Dear Harding Families,

On December 4, 1949 a mass meeting was held at the Jackson Avenue Church of Christ.  The purpose of this meeting was to dream together and begin planning the formation of a Christian school where the Bible was studied daily.  The name of this school would be Memphis Christian School.  Leaders like Jesse Fox, Roy Pritchard, O. O. Emmons, G. C. Brewer, E. J. Bonner, and others had a dream and asked contributors to pledge $1.00 per week to fund the establishment of the new school.

Undeterred by a myriad of obstacles that stood before them, the founders pressed on for over a year and a half to secure the necessary funding, find a location suitable to house a school, enroll the first students, and hire a quality faculty and staff.  Tuition was set at $114.75 per year and the Normal Street Church of Christ became the school's first home.  On September 8, 1952, one hundred and ninety-two students in grades K-6 entered the newly formed Memphis Christian School for their first full day.  Today in chapel we will hear from one of those students, Mr. Alan Pritchard ('60), who was in the 5th grade.

It is important to note that public schools in 1952 were doing an excellent job providing a quality education to all students enrolled.  Private schools at this time were limited to single sex options, also with excellent educational pedigrees.  The founders of Memphis Christian School, however, realized that something vitally important was missing - an education founded upon and filtered through a Christian worldview.  These founders had a dream, a deep commitment, and a faith in God to establish a Christian school committed to the highest educational ideals.  Because of their faith we are not only able to look back on a wonderful sixty year history, we are also able to dream big dreams as we look forward to the next sixty years.

Today, and throughout this year, we will be celebrating Harding Academy's sixtieth birthday.  I am amazed by the dream, the commitment, and the faith of these founding families.  Parents chose to leave their reputable free public institutions and sacrifice to pay for a Christian education.  These families not only paid tuition, many of them mortgaged their homes and gave sacrificially to ensure that their school would thrive into the future.
 

As I reflect on our past, I see the same kind of commitment from our families today.  Because you believe in the value of a Christian education, you make the necessary sacrifices to send your children to us, and for that I am grateful.  I have said many times that I believe that the best days of Harding Academy are ahead of us.  However, like the founding families who dreamed such big dreams, we, too, must be willing to give sacrificially to ensure that our future will be bright.

I am asking all Harding families to prayerfully consider how they can financially support our vision for the future - above and beyond the tuition dollars that you already pay.  In the near future I will be sharing with you a variety of ways to help and ask that you join us in supporting the dream for the next sixty years.

 
Thank you for entrusting your children to us.  Happy Birthday Harding Academy!

In Christ,

Trent D. Williamson

President