Grace Classical Academy Co-op is…
Biblical: We want to inspire children to hunger for the Word of God, and to live carefully under its authority instead of merely checking the Bible off their daily task lists. Parents and teachers hold confidently to our doctrinal statement (below) and every class is distinctly Christian. We do not teach with fear of the secular world; in fact we provoke serious questions and we raise complex issues during class discussions because the absolute truth and power of God’s Word can handle the most intense scrutiny. We think students in the Logic and Rhetoric stages learn best when teachers use Socratic Dialogue.
“The end then of learning is to repair the ruins of our first parents by regaining to know God aright, and out of that knowledge to love him, to imitate him, to be like him.”
— John Milton
Gospel-centered: The Gospel is not just the beginning of the Christian life, but the foundation and inspiration for the entire Christian life. The Gospel inspires us to live graciously and repentantly as God’s cherished children.
“Religious obedience is probably the most difficult and dangerous form of obedience simply because it is so easily confused with conformity to God’s law. It’s the place where most Christian families go terribly wrong. Yes, we are commanded to teach the Word, prayer, and worship to our children, but their acquiescence to these things won’t save them. Only the righteous life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ saves them.”
— Elyse M. Fitzpatrick, “Give Them Grace: Dazzling Your Kids with the Love of Jesus”
Family-centered: GCA parents are deeply involved in the education of their children. As a parent at GCA, your participation is expected. Our limited classroom schedule makes it possible for families to spend a lot of time together, while at the same time encouraging independent study skills, reduced night-time homework, and very low tuition compared to private school.
Worshipful: We strive to cultivate a community where students are curious about God and the world He has made. We emphasize loving God above all earthly treasures, and loving others as Christ loved us. Teachers of all subjects are taught to demonstrate joy, awe, love, repentance and other religious affections during class.
“St. Augustine defines virtue as ordo amoris, the ordinate condition of the affections in which every object is accorded that kind of degree of love which is appropriate to it. Aristotle says that the aim of education is to make the pupil like and dislike what he ought.” — C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man
Excellent: We want our children to have the best possible education. We assume that most students at GCA will go to college. We believe children are capable of much more than contemporary expectations. It’s doesn’t take a high IQ to excel at GCA, but we do insist upon very hard work, organization and respect for teachers. Excellence can be achieved without sacrificing joy and grace, and we achieve this not by lowering academic standards, but by doing whatever it takes to help all children to reach high standards.
Community-based: We are designed by God for each other. Education and the shaping of the heart are most powerful inside the joys and pains of fellowship. We foster leadership among the older students. We intentionally forfeit some of the independence of homeschooling in order to allow our children to grow up together.
Statement of Faith
God
1. We believe in one God, Creator of all things, holy, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in a loving unity of three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Having limitless knowledge and sovereign power, God has graciously purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory.
The Bible
2. We believe that God has spoken in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. Therefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises.
The Human Condition
3. We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed.
Jesus Christ
4. We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus-Israel’s promised Messiah-was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.
The Work of Christ
5. We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation.
The Holy Spirit
6. We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.
The Church
7. We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God’s grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.
Christian Living
8. We believe that God’s justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.
Christ’s Return
9. We believe in the personal, bodily and imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.
Response and Eternal Destiny
10. We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace. Amen.