Christian Teacher of the Year: Emily Harrington makes faith personal for students, shows God at work

Emily Harrington didn’t plan to become a teacher, but she has made the most of the opportunity, helping make God “more real” to her students.

The seminary-trained educator was working in marketing for a Georgia Christian school when it needed a middle school Bible teacher. She stepped in, and 14 years and one school later, she has impacted countless students.

Many of her pupils are drawn to the prayer wall she started two years ago at Mount Pisgah Christian School in Johns Creek, Georgia.

The wall helps students learn to pray, including those who don’t come from Christian homes. Students celebrate answered prayers and grapple with requests that go unanswered.

“We saw something like 500 or 600 answered prayers last year,” Harrington told The Heartlander. “I’ve actually had students tell me, ‘Miss Harrington, I’ve made my prayer request wall at home.’”

Students know the system: urgent requests receive immediate prayer, while others are placed on the wall for prayer throughout the week. Harrington divides the requests into groups of three or four and assigns students to pray over them, opening with a general prayer: “Lord, we lift these requests to you because we know that you’re listening, and the prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective words.”

The wall also reminds middle schoolers that their peers are struggling with challenges of their own.

“It helps them to feel like, ‘This is a place where I can offload my burdens. This is a place where I can learn how to pray.’”

The wall proved so popular that returning students asked to make sure it remained. “They’ve come to want it,” Harrington said.

Her impact and “out-of-the-box” thinking have earned Harrington recognition as one of 12 educators nationwide named 2025 Christian Teacher of the Year by the Herzog Foundation, publisher of The Heartlander.

‘How do I help them find you?’

Although her path to teaching was unconventional, Harrington said it has been a natural fit. She relies on God to solve problems and introduce students to Jesus, often drawing on her theological training.

She got the prayer wall idea in an unexpected moment – washing her hands in the bathroom.

“There was just something about the lesson and the day and the way things were going, where I wanted the kids to know more of the Lord,” she said. “And my heart was like, ‘God, how do I help them find you? They’re asking these great questions. They’re seeking truth. Like, how do I help them find you?’

“And in the midst of me washing my hands, it’s like the Holy Spirit just dropped this idea into my mind, which was, ‘You need to move forward with that prayer wall that you’ve been thinking about or that you know about.’”

Although conventional wisdom advised against taking prayer requests in class, especially from middle schoolers, Harrington said she felt “impressed so strongly by the Spirit” to move forward.

Sometimes, students reveal deeply personal struggles, such as a death in the family, helping peers build compassion.

“I have seen it kind of serve to bring the humanity of each student into the picture,” Harrington said. “It’s helped them develop an empathy for their peers that maybe wasn’t there before.”

Influencing others

Harrington leads Mount Pisgah’s Bible department, shaping how the subject is taught schoolwide. Head of School Chris Harmon said the pre-K–12 school “is significantly better” because of Harrington.

“For many years, Mrs. Harrington led our chapel program, integrating what is being taught with a school-wide emphasis,” Harmon wrote in a letter of recommendation. “This connection between the classroom and weekly chapels helped students understand their faith outside of the academic context of a classroom.

“Additionally, each student is involved in a small group with a teacher, which Mrs. Harrington developed. This systematic approach helps students connect God’s word with practical life application.”

David E. Smith, executive pastor of GracePoint Church in Alpharetta, calls Harrington “a true leader” in the church and community.

“She leads Bible studies for women, which are attended by both church members and community members,” he wrote. Harrington also serves in the children’s and women’s ministries, rocks babies in the nursery, coordinates meals for families in need and “encourages the women in her circle of influence.”

“Emily lives a life of impeccable integrity and possesses the highest reputation not often found among others,” Smith said.

Reaching a Jewish student

Harrington recalled one Jewish student whose parents hesitated to send him to Mount Pisgah because he wasn’t Christian.

“We stressed that we wouldn’t shove the gospel down his throat or ostracize him,” she said of the school, which takes an evangelistic approach to admissions. “He came in nervous, and he became everyone’s favorite friend. He had so many amazing questions for Bible (class). 

“And it was one of those things where I was able to use what he knew in Judaism and draw from that and say, ‘This is what Jesus meant when he said that,’ and to use his own foundation to be able to share the gospel with him.

“Over time, he became a leader in the middle school, and eventually a student body president. By the time he graduated, oh my word, he was just a beloved student. Everyone looked up to him and his leadership.

“I don’t know where he is on his faith journey,” she added. “I haven’t seen that, but I did attend his bar mitzvah, and all of the students, we all went, and it was really special.

“I think that teaching him, it just grew my compassion for those who don’t share my same perspective. And how can I share the love of Christ through my words and my actions and just student engagement in the classroom and to be open to what the Lord has to do in his life? Because it’s the Lord at work on his heart, not me. But getting to be a part of sharing the gospel with a student – with any of my students – it’s just a reminder to me that this was an exciting opportunity to be able to influence a student and a family for the gospel just through words and actions.”

The experience has helped shape the school’s efforts to “be really intentional” about not just telling the story of Christ but showing it through actions.

Choosing Christian education

When asked the value of Christian education, Harrington said it comes down to knowing “I ultimately work for the Lord.

“So what I’m doing, even on a tough day, it’s not in vain, because I do it unto the Lord. And having a perspective that everything I’m doing is ultimately for the impact of helping students know the Lord and have an encounter with him, it shifts a perspective to kingdom-minded eternal things – that this is a treasure that we store up and wait for, for eternity. I think that’s part of the responsibility Christ has given us.

“And so what makes Christian education excellent is having that long-range view that this isn’t for the here and now. This is for eternity.”

Harrington and her husband, Chris, send their two children to Mount Pisgah. When asked what she would tell parents considering Christian education, she responded: “My first thought is, ‘You don’t want to miss out on this,’ especially for the community aspect.

“I think a lot of what our culture struggles with is trying to do things in isolation or thinking we have to be independent and do things on our own,” she said. “We’re built for community. We’re built for one another. That’s part of how we were created in God’s image.

“So I would try to encourage, for instance, a young mom that it would be a benefit to you to let our school surround your family and care for you through teaching your child,” she said.

Christian education offers distinctives: “The kind of nurturing, the kind of character development, the kind of critical thinking that we will implement as a Christian school is unparalleled anywhere else in education.”

So is Harrington’s dedication to her students and to her craft, all in service to her Maker.

The Christian Teacher of the Year honor is part of the Herzog Foundation’s Excellence in Christian Education award series. Each of the 12 winners will attend a special professional development and recognition event in Washington, D.C.