Why Intrepid Builders?

The following is the first post in a new category called Intrepid Builders to encourage  readers entrusted with school leadership.

The whole happiness of man, and even his sanity, depend on his moral condition. And since society does not exist in a void but is made up of the individuals who compose it, the problems of society cannot ultimately be solved except in terms of the moral life of individuals. If the citizens are sane, the city will be sane. If the citizens are wild animals, the city will be a jungle.
—Thomas Merton, The Ascent to Truth, p. 7

You cannot save the world merely with a system. You cannot have peace without charity. You cannot have order without saints.
—Thomas Merton, The Ascent to Truth, p. 8

By way of introduction, I am Headmaster Emeritus of Providence Academy in Green Bay, Wisconsin. After 13 productive years in that institution, I chose to leave with the purpose of helping build classical Christian schools and Christian Halls. Like the men of Issachar, it is prudent to understand the times and know what ought to be done (1 Chronicles 12:32). The world around us fights to change systems, but we must develop saints. This is a very difficult task, and it takes brave men and women to develop the institutions that will produce such saints. My purpose in blogging here is to help encourage intrepid builders of these institutions.

Why does it take courage to lead such institutions? The answer is that most people don’t understand the task of a classical Christian school. Many still see school as only about academics, sports, preparing for college, or any number of things. But we know the goal is to nurture wisdom and eloquence, virtue and faith. This is a hard task because we don’t do it alone. We partner with parents, whom God has given the primary responsibility for educating their children, and with churches, whose main task is to shepherd the family in the Faith. We have a lane, and we are to stick to that lane. But the lane works only when all three institutions—the school, the church, and the family—work together toward the same goal.

The reality of leading a classical Christian school is that the lanes of the church, the family, and the school are often not parallel but instead, often swerve away from the goal of growing saints. This means we are often in conflict with the very institutions that ought to be supporting our schools. It takes a lot of intestinal fortitude to stay true to the vision and purposes of classical Christian education amid such conflicts.

But this is just part of the conflict. There are also internal conflicts. Many staff, faculty, and board members of classical Christian schools have not fully developed an understanding of this purpose. Many think the end goal for a classical Christian school is the same as that of a public school, only with the added adjective “virtuous.” We may produce “virtuous” employees and “virtuous” voters who can make the systems of our world work better.

Finally, there is the most difficult conflict: the battle within. I can love the idea of training saints—as long as I don’t need to be one. I would rather substitute efficiency, competence, or charisma for holiness and seek admiration from peers over walking humbly with my God. Saints are grown mimetically. Paul says, “Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1).

Over the coming months and perhaps years, I hope to provide some measure of help in these areas. As I recently told a group of parents working toward starting a school, “However daunting this task seems, however difficult you think starting and running a classical Christian school will be, I assure you it is a lot harder than that. But… it is worth it.”