2026: Why We’re Focusing on Generosity

As we step into the year ahead, I want to offer a brief update on what the Lord has been doing at SCL and where our work is headed. This past year, we have seen incredible evidence of God’s favor and faithfulness, for which I am humbled and grateful.

That gratitude is one of the reasons I chose the 2026 conference theme of generosity. Proverbs tells us that whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and the one who waters will himself be watered (Prov. 11:25). Divine generosity comes from the very nature of God’s character and being. It is more than an idea we admire, it is a divine reality we receive and experience. It is also a model for Christian educators who are called to reflect God’s self-giving nature in teaching, mentorship, and stewardship.

When educators give freely of their time, knowledge, and resources, they participate in that divine act of generosity that blesses both the giver and the receiver. Having been blessed, we seek to bless others. That is the most basic Christ-like impulse. It is one of the simplest ways the Lord keeps our work from becoming merely transactional or professional. When we give as one who has abundantly received, it keeps our calling focused on the core purpose.

Our Focus: Institution Builder, Growth Engine, Culture Maker

At SCL, generosity is at the heart of our core values to boldly expand the classical Christian tradition and to give out of what we have received in abundance. Over this past year, we’ve refined our focus and vision around three modes of engagement: Institution Builder, Growth Engine, and Culture Maker. These three capture our desire to strengthen our existing classical Christian schools, add more schools to expand access to more families, and maximize the reach and influence of the movement by fostering human flourishing and renewing the culture.

I want to share a few updates around these priorities to share what God is doing and to invite you to engage in the year ahead.

**Key Updates **

First, accreditation and school support. Many of you are aware of our work to build out accreditation. This year, we are in the process of accrediting over 30 schools. We’re grateful for this work and for the feedback you’ve given us as we seek to build thriving classical Christian schools.

Alongside accreditation, we have built out playbooks that accompany our standards that support your schools and give you specific ways the standards can be applied. We’ve almost published all of those, with one more to go in the next few months.

If you’ve not taken part in this program, I invite you to look at the vision for thriving classical Christian schools that we are building and consider ways you can engage. And to the many heads of school who have participated and helped form this program, thank you! SCL’s accreditation program has already strengthened so many of our schools and members.

Second, the Generations Fund. In February, we gathered supporters from all over the country and launched a bold vision; what we’re calling our Generations Fund. The vision is to grow 200 new classical Christian schools across the country. The idea is to work with mature, thriving schools and help them create networks of schools, so we can expand the reach of classical Christian education to more families.

To do this, we are raising $12 million for the first phase of a $60 million project so we can invest in the growth of these new schools. We’re just getting started, but we’ve already seen remarkable support! There are multiple levels to the work, including working with school leaders to prepare them to grow, building the infrastructure for the fund, and acquiring the needed funding. Please pray for these efforts and let us know if you want to get involved!

Third, movement leadership and collaboration. We have been involved in movement leadership in a variety of ways. What that means is that we’re in an ongoing conversation with leaders to expand the reach of CCE and address the challenges that stand, in many ways, as obstacles to growing the movement. Even though we see incredible interest and demand for what we’re doing, there are common and persistent challenges in front of us: how to fill the teacher and leadership pipeline, how we account for facilities, and how we increase the supply of schools . . . among many others.

We’re working collaboratively with partners across the classical Christian ecosystem, groups like Classical Academic Press, Arcadia Education, and many others, to address these issues, support your schools, and ensure that the full benefits of this movement continue to grow and expand to more people.

We’ve also been greatly encouraged by our events, training, and PATHways services. We had our largest Summer Conference in history, with close to 1,500 attendees around the theme of Christ’s preeminence. We saw people coming from all kinds of different schools to convene around this focus, to make Christ preeminent in their work, to be equipped, to be encouraged, and to grow in their leadership and teaching.

This kind of gathering matters because this work can be heavy. Leadership can be costly. And yet the Lord continues to strengthen His people through fellowship and through being present with one another.

Gratitude for the People Who Help Carry the Work

This year we’ve also been strengthened by the people the Lord has gathered around SCL. Our SCL Fellows, about 30 heads of school from across the country, meet regularly to address the challenges of the movement and give us input and insight on how to best serve classical Christian schools. And our President’s Advisory Council, a group of business leaders and entrepreneurs who support the classical Christian movement, offers ongoing counsel, encouragement, and financial support to advance this vision.

Both of these groups have been instrumental in forging a meaningful and clear direction for how we do our work and how we serve schools like yours.

Internally, our team has also grown significantly. Over the last few years, we have gone from three to sixteen people on staff, and we are bringing on additional leaders to build capacity and infrastructure so we can better serve you and your schools.

A Closing Word

In all these ways, we have seen God’s abundant provision and blessing. Thank you for your involvement, and thank you for your faithfulness in leading your schools!

As we step into the year ahead, please reach out to SCL. Give us your insights and your feedback as we explore new opportunities and face the challenges ahead. We value it more than you know.

And let me leave you with this: the work before us will require generosity, not only of resources, but of spirit. It will require steady courage, patient endurance, and a willingness to water what may take time to grow. But we do not do this alone. The Lord who has been faithful will remain faithful.

So take up the coming year with open hands. Having been blessed, let us bless, confident that the One who calls us will supply what we need for the work He has given us to do.