John Calvin School

A Canadian Reformed School

Though our school has a relatively short history (1970 to the present), nevertheless, the roots of our school community are embedded deeply in history. John Calvin (1509-1564) was one of the great church reformers of the 16 century. Like Luther, he subscribed to the three important tenets of the Reformation:

1. The pre-eminence and supremacy of Holy Scripture (sola Scriptura),
2. Justification by faith alone (sola fide),
3. Salvation by grace alone (sola gratia).

Also similar to Martin Luther, Calvin taught that all believers have the office of priest, prophet and king. But he went much farther than his older contemporary. The French reformer stressed the importance of the whole Bible (tota Scriptura) and that the central focus of our whole life must be lived to the glory of God. Therefore all of life, our families, the church, the school, science and learning, and our daily work must all be permeated by this world view. As faithful Christians we are called to be “readable letters of our Saviour Jesus Christ.’ In this way we acknowledge God’s sovereignty over all of life, all of creation.

Most of the students at John Calvin School are descendants of Dutch immigrants who left The Netherlands after World War II. Through these Dutch Calvinists, the influence of Calvin’s work has come to us today in the reformed faith rooted in the sixteenth century Reformation.

In giving John Calvin’s name to our school, we not only honour the man who laboured so faithfully in God’s kingdom, but more importantly, we acknowledge that we still uphold the same faith which he proclaimed and defended.

Our school is a Canadian Reformed School; Canadian, because the staff and students are Canadians with their task and calling in this country; Reformed, because our faith is rooted in the reformed faith. As a Canadian Reformed School, we also have a special identity because our constituency is mostly from families in the Canadian Reformed Churches in our area. The parent/members of this school realize that there must be a very close confessional unity between the families, the churches and the school. Therefore this school subscribes to the same doctrinal basis as the Canadian Reformed Churches: the infallible Scriptures and the Three Forms of Unity, namely, the Belgic Confession (1559), the Heidelberg Catechism (1563) and the Canons of Dort (1618).