Weird stories – and opportunities

Towards the end of January, and I set out on what, in recent times, was a ‘weird’ opportunity: to visit some TISCA (The Independent Schools Christian Alliance) schools in person and to hold regional meetings without depending on Zoom and a screen. And what a joy it was!

The strongest shot in tennis?

Revd Martin Poole, a governor at Ballard School, spoke at the South regional gathering at Castle Court Prep School. His enthusiastic accounts of sharing stories at school assemblies ranged from showing us how to ‘tell the Bible’ using the fingers of one hand (a thumbs up for encouragement, an index finger to point to things needing attention, the middle finger – taller than the others – to be Jesus, a fourth – the ring finger – for commitment, and then the little finger for prayer), how to divide 19 camels fairly between a sheikh’s three sons (my maths was mightily challenged) and also how to use sport to tell the gospel. The latter illustration was very effective: what’s the strongest and often the winning shot played in tennis? This is, of course, the serve. Our service as Christians is often what draws others to Jesus.

The meeting at Castle Court was also remarkable for the overflowing excitement shared by staff from several schools, but especially Castle Court, of being able to have fellowship together (over a very fine meal I should add). Some schools have been unable to have in-person staff meetings until very recently and whilst we remain in awe of what technology can do to bring us together, there is nothing to replace seeing others face-to-face.

Weird stories

On our tour we took in two other schools before going to King’s Bruton for the South West regional meeting. We were treated to BBC sitcom writer James Cary’s musings on weird stories in the Bible. Here’s what Revd George Beverly, chaplain at King’s, wrote after the event:

Have you ever considered how the Bible is jam-packed with weird accounts: Baalam’s donkey talking! The transfiguration! Absalom’s long hair getting tangled in a tree, leaving him stuck hanging until he was captured! The physical resurrection of many bodies from tombs in Jerusalem when Jesus Christ rose back to life – and they walked around Jerusalem talking to people – a bit like zombies!

What do we do with such accounts? Shy away from them? Focus on the more “rational” sections of Scripture? Try and explain them away as deceptions that tricked supposedly gullible people thousands of years ago? No – none of those are wise or responsible approaches to make. We believe in a God who made the very laws of science, who is all-powerful and created everything. Thus, He is not constrained by such laws. The very fact He brings about miracles, shows he is God. And on Thursday evening, it was lovely to welcome James Cary, Christian writer, speaker and comedian to speak at TISCA (The Independent Schools’ Christian Alliance) regional meeting hosted at King’s. James sits on the Church of England’s Archbishops’ Council, hosts numerous podcasts and writes comedy for the BBC (e.g. Miranda, Hut 33, Bluestone 42, Think the Unthinkable) often alongside Milton Jones. James commended us to not shy away from the weird and controversial aspects of Scripture. God has given us these passages and they richly overflow with the message of His gospel love. Moreover, as teachers/chaplains/staff in schools, we are surrounded by children and teenagers whose world is immersed and full of an obsession with the weird and wonderful. Consider: Star Wars, Marvel, Narnia, Harry Potter and so much more. Best of all, as we engage with Scripture’s stranger segments, it often prompts genuine discussion and enquiry between pupils and staff – and isn’t that wonderful! What could be more important and fascinating than debating and discussing the message of the One who claims to hold the answers to life’s biggest questions?!?!

So, our challenge to all is to seize opportunities to engage in the weird and wonderful in the Bible – and to do the ‘weird thing’ of meeting up again in person! (COVID secure, of course…)

(Lead article in the Spring 2022 edition of ‘TISCA News and Views’)

New beginnings and fresh opportunities

I felt very guilty yesterday as I did something for the first time: I bought some cigarettes. Let me hastily explain! I have been privileged to be involved in a volunteer support network in my home town. This sometimes involves calling someone for a chat, collecting a prescription or, as on this occasion, fetching someone’s groceries. I picked up a shopping list yesterday from a vulnerable person’s doorstep and was somewhat astonished by the relatively large sum of money in the envelope. I have clearly lived a very sheltered life! It was only when I went to the tobacco counter, noted the rolling back of the doors hiding the ‘secret stash’ and was then presented with the bill for three packets of cigarettes that I realised why I had been given so much cash in advance. The cost of the cigarettes was nearly double that of the groceries!

Teacher tasks

I recount this story not to be critical of someone’s purchase (although the frightening message on the fag packets did give me a jolt) but to highlight that we are all doing new things in these strange times. Just today I had contact with a teacher who has just ‘gone into’ school for the summer term. He recounted the number of meetings he was attending remotely – some well into the evening – and also the online lessons he was delivering on top of setting tasks, marking work and contacting home to check on the pastoral well-being of his pupils. To some extent these are all familiar tasks for a school teacher but the online medium and the lack of face-to-face contact certainly present a new adventure – and this teacher was approaching things positively in this fresh way.

Incredible creativity

I take my hat off to all those I am coming across who are sensitively and imaginatively undertaking ‘old’ tasks in new ways. There are chaplains in my network delivering ‘thoughts’ in under three minutes, complete with animations and pop-up characters; there are Heads giving rousing start-of-term addresses using clips featuring pupils working from home; sports’ staff are encouraging exercise and ball skills using minimal space in front rooms and gardens (the ‘keepy-uppy’ tasks using a hockey stick and all kinds of objects are amazing); and there are food tech teachers helping us make the most of those long-forgotten ingredients in the back of our kitchen cupboards. So many of those I have regular contact with in schools are making a virtue out of a necessity, turning a cruel situation into a creative one.

New obstacles, too

I don’t pretend, however, that these fresh opportunities are not throwing up new obstacles, too. How can teachers, not least chaplains and form tutors, offer pastoral care without face-to-face contact? There are staff trying to support children, sometimes in dysfunctional environments at home, to stay on task with their learning, to be helpful with their parents and carers and to avoid an over-dependence on ‘devices’. Spare a thought, and a prayer, too, for those with little internet access, shared computers, mixed age and often educationally challenged young people in their homes. And then there are those who have virus-hit families, some now bereaved and unable to grieve with the wider family. My heart and my prayers go out to them.

Community action

It is heartening, however, to see how this time of lockdown has enabled an explosion of creativity and also of community action. Our street enjoyed a ‘social distance afternoon tea’ last Sunday and we had families introducing themselves and sharing in a way they would probably never have done in ‘normal’ times. I have heard of family online quizzes and brunches and also of friends enjoying a virtual night at the theatre. My extended family also managed a zoom gathering at Easter which allowed great-grandparents to interact over three generations. Whilst we long to be ‘unlocked’ soon, I hope that what we are learning under curfew, sometimes in a slower-paced life, will not be lost into the future.

A cheer for Chaplains!

Just last week I was at Newman University, Birmingham, to take part in some research. The focus is on how better to prepare the school chaplains of the future – their training, support, encouragement and well-being. I was asked to talk about my experience of chaplains over the years and this took me back to my own experience at boarding school in Scotland.

‘Muscular Christianity’

We had two school chaplains, one for the Anglican community and the other for the Church of Scotland, and both were very effective and approachable. As I remember, they were a full part of boarding school life – including sport, outdoor activities, the classroom and the boarding houses. (‘Muscular Christianity’, I suppose, but in its most positive of forms.) I was just starting out as a Christian and they nurtured my faith and allowed me to ask questions, to challenge and to explore spirituality in a productive way. Through their pastoral care, I got involved with holiday camps run by Scripture Union and helped organise a Christian Union in school. They were innovative in chapel, too: I well remember us singing our way through the just published ‘Jesus Christ Superstar‘ with great gusto and without embarrassment (and this was an all-boys’ school, too).

Asking questions

I further recalled how important school chaplains had been to me as a young, married, teacher. Also in a boys’ boarding school, I was encouraged to help with assemblies and chapels – thus having to order my thoughts and hone my delivery in those precious seven-minute slots. I was also enabled to lead a town-wide schools’ group – embracing the maintained and independent sectors – and there was helped to articulate my own faith and to consider the time-honoured questions about suffering, poverty, war, creation and disease.

And so it has been in recent days as I have ‘listened in’ to school chaplains through the closed WhatsApp group I help to organise: here again are men and women eager to help and share, to be open and honest where they are at present and to rejoice, despite the current crisis, in all their school communities are still able to do. Chapels and assemblies have become voluntary during the present virus-fearful times and yet droves of students have wanted to come to share, to pray and to support each other.

Here is a poem being shared by chaplains just now. Read it and be encouraged!

Lockdown, by Richard Hendrick

Yes there is fear.

Yes there is isolation.

Yes there is panic buying.

Yes there is sickness.

Yes there is even death.

But,

They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise

You can hear the birds again.

They say that after just a few weeks of quiet

The sky is no longer thick with fumes

But blue and grey and clear.

They say that in the streets of Assisi

People are singing to each other

across the empty squares,

keeping their windows open

so that those who are alone

may hear the sounds of family around them.

They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland

Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.

Today a young woman I know

is busy spreading fliers with her number

through the neighbourhood

So that the elders may have someone to call on.

Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples

are preparing to welcome

and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary

All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting

All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way

All over the world people are waking up to a new reality

To how big we really are.

To how little control we really have.

To what really matters.

To Love.

So we pray and we remember that

Yes there is fear.

But there does not have to be hate.

Yes there is isolation.

But there does not have to be loneliness.

Yes there is panic buying.

But there does not have to be meanness.

Yes there is sickness.

But there does not have to be disease of the soul

Yes there is even death.

But there can always be a rebirth of love.

Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.

Today, breathe.

Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic

The birds are singing again

The sky is clearing,

Spring is coming,

And we are always encompassed by Love.

Open the windows of your soul

And though you may not be able to touch across the empty square,

Sing.

Collective worship

RE and RSE

I have just attended the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) meeting in the House of Commons on ‘Promoting positive outcomes in Religious Education (RE) and Relationships and Sex Education (RSE)’. I was especially struck by the contribution of Ron Skelton, Head at Broadway Academy in Birmingham. Whilst accepting the legal imperative to teach both RE and RSE, Ron emphasised the importance of a third component (also enshrined in law – viz the 1944 and 1988 Education Acts) – daily collective worship. Ron is a Christian, whilst his school roll is predominantly of Asian and Muslim background, and he posed the question: why is it that our young people are amongst the unhappiest in the developed world with a frighteningly high incidence of self-harming and teenage suicide? Could this possibly have some link (albeit in part) to the abject failure of most schools to obey the law and hold a daily (let alone weekly) act of collective worship? Added to this is the failure of 24% of secondary schools in England and Wales (and 44% of academies) to offer RE in the 14-16-year age range – also in contravention of the law.

Daily / Weekly whole-school assemblies

I’m not going to fall into the ‘trap’ of suggesting that the high incidence of troubled youth, with a high proportion suffering from mental health issues, is simply down to the lack of curriculum RE and the paucity of assemblies and chapels – and neither, I suspect, is Ron Skelton. I would agree (with Ron), however, that the lack of the latter is a significant contributory factor. So much that is positive can be achieved in a daily (or at the very least, weekly) gathering of the whole-school community even if much of the time the ‘visible’ content is ‘only’ notices, exhortations and information. There is an incredible strength to be had in gathering regularly to share together as a community. Clearly there are practical issues for some schools (such as the size of the roll and the available space) but even here there remains the possibility of several daily, smaller, gatherings where the same ethos and message are shared. Ron talked about character development in these times with shared values promoted and encouraged, commendations shared, joys celebrated and community sorrows recognised. All too often we bemoan the rise of the smart ‘phone, the loneliness of the long-distance online surfer and the time spent in front of individual screens and we fail to utilise the opportunities we have – even those which are actually required of us – to share together corporately in our schools.

Shared experiences

As a Head I certainly valued meeting with the whole school at least weekly (on other days we had smaller group assemblies and form assemblies) for a gathering in which I was able to share centrally (often around a termly theme), where we sang together, had a Scripture reading and a prayer. (One of the schools of which I was Head had a significant non-Christian population but these pupils and their parents valued having a clear structure, backbone and ethos to the assembly even if it didn’t reflect their faith-position.) These assemblies also afforded me the opportunity to stand at the door at the end of the gathering and look each pupil (and staff member) in the eye and exchange a greeting. Yes, it’s an effort to find space in the daily routine for this and also to come up with something interesting (even instructive) to say – but let’s not shrink from the brave and, may I say, the right thing! In my last school the age-range involved was from Reception Class to Year 11: a challenge regarding the overt message to be shared but well worth the effort in the ‘subliminal’ message of a shared time together.

So, yes to RE and RSE but also a ‘yes’ to daily, or at least weekly, corporate worship together as a whole school.