Trinitas Blog

            Thank you so much for that kind introduction. Before we begin, I would like to express my sincerest thanks to the administration and to all the senior class parents for providing me the opportunity to speak to these graduating seniors before you all tonight. And I would be terribly amiss if I did not congratulate you, seniors, on the many accomplishments that have brought you to this very place on this momentous evening. My purpose this evening is two-fold and somewhat paradoxical in nature. On the one hand, my job is to remind you that all of this evening is about you. On the other hand, my job is to remind you that none of this is about you, at all. Like I said, somewhat paradoxical. But there is a method to this madness, and I hope to demonstrate as much over the course of the next few minutes. There are many things I could say to you this evening; in truth, there are many things that ought to be said to you this evening, but that’s what all these good people are for. Lord knows I’ll need the backup. Yes, there are many paths we could tread, but I thought it best to stick to one rather familiar to you, and to me as well. Our progression this evening will follow a sort of timeline: First, we’ll revisit the past, taking great pains to put a very fine point on just what it is that you have been doing here at Trinitas for the past 6, 8, 10—and for some of you—13 years of your life; next, we’ll pause and ponder the precise precipice upon which you are perched, at present; and finally, we’ll look to the future, daring, even, to prescribe what must be next. So, let’s roll back the clock.

No matter where we American Christians get our news these days, it seems to forebode the end of the world as we know it. The values many of us were raised with and still cling to are at best a fading part of the American Family’s core values. During the latter third of the twentieth century, a movement was launched that we generally refer to as the “sexual revolution,” and it was predicted to undo society to put it mildly. Whether what we are witnessing now is that undoing or we are being undone by something else is difficult to discern; that we are coming undone, however, seems clear.

Last week’s post was the first in a series about the “Good Soil” survey that will run over the next few weeks. The survey, conducted by the University of Notre Dame and Cardus, reports on alumni from all types of schools. These are alumni who grew up in Christian families and are now between the ages of 24 and 42. Alumni from classical Christian schools, especially ACCS accredited schools like Trinitas, will be our focus. Two areas the survey measures in alumni are Christian commitment and Christian lifestyle, our focus this week.

Two things are happening in this post. First, we are finishing up our series about the education journey by addressing the question, Is there a better path toward helping our children become virtuous human beings whose lives are surrendered to Christ? Second, and as a way of answering that question, we are kicking off a series about “The Good Soil” report that we endeavored to write a year ago but which was rudely interrupted by COVID-19.

This week we are continuing our series about the goals of classical Christian education and the pathway to reaching them. Last week we started talking in earnest about that pathway. I suggested there are four key elements in the classical Christian model that make up the pathway. This week we take up the third and fourth elements: a structured and orderly learning environment and a Christ-centered community of like-minded families.

Last week I set out to produce a series of articles reminding readers what classical Christian education is by describing what its goals are, why those goals should be valued, and what pursuit of those goals looks like at Trinitas Christian School. I used the metaphor of questions one might ask oneself when embarking on a journey. Last week the question I attempted to answer was where are we going? This week the question is why are we going there? My aim is to illustrate why the goals of classical Christian education are good ones for the people of God to pursue.

Periodically on a journey it is good to pause and ask oneself a few questions, even if only briefly and in one’s own mind, to make sure of being on the right track: Where are we going? Why are we going there? How do we plan to get there? Is this the only route or is there a better path? Parents should ask those questions frequently regarding their vision for their children, and most especially regarding the role education plays in the fulfillment of that vision. We've prepared a video that speaks to the heart of this goal. 

In my years associated with classical Christian education—as a parent, donor, school board member, teacher, and headmaster—I have had my share of conversations with folks who want to know why the standards for Christian character and academic diligence are so high, why our students read theology and philosophy and history and literature authored by people who have been dead for 1,000 years or more, and why we focus so intently on writing and speaking and debating. One good answer to such questions is that we do these things in classical Christian education in order to prepare students for just such a time as this.