Faithful Stewardship: A Christian Guide to Personal Finance and Investments

Faithful Stewardship is a 32-week online course designed for high school students, with Grade 8 students welcome if prerequisites are met. Meeting once per week, this engaging and practical elective introduces students to Biblical principles of stewardship alongside essential financial skills, equipping them to make wise, responsible decisions about money.
The course explores key financial topics such as work and planning, budgeting, debt management, saving and compound interest, virtuous financial habits (generosity, patience, and delayed gratification), account types and tax implications, and various investment options including stocks, bonds, ETFs, mutual funds, gold, and cryptocurrency. Students also examine careers opportunities and educational choices.
Rather than advocating for specific investments or approaches, the course provides a balanced understanding of the strengths, risks, purposes, and Biblical considerations of different financial instruments and strategies, including concentration or diversification, rebalancing, dollar-cost averaging, and long-term vs. short-term thinking.
This course is designed to be thought-provoking but not overwhelming, ideal for students looking for a fun and insightful elective without heavy assignments. Homework is minimal, consisting mainly of short readings and simple reflections for class discussions. Students will also participate in an interactive Stock Market Game, along with practical applications in budgeting, debt management, and career exploration. Class time is dedicated to these activities. There are no essays or intensive projects, making it a great choice for students with demanding schedules.
Students will learn not just financial literacy but also the virtues of stewardship, generosity, patience, and long-term planning, drawing from the wisdom of Scripture and insightful resources like The Richest Man in Babylon and Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?. Through real-world simulations, interactive discussions, and hands-on activities, students will build confidence in managing money while understanding how financial wisdom can be used to serve others and glorify God.

Feedback from a parent:

My 15-year-old son has learned much in the Financial Stewardship course. As a result of the class, he will now enter into conversations about financial topics and obviously knows what he is talking about. The teacher has the students writing weekly short discussion posts to show what they have learned from the required reading. Even better, assigns good projects to apply learning to real situations the students may face in the future. The teacher has responded very quickly whenever my son or I have emailed him a question. I would recommend this course to all high school students because everyone needs to learn how to manage money in a healthy manner.

Feedback from a student:

“Mr. Belfry’s Finance class is excellent. Before this class, I had no knowledge of budgeting, how to deal with debt, and no understanding of stocks and the stock market. Because of this class, I now understand and know how to implement different strategies concerning stocks, budgets, and debt.”

Watch the course intro video with instructor, Peter Belfry

Required Materials:
Books and supplies are not included in the purchase of the course. These resources are listed to help inform your decision-making as you make course selections and build your course schedule. Please reach out to the instructor if you have any questions about materials.

The Richest Man in Babylon
Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?
The Stock Market Game simulation will be played in groups during the 3rd and 4th quarter. Cost is minimal ($6 per student past year) See more at: https://www.stockmarketgame.org/ Payments will be arranged during the 2nd quarter.

Mr. Peter Belfry

[email protected]

Peter Belfry has a range of teaching and tutoring experience in a variety of subjects and age levels from kindergarten through to adult education at the college level and has taught at several classical, Christian and public schools. He has enjoyed having the experience of teaching Programming and Logic classes to students, which ties well to his background in philosophy and computer science. In addition to serving as an instructor with Schole, Peter serves as a professor of Computer Science and Video Game Development with Canadore College, teaching courses on Operating Systems and programming languages such as Windows, Linux, HTML, CSS, C++, C#, and Visual Basic as well as Artificial Intelligence, Object Oriented Programming, Mathematics, Business and Workplace Skills. Peter holds an Honors BA from Trent University in History as well as a BA in Education, specializing in History and Computer Science. He holds an MA from Knox Theological Seminary in Classical and Christian studies, which provides him a background for teaching from a classical perspective. For his MA program, he read and reflected on many of the Great Books as well as studied Scripture and church history. Peter has completed a week-long teacher training with the Association of Classical Christian Schools and Rockbridge Academy. His favorite piece of classical literature is Dante’s The Divine Comedy.

In addition to teaching, Peter also has experience serving in a pastoral role and enjoys volunteering to serve in his local church and community. He helps in evangelistic outreach as well as teaching lessons from the Bible. Peter has experience and training as an English as a Second Language instructor as well. He has experience teaching both online and in person. He believes in Scholé’s approach in seeking “restful learning” and believes that education should be life-giving and freeing for the soul as it should acknowledge the Lord Jesus as the source of all that is true, good and beautiful. Peter lives in the North Bay, Ontario area with his wife, twin boys, and baby girl.

Peter has explored the subject of finances through reading and personal application, learning to make sound financial decisions in his own life. His passion for financial stewardship, combined with his teaching experience in business, careers and mathematics, equips him to guide students in developing practical financial wisdom. He cares deeply about helping others grow in their understanding of stewardship and responsible money management.

Peter teaches the following classes: The Art of Argument: An Introduction to the Informal Fallacies, Formal Logic: The Discovery of Deduction, The Logic of Computer Programming, The Art of Computer Programming, and Faithful Stewardship: A Christian Guide to Personal Finance and Investments.

Quarter 1

Biblical Foundations of Finance and Stewardship

Biblical Stewardship and Economic Principles (Exploring Biblical foundations for managing resources responsibly)
Work, Saving, and Planning (Understanding the role of work, saving, and planning in stewardship)
Budgeting and Debt Management (Building effective budgets and avoiding debt traps)
Introduction to Inflation and Monetary Policy (Understanding how money loses value over time and its real-world effects)

Quarter 2

Building Financial Skills and Habits

Saving and Compound Interest (Growing wealth through consistent saving and the power of compounding)
Virtuous Financial Habits (Practicing generosity, patience, and delayed gratification)
Refining Budgets and Managing Challenges (Adjusting budgets to handle financial uncertainties and economic pressures)
Reflecting on Investment Strategies and Decision-Making (Reviewing early lessons and preparing for deeper investing concepts)

Quarter 3

Investments and Wealth Growth

Introduction to Investing (Core concepts of stocks, bonds, and basic market principles)
Diversification and Investment Options (Exploring ETFs, mutual funds, gold, and cryptocurrency)
Account Types and Tax Implications (Understanding different accounts (Roth IRA, Traditional IRA, 401(k), HSA, taxable brokerage) and how taxes affect investing)
Careers and Long-Term Planning
Introduction to the Stock Market Game (Overview of the game rules, team roles, research fundamentals, charts, initial planning, and team strategies, starts mid February)

Quarter 4

The Stock Market Game and Real-World Application

The Stock Market Game (Active participation in the simulation, including trading, portfolio management, teamwork, and collaborative decision-making. Goes from mid February to mid May)
Market Analysis, Risk, Volatility, and Time Horizons (Assessing risk tolerance, understanding market swings, and matching investments to short-term vs. long-term goals)
Diversification, Asset Allocation, and Portfolio Evaluation (Adjusting portfolios, rebalancing, and evaluating performance during the game)
Best and Worst Stock Picks Competition (Students individually select and defend one stock they believe will perform best and one they believe will perform worst during the game.
Final Reflections on Stewardship and the Stock Market Game (Reviewing key lessons, what was learned about markets, teamwork, emotions, and personal growth)
Comprehensive Financial Plan (Creating and presenting a holistic personal financial plan (budget, saving/investing goals, career considerations, family plans, emergency fund, and long-term stewardship vision)

Computer: You will need a stable, reliable computer, running with a processor with a speed of 1 GHz or better on one of the following operating systems: Mac OS X with Mac OS 10.7 or later; Windows 8, 7, Vista (with SP1 or later), or XP (with SP3 or later). We do not recommend using an iPad or other tablet for joining classes. An inexpensive laptop or netbook would be much better solutions, as they enable you to plug an Ethernet cable directly into your computer. Please note that Chromebooks are allowed but not preferred, as they do not support certain features of the Zoom video conference software such as breakout sessions and annotation, which may be used by our teachers for class activities.

High-Speed Internet Connection: You will also need access to high-speed Internet, preferably accessible via Ethernet cable right into your computer. Using Wi-Fi may work, but will not guarantee you the optimal use of your bandwidth. The faster your Internet, the better. We recommend using a connection with a download/upload speed of 5/1 Mbps or better. You can test your Internet connection here.

Webcam: You may use an external webcam or one that is built in to the computer. Webcam Recommendations: Good (PC only) | Best (Mac and PC)

Headset: We recommend using a headset rather than a built-in microphone and speakers. Using a headset reduces the level of background noise heard by the entire class. Headset Recommendations: USB | 3.5mm

Zoom: We use a web conferencing software called Zoom for our classes, which enables students and teachers to gather from around the globe face to face in real time. Zoom is free to download and easy to use. To download Zoom:

Visit zoom.us/download.
Click to download the first option listed, Zoom Client for Meetings.
Open and run the installer on your computer.
In August, students will be provided with instructions and a link for joining their particular class.

Scanner: In this class, students frequently submit homework assignments by scanning pages from their workbooks. Students and/or their parents should have easy access to a scanner and the ability to use it.

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First, read the available course descriptions, noting prerequisites, target grades, and course objectives. If you think your student is prepared for the course, go ahead and register. After registration, a placement assessment may be provided to students, depending on the course and the student's previous enrollment with Scholé Academy. Registration is finalized when the student's placement assessment has been returned by the course instructor with placement confirmation.

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