A Mission of Understanding

"I encourage them to at least look at some Christian schools, not to ignore them," Burgess said.

In the past, she says, the goal of schools such as hers would be to send graduates on to religious schools or mission work. But things have changed.

"A generation ago, it was assumed that if these kids didn't go to a Christian college, their immortal soul was in danger. Now everyone is more relaxed about it," said Charles Glenn, interim dean of the Boston University School of Education and an expert on private Christian schools. "The group in U.S. society moving up the educational scale most rapidly are evangelicals."

The result of that is a much broader definition of "mission" among evangelicals, even those who come out of private schools whose first sets of parents asked administrators how many of their graduates "are in the service of God," said David Culpepper, headmaster at the Emmanuel Christian School in Manassas. Mission work today can mean being a lawyer or professor, as well as building houses in Guatemala.

"I think we have gotten more assertive and more fearless as far as looking at the whole world," Burgess said. "We want to train our kids to be contributing citizens and not be afraid, not to be stuck in a bomb shelter."

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Leydorf was debating precisely this issue one day in June from a bench on the Annapolis waterfront.

It's essential for Christians to get into more diverse environments, he argued to three fellow alumni of his high school with whom he'd just had lunch.

"You're not going to run into a Buddhist at a Christian school," he said. "I'd like to get out and learn about people."

His friends were unconvinced.

"If I went to a secular school, I'd have to insulate myself and be more careful and mindful," said Shannon Smith, a classical singer and hockey player who was headed to Wheaton College in Illinois, a prominent evangelical school, in the fall. Because of her music, she'd also applied to New York University, but she was relieved when she was rejected.

That said, Smith's senior project was about Christian artists and how they can't segregate themselves from mainstream culture.