Why We Give

Spanning Four Generations:

Our strong connection to BACS spans almost 70 years and four generations. My wife and I first met in our fifth-grade classroom at BACS in 1953. At that time, our entire church school was in deCharms Hall on the Academy Campus. Twelve years later we were married in the Bryn Athyn Cathedral. We raised our family - two sets of twins in two years – in Bryn Athyn and all four received their early education at BACS in the “new” complex on Tomlinson Road (then Papermill Road). Today, three of our four children, twelve of our nineteen grandchildren, and our three great-grandchildren live in or near Bryn Athyn. All have or are attending BACS and are fortunate to have benefitted from a New Church education; an early education that provides an essential foundation of love to the Lord and living a useful and fulfilling life. Our gift is in gratitude for all the benefits BACS has provided four generations of our family and in keeping with the promise of its continuing mission for all those who seek a New Church education.

Both my wife Alexis and I were familiar with BACS, ANC, and the New Church growing up nearby. Our respective small schools played BACS and ANC in sports. We moved to Huntingdon Valley in 2014, and our son Tristan was born two years later. As career educators, we have always held some pretty strong opinions about the intersection of school, community, and morality. I went to an elementary school where the secretary would actually drive me home because she lived at the bottom of my road, and the number one rule on the recess yard was that it was forbidden to exclude others. I was fairly certain that nothing could live up to those memories! At the end of the day my childhood was special because I had teachers who loved me, strange as that may sound to some.  Tristan, with his many gifts and eccentricities, is also deeply loved by his BACS teachers and the community. The entire process, from admission to enrollment, has been one defined by love as well. It is very safe to say that Tristan has only just begun to spread his wings because of BACS and the New Church. Interestingly, I feel as though the same is true for us as a family.

Ian Sandberg, 5/10/22

I was originally born in Bryn Athyn but we moved away when I was four. Until I was 11, we moved all over the place and I attended a public school. We frequented Bryn Athyn as many friends and family still lived here. All I wanted when I was a kid was to attend a New Church school where I felt I could speak freely about religion and be surrounded by like-minded people. When I was 11, we moved to the Mitchellville society and since then, I had the luxury and privilege of attending a New Church school because so many people before me made it possible. I never attended BACS but I am grateful that my kids can and I am determined to make it possible for generations to come.

Owen Frazier, 5/3/22