School chapels in days of zoom
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| Beauty will save the world |
How best to continue school chapels?
What can be expected of the students?
How can this best be delivered?
Even when we have a physical building to hold students 'in chapel', we mistakenly do not ask ourselves the question - how might we host their attention? Without the physical space, we cannot avoid this question now.
Here below is a response. It is a response. There are hundreds of other ways.
A full service outline can be found here for Term 2 Easter resources
This includes a widget and a staged collection of practices
that students can engage in.
If you cannot access the files, please email me and I'll send them on.
Theme for the
term:
Beauty will save the world
It has subthemes
T2.1 Resurrection
T2.2 ‘Peace be with you’
T2.3 It’s in the eating - bread (Emmaus)
T2.4 Life in abundance – John 10
T2.5 Unity in peace – Pentecost
This series is
produced by the Anglican Schools Commission, Southern Queensland. Fr Richard is
the author.
Across the
term, a greater influence will become apparent as chaplains and students
interact with the material.
The series
requires no copyright or special permission. Just an acknowledgment: Resources
from ASC SQ.
The series is
produced with normal student population in mind. That is, less than 10% will
have any significant background in Christian church experience, and maybe 20
percent of that group will come from any Anglican experience.
The question:
why might a student (or family) at home engage with this? Ouchie.
This is my
response:
Short.
Interactive.
Full of
questions.
Loaded with
provocations, stimuli and dilemmas.
Pathways open
back to the chaplain.
Offers skills to
practice – all are a part of our spiritual heritage.
The liturgies
will follow our ancient traditions but seeks also to engage enquiring minds,
wondering questions, creative spirits, empathetic hearts, anxious times. So the
series functions more like a guided meditation with accompanying spiritual
exercises. It responds uniquely to the situation we find ourselves being
together while apart. Across the term we will build on some simple practices
that will invite student’s direct experience of the things we speak of.
The series is
created with the understanding that chaplains will significantly adapt, adopt, build
on, improve, possibly butcher, or completely ignore the materials here.
There are
multiple points for interaction and engagement. As the chief focus is beauty
within the context of the Easter Season, there will be many staff and
departments in the schools that can easily contribute: music, art, design,
technology. Performances and work should be included and added to the
experiences, even as background sound or visuals. These do not have to be
specifically religious or spiritual, just beautiful.
Students can
engage with the material and the chaplain/department/tutor/home groups around:
· Real
Questions. Students could post to the chaplain’s their real questions. This
would provide a rich opportunity for email/talking circle conversations.
· The beauty
saves the world images. Should the students be free to participate in this, a
rich tapestry of images, words and people will be collected. This would be
really good to add to the school webpage, or the chaplain site and provide for
further interaction.
· The
community engagement opportunities will expand over the coming weeks. This will
give a rich opportunity for chaplain – student dialogue and collaboration.
· Any devices
or opportunities opened up by the chaplains
The widget:
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Theme:
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Beauty will save the world
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Sub theme
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Resurrection
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Reconciled
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Unified – at table
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Reading
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John
20.1-4
Mary
Magdalene: I have seen the Lord
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John 20.19-23
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Luke 24
Emmaus
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Chapel:
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Term 2.1
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2.2
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2.3
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Season:
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Easter
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Context:
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COVID-19 isolation; lock down; remote learning;
anxiety, loneliness, confusion, loss of agency, disconnection yet digital
connection; income stress …
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Metaphor / Symbol
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Images
of tiny beauty: the winged seed
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Gospel Message
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Jesus is
risen. The mechanism that binds human hearts to evil is broken. This is
beautiful. We are invited to join with Christ for the good of the earth.
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Guiding Questions
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If the
line between good and evil runs down the middle of every human being, how can
we lean in to the good? (If this is possible, this would be beautiful.)
Where is
beauty where we live?
How can
we act in ways that increase the beauty around us?
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Key Concept
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Engaging
with beauty and wonder is an encounter with the Divine. It is something we
can do together while apart.
(The
Easter event is exquisitely beautiful- an instrument of torture becomes a
sign of hope)
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Key Practice
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Practicing
attention, noticing on purpose, seeing the beauty, growing in wonder
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Film
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Human,
the movie (stunningly beautiful and readily available on YouTube for free)
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Resources
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T2.1
Practices
Example
Homily (Fr Richard)
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