Pinnacle’s staff was quickly drawn to this idea. We had experienced the same frustration of our students’ failing to remember the most basic facts that we had spent so much time on. Sure, we had done memory work with them. We had even recited facts with them daily, but it didn’t stick. Why? Because without a question, an answer is just an out-of-context statement. Without a question, the statement has no use for application. The value of a statement is predicated upon its relationship to the question that it answers.

Catechism has a long history of use in the church, but what was its purpose? Why would Christians spend time daily reciting the same words over and over again? It was for this simple reason: so the church would faithfully endure. Remembering the most fundamental aspects of the faith sustained Christians through an ever-changing world and helped pass that faith to the next generation. While the church upheld divine sovereignty amid suffering, reciting catechism was their response to the doctrine of human responsibility. Christians understood that their faithfulness in obedience did not grant them salvation, but faithful obedience is a means through which God preserves his people.

The word “catechism” may elicit visions of dry, rote recitation of old sayings that are disconnected from life today. Some readers may think of catechism as lidocaine for the brain, inducing numbness of thought and profuse boredom-ridden drooling as students murmur like zombies in the classroom. A student whose heart and mind are ill-prepared will not truly benefit from catechism. The students at Pinnacle Classical Academy though are being trained up in the admonition of the Lord through this wonderful tool for remembering the most foundational truths of our existence.

Pinnacle Classical Academy is proud to open a new avenue of communication to those who have any interest in our school. We are a school founded on classical Christian education. We will produce much more content regarding this educational model, but for now I will begin with the heart of it. Our desire is to fulfill a goal that exists in all of Christendom but especially in the education of children: namely, the desire to seek, receive, and share wisdom.