I enjoy the intellectual challenge of coming up with short but evocative phrases, so I’ll list five here:
- “Great hearts and minds to do great things.” This is the tag line we used to start St. Michael Catholic High School in Fairhope, Al. It was inspired by Pope Francis, who encouraged youth to be “magnanimous,” meaning literally “great-minded.” It has been a consistent theme of Francis in his discussions with young people, challenging them to aspire to greatness, encouraging them to be “cultural revolutionaries.” I believe that’s exactly the right message to youth being raised in a culture of accommodation and drearily low expectations!
- “Renewing Minds. Transforming Hearts.” This pulls from the powerful verse from Romans 12:2, which says “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.”. The theme of renewal and transformation is at the heart of the Christian gospel, and central to our aims in Catholic education.
- “Faith Leads Us Beyond Ourselves”—This was the tag line we developed at Pope John Paul II when I was headmaster there. It was the result of a fairly high level review by a branding expert who did work for Coca-Cola and other multi-national organizations. He observed that most private schools we competed against sent arrows (metaphorically) toward themselves: “Be part of the family. Become part of the tradition. Enter into an exclusive club that will set you well in life.” He said our school’s focus was outward, toward service, “commissioning” students to change the world, and that we should celebrate that difference, careful to aim the “arrows” outward. The quote comes from Pope John Paul himself, speaking to America from the outfield of Camden Yards baseball field in Baltimore in the 1990’s, making it even more “authentic,” as it came from our namesake. It gave us a great deal of clarity in our marketing and story telling. I’ve written previously about how cleverly Notre Dame builds on this outward theme here.
- “Forming scholars, leaders and disciples of Jesus Christ. “ This is directly from our mission statement for St. Michael. I believe too many mission statements are amorphous nothings, typically too long to remember, inspiring very little. In the 1970’s, many of us wrote mission statements reflecting the “whole child” emphasis, meaning we included some formulation of “body, mind, spirit, soul.” I don’t deny this is our emphasis, only that it’s a boring way to phrase it! We need a “reset.” Let us speak to parents about our deepest our desire for kids: that they become disciples! That they become saints! These aspirational goals cut across religious denominations and into the very heart of the gospel.
- “Faith in Our Students. Joyful Sanctuaries for the Lord.” We frequently sing “Sanctuary” in our school masses, and I confess to being moved each time as I listen to teenagers sing these words: “Lord prepare me, to be a sanctuary. Pure and holy. Tried and True. With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living, Sanctuary for you.” I can think of no more powerful way to articulate our mission—for our students to become living sanctuaries of Jesus Christ! This theme of “sanctuary” is also reminiscent of the metaphor of the “living house” from C.S. Lewis’ wonderful book, Mere Christianity, which I discuss here. God intends to build palaces in the life of our students!
