On Sunday, November 19 at 4:00pm, Sursum Corda Classical School, a new school opening in Fall of 2024 at Faith Lutheran Church in Oregon, will be hosting an Open House. Our goal is to create an education to “lift up hearts” (sursum corda in Latin). We are looking for families to be a part of the first core group and cohort for the school, as well as patrons who want to provide more opportunities for Christian education for youth.

Hear from our Headmaster, Pastor Jeff Hendrix, who will share the philosophy behind classical education, what it means for students to be free to discover what is true, good, and beautiful, and what motivates us to involve parents in their children’s education. Some general information on the school will be shared as well. During the program, some children will preview the benefits of a classical education.

Interested in the school for your kids? Come and meet some other families.

Interested in supporting our school? Come and learn ways you can support opening a classical Christian school in Oregon!

Light refreshments will be offered. A classically-centered program for children in K-3 will be offered during the presentation.

Hard ≠ Bad is a common and familiar modern platitude. My wife and I have been saying this a lot lately. Another phrase should be small ≠ bad, especially when talking about schools.

One of the virtues of modern American culture, especially of the majority of our education system, is the “virtue” of pragmatism. Where something has merit, and only has merit, if it gets results; “the end justifies the means.” The bigger, the better it must be, so the thought goes. Martin Luther, the father of the Reformation, would call this a “theology of glory.” So a school, a church, even a facebook page, is better if more people are a part of it, irrespective of the content.

Classical Education, on the other hand, has the virtue of temperance. A small amount might not only be enough, but it might be good and beautiful. In creation, some of the smallest things contain the most beautiful details. The most delectable desserts are often the smallest. Even my 5-year-old loves how beautiful certain bugs are. In Ancient Greece, schools were small. Just one teacher taught about ten or twenty pupils. They met in a small rented space, or sometimes just under a tree outside. In many ways, our school startup sounds very similar. We have a goal of ten, but don’t want to exceed twenty, at least initially.

If something is good, it is worth doing. Not merely if it is large. Granted, the task might be difficult, but as Martin Luther found, the opposite of a “theology of glory” is the “theology of the cross.” Jesus’ cross was difficult, his last moments attended to by only a small handful of people, yet this was the greatest good in the history of the world.

Would you help appreciate what is good by supporting our school? We would even appreciate small gifts. 🙂

Presentation by Rev. Jeff Hendrix, given at the 2023 Family Altar Conference: For Altar and For Hearth, by Return to Wittenberg at Faith Lutheran Church, Oregon, WI, May 20, 2023.

For the past three-quarters of a year, a committee has been hard at work exploring the idea of opening a classical school at Faith. To this point, the committee has settled on the idea of a “Hybrid School.” For a great overview of what a Hybrid School is, as well as the “Hybrid School revolution,” listen to this podcast.

Ideally we will be recommending to the Voters Assembly of Faith that a teacher be called eventually, on at least a part-time base to manage curriculum and to teach. We’ve been the grateful recipients of some generous gifts already, including from another ELS congregation, but to make sure we have enough to sustain a teacher, we will need more start-up funds. Consider being a donor or patron for this school!

In the near-term, we will be operating as a Co-Op this coming Fall (2023) with a young grammar-age cohort. We’ll meet at Faith two days a week, begin with Matins (morning prayer service), Pastor will teach religion and a language (beginning Latin or Greek), and parents will fill-in other areas of study in the quadrivium.

A fuller overview of our goals and timeline is available in our Prospectus.

If you’d like more information about joining this Fall, or if you have thoughts or comments on the idea of a Co-Op, Classical School, Hybrid School, curriculum, etc., please contact Pastor Hendrix!