Welcome to the Canterbury House of Studies!

Scholé Academy offers courses to students from a wide range of Christian traditions. And because of this, we know we also need to provide small enclaves where students can learn with like-minded believers in the conviction of their faith. Our Orthodox students are invited to take classes at St. Raphael School, an online classical school in the Orthodox tradition. It sits as a “school within a school.”

The Canterbury House of Studies, likewise, sits within our classical academy as a small collection of courses offered in the Anglican/Episcopalian tradition. The collection of courses offered here will provide students with a path from which they can explore their Christian faith, church history, art, culture, music, and philosophy.

The courses in the Canterbury House of Studies were designed during a collaborative retreat, hosted by Fr. Gavin Dunbar, in beautiful Savannah, Georgia. Fr. Dunbar opened the doors to St. John’s Church and welcomed our small group of academics, teachers, poets, and clergy. We spent several days praying and talking together about the needs of our Anglican students as well as the opportunities that a house of studies might offer. We’re so grateful for all of those who were able to attend that special time in Savannah, and also to those who have collaborated with us through lots of emails, shared documents, and Zoom video conferences. A big THANK YOU to Fr. Nathan Carr and Mrs. Rhea Bright for their tireless work, effort, and energy to bring these courses to life!

The two courses you see below are merely the beginning of a much more elaborate plan. We know we need to roll this out slowly, gauge interest, and allow families to learn more about what we hope to do. In time, though, we hope to offer classes from 6th through 12th grades, across a wide range of disciplines—a journey through the Anglican faith, culminating in a 12th-grade pilgrimage to Canterbury, England. More details about the entire scope and sequence of this program will be forthcoming!

If you have any questions about the Canterbury House of Studies, please feel free to email either principal, Joanne Schinstock (jschinstock@classicalsubjects.com), or our lead teacher, Rhea Bright.

Canterbury House Department Chair, Rhea Bright, has rich reflections on the collects available to our families. Read her Introductory Letter or sign-up to receive regular updates.

Canterbury House of Studies assists families in forming the hearts and minds of students in the study of scripture and the practice of classical, Prayer Book Anglicanism.

Gavin Dunbar: Since 2006 he has been rector of St. John’s Church in Savannah, a parish that is committed to the doctrine and worship of the reformation and catholic tradition as embodied in the 1928 Prayer Book. He studied classics at the University of Toronto (Trinity College) and Dalhouse University, and holds an MDiv from Wycliffe College, Toronto. He was ordained a priest in 1992 and served as rector of the Parish of St. Barnabas, Ecum Secum, on the eastern shore of Nova Scotia, before coming to Savannah in 1997. Currently he serves as president of the Prayer Book Society of the USA and as chairman of the board of governors of Ralston College, a liberal arts start-up. He has written extensively on the doctrine and liturgy of the Anglican tradition.

Nate Carr: Headmaster of the Academy of Classical Christian Studies, Nathan Carr’s introduction to and subsequent love of Great Books occurred in the Western Civ classroom at Oklahoma Baptist University. After graduation from the University of Central Oklahoma, Nathan enrolled at Reformed Theological Seminary and earned an MA in religion. He has also completed postgraduate work at the University of Toronto’s Wycliffe College, is an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church, and is vicar of St. James Episcopal Church of Oklahoma City. He is married to Sarah, and they have six children.

David Anderson: David Anderson is an associate professor in the University of Oklahoma’s English department. He specializes in the literature of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, in particular such authors as William Shakespeare, John Donne, John Milton, George Herbert, and Christopher Marlowe. His first book, Martyrs and Players in Early Modern England, examined the relationship between the Reformation-era martyrological tradition and the era’s tragic drama. He is currently working on a book about Shakespeare and the Christian doctrine of divine love. Proud husband of Abby, and father of Samuel and Peter, Dr. Anderson attends All Souls’ Episcopal Church in Oklahoma City. He was born and raised in the province of Ontario.

Kate Marsh: Kathleen Marsh is a Christian poet who recently moved to Oklahoma City from Oregon. She holds an MFA in poetry from the University of California, Riverside, and an MA in religion and the arts from Yale Divinity School. Her poems and essays have appeared in Salon, Tin House, Connotation Press, Boston Poetry Magazine, and elsewhere. Rough Hymns, her first collection of poetry, was recently published by Finishing Line Press. In June, she married the love of her life, Fr. Graham Marsh, curate at All Souls’ Episcopal Church.

Rhea Bright: Rhea holds a BA from the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and an MA in classics from Dalhousie University, also in Halifax. Her classical studies involved Latin and Greek, as well as classical and medieval literature, philosophy, and theology. King’s Foundation Year Program, an early integrated Great Books curriculum, and the Dalhousie Classics department formed and nurtured what became a lifelong love of the classics and a deep appreciation of the contribution of the ancient world to whatsoever is good and true and beautiful. She also has a BA in education from Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. She is married to Patrick, an ordained Anglican priest, who served for more than 24 years at All Souls’ Episcopal Church in Oklahoma City. Together they raised five sons, now grown. They are now living in a 170-year-old house in rural Nova Scotia, where Father Bright, retired from full-time ministry, assists in a local parish.

Mrs Bright taught ancient and medieval humanities as an adjunct at the University of Central Oklahoma for nine years, and over the course of 10 years at Providence Hall and the Academy of Classical Christian Studies in Oklahoma City, she taught Latin, logic, Bible, and ancient omnibus (integrated literature and history). She also served as chair of humanities, developing the Academy Omnibus program. Among her greatest joys, she counts introducing young minds to the beauty and truth and goodness of old things.