The third year’s academic pursuits at Concordia Academy will be accredited by not one, but two accrediting bodies. As we work to provide the Classical Lutheran high school that Wichita needs, we have been blessed to have the attention of teams of scholars who have evaluated our classes, our teachers, our students, and our attention to the life of our Church in our everyday school life. Looking back to 2018 when the idea of a confessing classical school was raised for Wichita Lutheran’s, we are reminded of the desire among us that we would answer the call to help the vocation of parents raising their children in the Faith. We press on this year, pursuing the possibilities of dual credit courses, awarding college credits and perhaps even associate degrees in coordination with other Christian education organizations. We seek to add additional programs and opportunities for our students and to grow our existing ones, like debate, chess, drama and track. We reevaluate our application of the classical education tradition and measure its rewards in our student community, and we celebrate the arrival of four new students in our underclass cohort.
How can we best serve our students and parents? First and foremost, we exercise ourselves in the catechetical life of our confession, training ourselves in the habits of prayer and repentance as well as the freedom of living as members of the body of Christ. Many college aged people leave the Church never to return. How could this be when they know that they have been bought with a price? It is not a matter of knowledge in the case of those who turn their backs on their baptism, but a matter of the order of loves in their lives that leads to this coldness. Love is more than mere affection, it is commitment, holding to the shield of faith, and it is evidenced in how we live our lives. Therefore, we will never think that a Christian could be properly educated by living the majority of their time in a place where the name of Jesus dare not be spoken. God grant us Grace to continue in obedience as we exercise ourselves in the paths of wisdom.
Christians are to be taught, and good students are a blessing to their neighbors. So are great teachers. We are pleased to welcome Jennifer Montgomery into our school this year as a talented and experienced humanities teacher. She and her husband Barry are members of St John’s Lutheran Church in Lincolnville, KS. She will be applying herself particularly to the scholarship skills of those new to classical education, helping them learn and use the habits of good reading and writing as well as adding much to our discussions of the Great Books. We are thankful to all those who support Concordia, allowing us to give so much attention to our young brothers and sisters. This promises to be a rewarding year!
