our dinner tables and share the exact same wisdom and perspective on all the issues confronting the world today. But we are friends. And as I leaned on the play equipment and talked to Jeff about parenting through a pandemic and a divisive social era, a couple of things occurred to me. First, it was great to watch our kids play together again. Second, it was so refreshing to talk respectfully with someone who sees some issues differently than I do.

And then it occurred to me that there was something foundationally “Bellevue Christian” about the conversation. Here we had four adults, sharing so much in their experience as young people, reconnecting…on the Three Points playground of all places! But even more so, here we were talking calmly and respectfully and honorably about our different perspectives on complicated matters. This is what Bellevue Christian does so well and why the school continues to flourish in these volatile modern times.

This isn’t always easy. It takes discipline. Choosing sides is very tempting and finding middle ground is both painstaking and lonely. It takes a deep understanding of not only the founding vision of Al and Joe Greene, but also an appreciation and knowledge of how Bellevue Christian evolved, especially in its earlier days. The ability to help students “learn to think through life” – to borrow an old but very relevant BCS tagline from an earlier era – has been honed over 70 years of tough conversations with occasional open conflict in classrooms, offices, and even Board meetings. But this discourse is the thing that we do very, very well. And while it feels elusive in today’s confrontational culture, it is also alive and well as a firm commitment of the school’s Board, leadership, faculty and staff.

Bellevue Christian has changed over the years and will continue to change. 70 years is a long time. Leaders and culture-shapers come and go, leaving an imprint for the next generation. We have to hold firm to our founding vision, but constantly ask ourselves how we formulate and execute our vision in the modern age. We have to always know our “why,” but continually look at where we have failed and how we can do better. And we must always strive for worshipful excellence in all we do and celebrate God’s blessings on Bellevue Christian, while maintaining humble spirit and a prayerful pose.

In a twelve-month period, from August 2021-22, more than four hundred new students will enter Bellevue Christian School. It’s tempting to view this influx as a challenge (and it has challenges), but it is mostly an opportunity to broaden the positive unique approach of BCS. If we are firmly committed to our vision (and we are), if we are skilled how that vision gets executed at the program level (and we are), and if we approach our work with fervor and humility (and we do), then God will continue to work in and through the faculty and families of Bellevue Christian.

Next year, as we emerge from the pandemic and opportunities for engagement return, I hope that Bellevue Christian alumni will reconnect with us. Whether or not you’ve chosen to send your child to BCS, I hope you’ll consider attending Carnival in October, Homecoming in December, a Performing Arts event, or just swing by and say hello to old friends. We look forward to continuing to build stronger bridges for alumni stay connected to their experience at Bellevue Christian (and if you have any ideas, I’m always open).

Have a wonderful summer and we’ll “talk” again next fall!

Blake DeYoung, ‘93

Chief Advancement Officer

BELLEVUE CHRISTIAN | WITH PURPOSE

1701 98th Ave NE, Clyde Hill, WA 98004

425.454.4402 x1200

www.bellevuechristian.org