Fall 2017
Greetings from The King’s College in NYC!
It was an honor to be with you during the ACCS conference in Pittsburgh last week. Thank you for your warm welcome. I felt I was part of a community of leaders who are collectively doing something significant for the Kingdom of God. It was a pleasure meeting so many of you and I was encouraged by your support of what we are doing in NYC. Please know that The King’s College would love for you to visit if you are ever in New York. We are located in downtown Manhattan between Trinity Church and the New York Stock Exchange. Several of you expressed interest in having me speak at your school, and I would love to be there if my schedule allows. To explore times, please connect at [email protected]. We welcome your students to consider applying to The King’s College as we seek to make a difference for Christ in strategic institutions. Here at King’s, we believe in classical education and have a core curriculum based on Oxford University’s PPE (Politics, Philosophy, and Economics) model. We believe that students who read and study the classics, through the lens of a Christian worldview, become leaders who can think and lead well. Again, we feel solidarity with what you are doing, and we commit to extend your philosophy of education at the collegiate level here in NYC.
Raising Deep Thinkers and Tomorrow’s Leaders in a Tweet-Filled World
We had arrived in DC as the political machine was gearing up. After being somewhat isolated from the 24/7 news stream and happily living without smart phones while overseas for four years, it was a bit of a shock … the tweets, the posts, the quick quips that could or could not mean something of substance. During that same transition, we took a step back in time as our boys began attending Immanuel Lutheran School (ILS). The quaint red brick building was cozy and welcoming, a stark contrast to what was happening a few miles down the road in DC. The faculty introduced our family to the classical education model, a classroom environment virtually free from the buzz of electronics, and a school rich in teachers ready to nurture our children’s minds, hearts, and bodies. To be honest, our foray into classical education was a bit of a happy accident. There were several Christian school options nearby, but something about the description of classical education with its focus on wisdom, eloquence, and virtue drove us to explore more. We started with a phone call to the headmaster’s assistant, then followed with a visit. We were excited by the school’s
Immanuel Lutheran School, Alexandria, VA
commitment to using enduring educational principles, and its freedom from following the latest trends in teaching and testing. Quite the paradox … on one hand, we were bombarded with candidates and media personalities speedily throwing out zingers in 140 characters or less, with content that, arguably, may have benefitted from a slower reaction time. On the other hand, our children were being taught to find beauty in all subjects from math equations to music. I wondered what the classical philosophers might think about our tweet-filled world. Has our world become so driven by instant gratification and “likes” that we risk losing the ability to teach the next generation how to slow down and actually think? Where does the concept of finding beauty in all aspects of life come into our hyper-competitive, fast-paced world? As we prepare to move yet again, we can clearly see what a school like ILS has done for our children. They were consistently engaged and excited to learn about everything from simple machines to Zulu warriors, with a daily focus on living strong Christian values. They continuously asked engaging questions about the whys and hows of the candidates’ campaign promises. As we depart next week, I am only sorry that we will not get to see our boys move beyond the grammar phase and into logic and rhetoric with their friends at ILS. We believe that ILS and other classical Christian schools like it are building tomorrow’s leaders—leaders who are uniquely suited to bring Christian values to the forefront and have the tools required to master any subject. They will be well prepared to succeed in influential positions and diverse careers. We believe that supporting these classical schools now will have incredible returns for our nation in the future. 
