For 2000 years, the Catholic Church has defined its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity. It's the Catholic Church that gave us the word "school," and it's the Catholic Church that founded the very first universities.
What is the purpose of Catholic education? Its fundamental purpose is to tend to the whole person: body, mind and soul. To educate each child intellectually, spiritually, morally and physically. For us, that means an encounter with the message of Jesus Christ.
But today, Catholic schools around the country are in trouble. Catholic schools are in need of a bold new vision and that's what I hope we can bring to Helias Catholic High School. I came to this diocese from the Catholic Diocese of Memphis. Led by Bishop Terry Steib and Superintendent Dr. Mary McDonald, the Catholic Church began an incredible mission of developing the greatest faith-based schools where all are welcomed. They put their faith in God and gave Memphis the bold new vision of what being a Catholic school means.
In the Catholic Diocese of Memphis, the schools continue to grow having added ten new schools in the past fifteen years. And this is in an area that is only 5% Catholic! They have bucked the national trend of school closings. When others were consolidating and closing their doors, they were building. They built new schools and rehabilitated older schools. They wowed the people of Memphis by being bold, but most importantly, by showing their Catholic faith to all. They were my teachers and mentors. They expected me to be bold and demanded creativity by being creative themselves. They didn't pay me to be average. And, they taught me not to run in the same place for too long; meaning that we were always moving forward.
What has happened in the process? I saw students who had never been to church ask Jesus to come into their lives. I saw parents who never dreamed their children could ever attend a Catholic school walk through our school doors to register those children. And, I was a part of seeing all those students graduate from my school and my school was only one of many where the same stories were told.
Jefferson City is a much different city than Memphis and circumstances there are much different than they are here. But, I want to make Helias the strongest most advanced center of faith and education so that any thought of the demise of Catholic schools in this area will never occur. Stephen Covey taught me to be proactive. So, I want to be proactive and not reactive. Jim Collins taught me to build to last. So, I want to build and not consolidate. The Saints taught me to be a leader and to follow Christ. So, I want to lead and not follow except to follow in the footsteps of Christ.
