Stories about experiences with co-ops and not being YEC

I’d like to write an article about the different responses homeschooling parents have gotten from Christian co-ops if/when they say they are not YEC. Do you have a personal story you could share? (I know there are some in past threads that I need to go dig up.)

I’m particularly interested in cases where people were asked to sign YEC faith statements in order to participate, or the experiences of teachers or students in co-op science classes when topics like age of the earth or evolution come up. Has there been room for a diversity of views in your community or have the YEC boundaries been policed pretty strictly? Do you think there has been a noticeable shift or perhaps more openness compared to ten years ago?

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In the last 10 years, I have personally never felt that believing in evolution was considered “un-Christian”, though I have never cared to look too far into it until now. In my circles, people are generally open to the possibility. I think this is largely because of the influence of the Anglican Church where we live. It’s never been a problem for me at co-op. We have a very multi-denominational co-op, though. I’d say there is an openness.

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The organizations we belong to do have statements of faith that parents have to agree to. I personally have not read them (for obvious reasons, since we joined when I was ~7.8), however I know they are at about the level of strictness of “you believe the contents of the Nicene Creed”. I have avoided starting discussions on the subject, however, I think for those who have been around longer, something from me might not be so objectionable, if it were tactfully phrased and all. We have only been homeschooling for 11 years, so I really can’t say if things have changed.

Our local (nearest two counties) denominational mix is about 60% Southern Baptist, 15% Methodist, 15% Non-denominational (mostly Pentecostal-Charismatic), 10% others, including Roman Catholic (one family in our homeschool group a few years ago), Presbyterian (us and at least one other family in PCA and ARP, respectively), and various others I haven’t noticed.