In Memory of Dr Paul Lindstrom

Home Schooling pioneer and Reformer, Dr. Paul Lindstrom went to be with the Lord on Wednesday 22 May 2002. He had been suffering from liver cancer Pastor Paul was 62 years old and is survived by his wife, 2 sons, 2 daughters and 17 grandchildren. As a mission, we grieve for the loss to the Lindstrom family of a beloved husband, father and grandfather. We grieve for the loss to the Church of Christian Liberty of its Founding Pastor, who has led it for 38 years. We grieve for the loss to the Home Schooling Movement of a great pioneer who courageously fought for the hard-won, parental freedoms in many a court battle.

We grieve for the loss to the Body of Christ worldwide of a great Reformer whose missionary vision brought great blessings to many tens of thousands. We grieve but, as Christians, we do not grieve as those who have no hope.

We also rejoice for the great gain for Paul Lindstrom. By God’s grace, he is out of pain and suffering, and enjoying the glorious presence of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. His work on earth is complete.

We praise God for the full and fruitful life of Dr. Paul Lindstrom. After graduating from the University of Illinois and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Pastor Paul taught in the Chicago public schools. He later earned a Doctor of Education degree in 1965. Dr. Paul Lindstrom launched Christian Liberty Academy in 1968. This internationally acclaimed Christian day school now has nearly 1000 on campus students. In 1969, he began organising the home schooling movement. For over 33 years Pastor Paul helped start Christian schools around the world, including in Moscow and Tokyo.

He served as a spokesman for parental choice and educational freedom at government hearings, presented expert testimony in court cases and was widely interviewed by all major news networks in print and on radio and TV. The Christian Liberty Academy School System (CLASS) founded by Pastor Paul has over 35,000 students worldwide. Christian Liberty Press provides quality Christian books to schools, churches and families in every continent. Paul Lindstrom travelled extensively in the Middle East, including delivering many tonnes of aid to Christian churches suffering in Iraq after the Gulf War. He organised intensive international campaigns to secure the release of captured missionaries, prisoners of war and people listed as Missing in Action, in South East Asia.

The Lindstrom Family

Dr. Paul Lindstrom has truly fought the good fight of faith and finished the race – with great honour and integrity. The fact that all four of his children – Carla, Kim, Peter & Calvin – and 17 grandchildren, are all Covenant members of the Church of Christian Liberty, is a unique testimony to this amazing man of God. Wherever I have travelled in the US, people were reminiscing about the court battles in which Paul Lindstrom led the charge to establish the legal rights of home schooling families.

I have stayed with numerous families in many countries, who either were or are involved in the CLASS programme. My own children are being homeschooled under CLASS. The world is a far better place because of Pastor Paul, and who can calculate how many tens of thousands of lives have been deeply impacted by the Biblical Worldview and for the cause of Reformation and World Missions, because of this humble servant of God. It has been a privilege to know and work with a Christian of the immense calibre of Paul Lindstrom.

Amongst the last words I heard Dr. Paul Lindstrom speak when I visited him in his home last week were: “… All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

And “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21

Despite his suffering and pain, his optimism, enthusiasm and faith remained steadfast and vibrant to the end.

Now it is up to his sons and daughters, the elders and members of his congregation, the staff of Christian Liberty, and those many others who have benefitted from his ministry to step up to the plate, to rise to the challenge and to take the torch. We must continue what he has begun, working out our priorities in the light of eternity.

Peter Hammond