The need for sound Christian instruction for children and parents has been recognized by this movement since the early days of its history. To supply this need and to coordinate all the church’s efforts in this regard, the General Conference requires its Department of Education to sponsor, foster, and encourage the interests of both home and school.
In 1919 (reorganized 1922) the Home Commission of the General Conference was born and continued as constituted until 1941. During this period it was cosponsored by most departments of the General Conference. In 1941 the responsibility fell to the Department of Education. For a time it was represented in the field by two organizations—the Home and School Association and the Christian Home Council. The journal Adventist Home and School was the official organ of communication and covered the needs of both of the aforementioned organizations.
As the needs developed, Adventist Home and School became two journals: the Adventist Home magazine and the Home and School Leader . The former became a subscription magazine filling the needs of the general membership, and the Home and School Leader supplied materials for the monthly meetings of the Home and School Fellowship.
The Home and School Fellowship was originally called the Home and School Association. The Home and School Association was a society formed in the local church, and coordinated through the General Conference Department of Education, with the purpose of fostering good home and school relationships. It was first called the Parent-Teacher Association. In 1922 the work was divided: the section that gave special attention to parent education was called the Home Commission (which became part of the Department of Education in 1941), and the section that fostered good home and school relationships was given the name Home and School Association. In later years the name Home and School Association was changed by action of the Department of Education staff to Home and School Fellowship ( see Home and School Fellowship ).
At the 1975 General Conference session Home Education became a part of Home and Family Service, with D. W. Holbrook and his wife, Betty, sharing the responsibility.
Currently all available materials for Home Education or the Home and School Association are in the charge of the various divisions’ education departments.