The Mission
The St Thomas More Trust exists to open the great tradition of liberal learning to every New Zealander, whatever their means, and to strengthen its teaching here in New Zealand. We long to see people formed not merely as workers or consumers, but as whole persons: grounded in intellectual and moral virtue, rooted in the Catholic intellectual tradition, and ready to lead in family, Church and society.
Event Spotlight
24 September 2026 · St Bede's College, Christchurch
Our latest evening brought two sessions under one roof. Dr Jeffrey Lehman of the Augustine Institute led a seminar on Boethius and the recovery of the examined life, with supper and small group discussion between tables. Earlier, he joined Ali Ghaffari of the St John Henry Newman Institute for a session with young adults on virtue, vocation and building a life that adds up to something.
Both rooms were full, and the conversation carried on long after the formal sessions ended.
On the Liberal Arts
Most parents want the same things for their children, and most adults want them for themselves: to think clearly, to read something difficult and understand it, to weigh an argument, to speak well, and to know what a good life looks like. For more than two thousand years, the West had a name for the education that aimed at exactly this. It called it the liberal arts.
The idea begins with the Greeks, who asked what a free person needs to know. The Romans named the answer the artes liberales, the arts befitting a free citizen, and by the Middle Ages they had settled into seven. Three trained the mind in language and reasoning: grammar, logic and rhetoric. Four trained it in number and order: arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy. The aim was always larger than skill. Socrates held that the unexamined life is not worth living, and these arts were how a student learned to examine it. They formed character as well as intellect. Students became apprentices of virtue.
This kind of education sends a person back into the world better equipped for it. A student who can read closely, reason carefully and argue honestly carries those habits into any work: medicine or law, a trade or a farm, a family or a business. It is the foundation for further study, for a vocation worth the name, and for the harder business of living well.
The world, in all its diversity, is eager to be guided towards the great values of mankind, truth, goodness and beauty; now more than ever.
Congregation for Catholic Education, 2014
Sooner or later, the liberal arts bring every student to the questions that matter most. What is real? What is a human being for? What do we owe one another? These are the questions of metaphysics and ethics, the oldest in philosophy, and a mind trained to ask them well learns to tell what is meaningful from what is merely urgent. The Trust gathers teachers, parents and students around these questions, through books and conversation, so that New Zealanders can meet the present with the best of what has been thought and said.
About the Trust
The St Thomas More Trust is a dedicated advocate for the promotion of liberal arts within the classical tradition, across all age groups. Established to foster a deep appreciation for classical learning and critical thinking, the Trust works to weave these timeless values into the educational landscape of New Zealand.
Through seminars, workshops and public lectures, the Trust provides enriching opportunities for students, educators and the general public to engage with classical texts, philosophical discourse and the broader liberal arts tradition.
What we do
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Events
An inspiring evening of intellectual reflection and community dialogue at the St Bede's College Performing Arts Centre, with Dr Jeffrey Lehman and Ali Ghaffari.
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Philosophy
The Roman who wrote the most consoling book in the Western tradition while waiting to die.
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Events
What is an education actually good for when the ground moves under you? Dr Jeffrey Lehman comes to Christchurch for two evenings.
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Study with us
The St Thomas More Trust runs seminars, public lectures and short courses in the classical liberal arts. We are based in Christchurch and hold events and study groups in Auckland, Wellington, Hamilton, Dunedin and other cities and towns across New Zealand.
Yes. PHIL101: The Pursuit of Wisdom is a free course in philosophy through the dialogues of Plato, studied in small local groups around the country. No prior study is needed.
Very much so. Many of our participants are students at the University of Auckland, Victoria University of Wellington, the University of Canterbury, the University of Otago and other New Zealand universities who want the great books and serious conversation that a degree often leaves out.
Yes. Teachers, home educators and parents interested in classical education join our courses and evenings to deepen their own reading and bring it back to their students.
Reading the great works of the Western tradition, and learning the arts of grammar, logic and rhetoric so you can think clearly, speak well and judge wisely.
Yes. Our grants help young New Zealanders attend formative programmes, such as the Campion College Summer Program in Sydney.
