Hall Founders

Start a Hall in Your Community

You don't need a building. You need a vision for your place, a group of students, and the willingness to lead.

“Giving yourself to your place is honorable. Staying with intention — knowing a place, committing to it, forming the next generation in it — is one of the most ambitious moral undertakings available.”

How Would You Like to Begin?

Two ways to start the conversation.

Recommended Path

Sketch Your Hall First

Answer four questions — place, sector, blueprint, programs — and see your Hall take shape before you talk to anyone. Takes 10–15 minutes.

Ideal if you're exploring the model or want to think through your vision before a conversation.

Sketch Your Hall →
Already Ready

Talk to a Field Guide Directly

Skip the tool and schedule a consultation. A Field Guide will reach out within five business days to begin the conversation.

Ideal if you already know your place and your vision, and you're ready for a real conversation.

Request a Consultation →
The Model

What Is a Christian Hall?

A Hall is a single educational community in a specific place. It partners with accredited universities to deliver degree programs through a tutorial-based model — small groups, local practitioners as tutors, and formation that doesn't require students to leave.

Think Oxford tutorial, not lecture hall. Community ownership, not franchise. Debt-free formation, not a mortgage on a 22-year-old's future.

Read more about the model →
Accredited Programs

From eight university partners. Bachelor's, associate's, graduate, certificate, and apprenticeship.

Tutorial Method

Small cohorts led by local practitioners — not distant lecturers. Formation through sustained relationship.

Local Governance

Owned and run by the community it serves. No absentee landlord. No distant board.

Debt-Free Formation

CHI's model is built around affordability. Students are formed, not indebted.

Who Starts a Hall

Roles, not credentials.

Hall Founders come from every background. What they share is place — a community they know well and are committed to serving.

Pastors

Forming the next generation of ministers within their congregation and tradition.

Educators

Classical school leaders, homeschool co-op directors, veteran teachers.

Civic Leaders

Mayors, county officials, community organizers with a long-term vision for their place.

Businesspeople

Entrepreneurs who want to develop the local workforce they depend on.

Tradespeople

Master craftsmen who want to build a formal pipeline in their guild.

The Process

What Happens Next

From sketch to launch is typically three to six months. CHI does not require program selection, blueprint decisions, or complex setup work before the application — sketch first, decisions later.

01
Sketch

Use the sketch tool to see what your Hall would look like — sectors, blueprint, programs. Takes 10–15 minutes. No commitment.

02
Field Guide Call

A Field Guide familiar with your region reviews your sketch and schedules a first conversation. They'll help you pressure-test the vision.

03
Application

Formal application: place, community readiness, sector fit, philosophical alignment. CHI staff review within two weeks.

04
Onboarding

Program selection, Director training, tutor recruitment, site setup. Your Field Guide coordinates this phase.

05
Launch

Students enrolled. Tutorials running. Your Hall is live in the CHI directory.

Requirements

What's Required of a Director

An honest list. CHI does not sugarcoat what it takes.

01A specific place — a city, county, or community you are committed to serving long-term
02A Director — someone willing to lead, not just sponsor
03A governance structure — a local board, not an absentee owner
04Founding Tutors — a select group of tutors capable of facilitating the initial classes
05Fundraising capacity — evaluate the financial backing necessary to sustain the Hall through initial revenue
06Alignment with the CHI model — sector focus, tutorial method, debt-free formation
07A Field Guide relationship — an accountability partner throughout the journey
Talk to a Field Guide

Request a Consultation

Tell us who you are and where you are. A Field Guide will follow up within 5 business days. No program selection, no blueprint decision required at this stage.

CHI staff will respond within 5 business days. No commitment required.

Ready?

Start with the sketch.

Ten questions. Fifteen minutes. See what your Hall would look like before you commit to anything.

Sketch Your Hall →