Spirituality New Chaplain on a mission
N ew Christ’s College Chaplain Rev. Cameron Pickering sees his ‘mission field’ as the sideline at Rugby, the bleachers at Basketball. He sees it walking alongside boys on the Quad, chatting in the boarding Houses, and gathering in the Dining Hall. At 1.9m tall and wearing a clerical collar, he is certainly visible. However, more than that, he is accessible, and wants nothing greater than to be where the community is. “That’s when the conversations happen, when the questions are asked, when there are opportunities to consider things, think about things,” he explains. Living on-site since the start of Term 2, Cameron is close to the action of an Anglican community which can look forbidding from the outside but is all-inclusive from the inside. “I wanted to apply for the position because of College’s excellent reputation – it’s tested, not a fad. It’s a school that sets a high standard of academic success. And I wanted to apply because I have friends who went here and they’re people you admire – good men, good fathers, good friends.
Men of virtuous character. “There’s an integrity between what is said about the school and what it produces. And I certainly wanted to be part of the community that is Christ’s College. That’s a model for education that I can buy into.” Not that the first term ran according to plan, with Covid-19 interrupting savagely. “There were no Sunday services. Chapel was held by House, and there was no singing.” When he could, Cameron spoke to the boys about recognising the Christ-like characteristics their House founder demonstrated. It has produced some interesting conversations “and it was good for me”, he adds, “because I learnt a lot about the Houses – we all did”. He would love to be able to show that there is a common thread among the founders and the character strengths which the school espouses today. Most of those character strengths are steeped in Christian teachings, framed in different words perhaps, but they make up the basis of the message he brings from the pulpit and
spirituality is imbued in them all, Cameron says. “My role is liturgical and it’s also pedagogical, but much of the role is presence. It’s about being visible and available where there may be a need. As a priest, I have a sense of God’s call in taking up this role, and a belief that there’s something God would have me do here. It represents an opportunity.” With 700 boys on campus daily, Cameron sees it as a perfect place where young people – the future of religion – can ask questions, and conversations can be had. “This environment provides the opportunity for honesty, refreshingly so. The important thing is that the boys learn that the answers can be worked out. For me, I have a set of premises and a faith in God that help me work out my way. Part of what faith does is to enable you to hold on to the matter and not seek immediacy in answer.” Cameron is acutely aware of the secularised society New Zealand has become, and the diminishing sense of the Christian witness in wider society.
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