What is an A School?

David in Psalm 16, the last verse, speaks of walking with His Father down the path of Life. David had begun his Psalm with the same questions we all have...do you have my security? My place to live? My job? My relationships? My finances? My callings? 

I came into the kingdom a bit of a mess. Jesus cleaned me up and the Church trained me. Many of the things I picked up were not overtly spoken to me, but in the culture of Church I picked up. Things like Jesus died for me, what am I going to give Him? Is there ever enough? In addition, I acquired the idea that God the Father was a little angry. (think Gandalf with an attitude) He really was about catching me in doing bad so He could punish me. There was a constant angst, fear of not doing enough. In fact, I never said this out loud, but I felt at some level I needed to earn His love. This led to competition (with the whole Body of Christ) and maybe worse, in order to keep Him loving me, I had to continuously do more to assure this love. 

It didn't take long for me to find myself on a treadmill...treadmill Christianity where we constantly turn up the incline and the speed...never enough.

So unsure if He really had my back and couple that with the treadmill, I was perfectly created to burn out. 

I was sincere. I loved Jesus. I saw Him do incredible things around the world. But there was always a bit of unrest, insecurity, competition, comparison, judgment, unforgiveness, frustration, unsure, striving, working to earn love. But so sincere, not unlike the thousands who have come through our schools, conferences and retreats we have been part of around the world. Culture, race, sex does not seem to be immune to this infection. So if you have experienced some of these realities, David and the Space and Time of an A School, might have the answer you are longing for. (We will get to what David discovered at the end).

So, What is An A School?

An A School is a one‑week Fatherheart Ministries environment where people encounter, experience, and begin to live in the revelation of the Father’s love as sons and daughters.  

A Simple Definition

An A School is a six‑day to one‑week “school of the heart” designed to immerse you in the reality that you are fully loved, fully known, and fully free as a child of the Father. Rather than just teaching about God’s love, it creates space to actually encounter and receive the Father’s embrace in a sustained way.  

Where A Schools Come From

James and Denise Jordan, founders of Fatherheart Ministries, realized that the revelation of the Father’s love needed more than a single sermon or weekend to land deeply, so they pioneered the first six‑day A School in 2006. This format proved so effective that A Schools began to multiply across nations as the primary doorway into the Fatherheart journey.  

What Happens During the Week

During an A School you are invited into an extended atmosphere of rest, worship, and teaching that all center on the Father’s love. Through revelatory biblical teaching, stories from the team, times of ministry, and unhurried space, people often find blockages to receiving love removed and their hearts awakened as true sons and daughters.  

It's not about receiving in the "Right" way, but by simply allowing Him to love you. In fact, in an A School we may something like, "The secret to Christianity is learning to receive Love." This isn't a one and done teaching, lay hands on and off you go...The truth is it takes TIME and SPACE to change form one way of living to Living Loved!

The Core Goals

There are two primary aims in every A School: first, to give people a major personal experience of the love God the Father has for them, and second, to lay a strong biblical foundation for the place of the Father in the Christian life. As this happens, many move from years of striving and performance into a new place of belonging, acceptance, and deep inner rest.  As love comes in, striving and competition begins to dissipate and true feelings of Joy and Peace and healing begin to take their place. Authentic rest becomes your reality. 

Why It Matters

A Schools are often described as “a place to come home”—a space where you discover you are welcomed, you belong, and you are accepted in your weakness. For many, this one week becomes a doorway into a lifelong journey of living loved and walking as sons and daughters in the “glorious freedom of the children of God.”

We often say at the Beginning of an A School, "the hardest thing about A School is leaving A School." As we, create an environment of love, and love begins to have its way, in the context of a community, Father Himself begins to meet each one of us in a very personal way. It really is all Him. There are times when I wonder, if I just stood in front and read a comic book, would He still do the same thing?  In the end, it is Him. He has always been loving you, and what He wants more than anything you could do, is to just be with you! And...He goes home with you.

Back to David

Throughout Psalm 16, David has his angst as well as revelations as to who his Father really is. As David finishes the Psalm in verse 11, He says, "As I walk down the path of Life with my Father; In Your presence is the fullness of Joy." David confesses that there is nothing greater as a human that can be experienced outside of being in our Father's presence! The word Joy is actually plural meaning with Him are endless Joys as we are with Him! Then David goes on to declare, "At your right hand are pleasures forevermore." Biblically there is always a comparison of the pleasures offered by the world and "heavenly" pleasures. David is shouting that the strength of the Lord (His right Hand) contains Eternal Pleasures that are so much greater than anything that can be found in the world. His strength is pleasures for us.

The Lord is quoted only once in the Psalm. He says about the saints on the earth, "they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight!" That's you. ALL His delight, the creator of all things, is in you. 

The secret to life according to David, and Christianity is to learn to receive and be around the love of you Father. Full Stop. A walk down the path of life. 

We would love to see you in an A School, check out the upcoming events!