VIRTUES From the Chaplain
Our school lives and contends with the unpopularity of Christianity. Many staff, along with most parents and students, may feel as if they have little to do with the Church. While Church schools like College are increasingly popular in aspirational New Zealand, our faith is not. The most recent MMG survey of Year 13 students and parents included a series of questions under the heading ‘Religious Education’. While the majority of responders reported this aspect of College life as
meeting or exceeding expectations, no students in Year 13 have sat in a Religious Education class since Year 11 – thus were asked to cast back their minds to 2021. Of course, questions on weekday, and/or weekend Chapel attendance were more on point for this cohort, being headed under Religious Education somewhat of a misnomer. One may ask is that what Chapel is about, Religious Education? Our Chapel and the way our community is shaped by it at week’s
beginning and end, and our term shaped by our commitment to regular Sunday worship, may well educate the students religiously, but there is more than the planning and execution of a curriculum and its delivery through the medium of singing, praying, asking questions, and listening. William Temple, former Archbishop of Canterbury, once said, “The Church is the only organisation which does not exist for the benefit of its members”. I have reflected throughout the year on how Chapel, its form and function for student
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Christ’s College Canterbury
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