Program Benefits
Students who graduate from the Rivendell Sanctuary benefit in the following ways:Students have the opportunity to know God in the deepest, most intimate sense of knowing.
A shallow and superficial knowledge of God is one that is disconnected and fragmented. For example, we may seek to know Him on an emotional level, but not on an intellectual level; we may strive to know Him intellectually and emotionally but not morally; or we can live one way on Sunday and another on Monday through Saturday. At Rivendell Sanctuary, students pursue a deep, intimate and holistic knowledge of God, one that integrates Him into every component of their lives, in order to become like Him in character, piety and action.Students complete their first two years of collegiate studies in 18 months.
Rivendell’s instructional program will operate from a Christ-centered apprenticeship model. We recognize that genuine transformation, whereby one way of life is exchanged for another, calls for daily practice and mentorship, as well as concentrated and sustained time. For this reason, Rivendell Sanctuary breaks from the traditional university schedule in which nine months of study are typically interrupted by a three-month summer break. Under the Rivendell program, students attend class for eighteen months straight with a few, short breaks throughout. This allows us the concentrated and sustained time necessary to form new “Kingdom of God” values, habits and thinking. As a result of our focused program, students complete their first two years of collegiate studies (70-75 credit hours) in about 1.5 years.Students find their destiny and calling in life.
In the final semester of our program, we invite an outside organization to come alongside each student in order to help individuals discover their particular gifts, calling or vocation. Postponing this endeavor until the students’ final year is beneficial for two reasons. One, students have had time to mature physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally. Two, students will no longer possess a sacred/secular split in their thinking. They will possess a biblical understanding of vocation, thus opening a world to them that they could have never imagined before.Students undergo a cultural detoxification.
There is a Chinese parable which says, “If you want to know what wet is don’t ask a fish.” Why not? Because it is the only environment the fish has ever known and experienced. Similarly, today’s youth have spent their entire existence swimming in an alternate reality or worldview. They have been visited by a salesman disguised as a song, an advertisement, a sitcom, a billboard, a video or a magazine has sold them a reality other than the Kingdom of God. Their lives are completely immersed in this culture, and most are unaware of the extent to which their thinking and actions mirror this alternate reality. At Rivendell, students undergo a form of cultural detox which cleanses their heart, soul, mind and body from the destructive lies that have accumulated over their lifetime, in order that they may see God and the reality of His Kingdom more clearly.Students know how to live in a post-Christian culture.
Today’s culture of hedonism, consumerism, relativism and hyper-individualism is a powerful intoxicant—so powerful that it has found its way into the church and has gone virtually unnoticed. Rivendell Sanctuary is interested in providing its students with the tools necessary for success in life, not mere survival skills. The current state of Western Civilization needs men and women who can do more than just survive. We need people equipped to alter lives and culture. What makes Rivendell Sanctuary special is our apprenticeship methodology that is modeled after Christ, who did not teach His disciples to retreat from culture but rather to engage with it. Our program is uniquely designed to be as real to everyday life as possible. We teach our students how to live adventurous, holy and righteous lives while living in the midst of a hedonistic culture; how to prioritize their time while living in the midst of a fast-paced, time-oriented society; how to manage and prioritize their finances while being seduced daily by every new piece of technology and clothing; and other counter-culture and lifelong skills.Students discover the secret to life.
When looking at the Kingdom of God, it speaks of a world that is not just different but in many ways opposite to the world we experience. In God’s Kingdom, to live, one must die; to save one’s life, one must forfeit his or her own life; to be first, one must be last; to love, one must include enemies; to serve, one must go the second mile. Our unique curriculum is designed to give every student the opportunity to experience these magnificent paradoxes that are the secrets to living a fulfilled life. We present our students with the chance to die to self, an opportunity to become “living sacrifices” and an invitation to truly love others rather than themselves.Students fall in love with learning.
At Rivendell Sanctuary, we believe we can take virtually any student, including those who profess to dislike school, reading, studying and going to class, and in a very short amount of time, help them become men and women with a deep thirst for knowledge. Whether it is theology, history, science, art, literature, politics or any other subject, we believe that when our students leave Rivendell, they will do so with a newfound passion towards all subjects.What is our secret? We give our students a reason to learn. The power comes from teaching all subjects from a biblical worldview perspective. All truth and all knowledge are traced back to the Source, the One who unifies all true knowledge. Consequently, students begin to see that the more they learn the bigger God becomes and that all information holds the keys to knowing God and themselves more intimately. This in turn becomes the catalyst, the engine that unleashes their passion for learning.