Rosalie Slater (1919-2006)

I first met Rosalie Slater within the pages of a stack of big red books--the big red books which formed the basis for The Principle Approach to Christian Education. There I encountered her love for Christ and His Word, her love for freedom, her love for America, her love for beauty, goodness, and truth, and most of all, her love for her students.

Years after her loves had stirred up in me those very same loves, I was able to meet this remarkable trophy of grace face to face. In fact, I was her birthday present! Several of her yokefellows and co-laborers at the Foundation for American Christian Education conspired to fly me to Virginia and then sneak me into a dinner party honoring her and her great legacy. We talked of Chalmers and Scott and Comenius and Spurgeon into the wee hours of the night. We listened to a piper play Scotland the Brave. We ate a chocolate cake to die for. We laughed. We sang. We plotted. We opined. I was enraptured. I still am.

For the next few years we corresponded often. We sent each other books and articles and little snippets of interest. Ours became a rich and dear friendship--but more, ours became a rich and dear partnership in the great task of discipling the next generation of Christian leaders.

This past Friday evening, Rosalie went to sleep in Virgina only to awake in Heaven. Her many books, curricula, and projects will continue to allow her to continue to stir up a love for all that is good and right and true. Thanks be to God for a life well lived, a legacy passed on, and a heart tuned to the great anthem of the Gospel.

I will miss her. We will miss her. May God be pleased to raise up from the throng of her students the next Rosalie.