Next career move factor

[mortensorchid]

I am going in my next career moves now. I have spent three years teaching part time and as a sub, I do not have a teacher's license. I have tried to pass the tests and I cannot, so I am trying to get into private / Catholic schools as many of them do not care if you don't have a license. (Some do, but I have a friend who is in private / boarding schools who does not have a license and has had a good career, but that's another story.)

 

I answered an add for a parochial school in town, I thought it was a Catholic school but it's actually a Baptist school. I got a response to my resume / cover letter from the contact person who asked me to go to their website and read their statement of faith, which I did. It says that staff must attend the church that they are associated with. So I said in my response to them that I read the statement and I would like to continue with the process.

 

Was I wrong to "fake it" with them? I don't attend church, I'm apathetic about religion. Plus I'm Catholic, and I would be attending a Baptist church. This could not go anywhere in terms of the interview process, but should it ... Am I bad?

[CC12]

It says that staff must attend the church that they are associated with.

 

Did they mean that staff must already be part of the church they're associated with? If so, then you don't qualify and you shouldn't lie about it.

 

But, if they mean that they expect you to attend their church on Sundays so all the parents of the school children can see you there, etc, then that's a really good question, and I've actually thought about a similar situation before - like would I fake being into a religion if it would benefit me somehow? (I am non-religious.)

 

And, yeah, I think I would fake it, as long as they didn't follow a belief that I strongly disagree with. I think the idea of church and the community they foster is a good idea in general. The people I know who have become active in a church have had positive experiences and it's made their lives better. The church community is good for them. They've made friends, they have a social life, something to do on weekends and more. If I chose to become more active in my own community then I'd probably be doing a lot of drinking and partying. Church activities are very family-friendly and wholesome. I wouldn't mind it.

 

Then again, I would kind of feel like a fraud. I probably wouldn't be the only person attending that church who feels that way. Religious beliefs can be complicated and confusing. But for me, I could explain away my feelings of being a fraud by telling myself that I'm not actively behaving in a way that would damage or undermine the church, and I'm doing most of what they ask for by simply sitting through a service every Sunday and contributing to the church bake sale or whatever.

 

So I'd say if you can casually play along with attending their religious ceremonies, then go for it. But also look up the controversies surrounding the Baptist church, because there may be something there that you may strongly disagree with where you can't just play along.

[aileD]

You're supposed to be a role model for their students.

 

If you don't have faith or a different faith then yes, it is bad that you lied. Not to mention it's not good to lie on a job application anyway.

 

You may not be really religious but at least respect their wishes for what they want in a teacher for their school

[BC1980]

It depends on how serious they are about you attending the church associated with the school. Baptists and Catholics are as different as night and day. If you aren't familiar with Baptists, you might be very uncomfortable. Are they part of the Southern Baptist Convention? Cooperative Baptists are much more liberal.

[Test_22]

BC1980

 

How do i get in touch with you? Have a few q from your previous post but dont know how to PM?

[Test_22]

BC1980

 

How do i get in touch with you? Have a few q from your previous post but dont know how to PM?

[umirano]

I got a response to my resume / cover letter from the contact person who asked me to go to their website and read their statement of faith, which I did. It says that staff must attend the church that they are associated with. So I said in my response to them that I read the statement and I would like to continue with the process.

 

Was I wrong to "fake it" with them? I don't attend church, I'm apathetic about religion. Plus I'm Catholic, and I would be attending a Baptist church. This could not go anywhere in terms of the interview process, but should it ... Am I bad?

 

Did you lie to them? Did they ask you whether you believe? If yes, personally, I'd not continue if you don't actually believe, and not necessarily for their benefit, but for your own. Would you really consider teaching in a school that has a worldview which differs radically from yours?

 

If they haven't required from you to profess your belief in god and their particular doctrine you can safely assume it doesn't matter to them, as long as you keep the facade by sitting into the service once a week. Probably most people in that service don't really believe deep down. Then it's just a question of whether you want to spend your time this way for an hour every week.

 

The upshot is that if you end up teaching at that school you might actually help some of the students to put the religious doctrine into perspective. You might be able to have a really positive impact, as a non-believer.

 

As long as you don't have to lie about your true beliefs I'd say you are fine.