Celebrating 75 Years

“...let there be light.”

In the beginning…..

The year was 1944, and change was taking place in the United States; technology was advancing and culture evolving.  But was that change going in the right direction?  A government mandate in Oregon had just passed requiring that children continue education until the age of 16.  An 8th Grade education was no longer enough.  The fear for parents then was the same as it is now.  With the majority of their day inside a building, who would be influencing these children?  Would parents leave it to a public school system to shape their children’s lives, the very same  system that one day would eventually kick God out of the schools, teach a creation without a Creator, and remove the Artist’s signature from His own masterpiece?  And so, a vision was born...a foundation was laid, a private Chrisitan school, Western Mennonite, was created that would stand as  a light in the darkness for future generations. 

If you look at Western’s first logo, you’ll see fir trees, a lamp, and the Bible, and a passage that states...  “Thy word is a lamp.”

For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.  (2 Cor 4:6, NASB) 

The founders of Western Mennonite who did not toil in vain, saw the future accurately.  In a world ever pulling away from God and biblical values, Western has fought to be different.   

As we commemorate Western’s History, we have chosen a theme of being Light in the Darkness.  In a world driven by fear, anxiety, anger, and selfishness, it is a fantastic opportunity for the body of Christ to be the light, a beacon in the darkness, and to remember that Western still stands on a solid foundation, Jesus Christ.

Then Jesus again spoke to them saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”  (John 8:12  NASB)