From the Assistant Bishop
Walking Together in Joy:
Celebrating Our Anglican Schools
The Rt Revd Hans Christiansen, Assistant Bishop
The July edition of Messenger focusses on Anglican Schools. In this edition there are contributions from each of our schools highlighting some of the great work they are doing.
The Anglican Church has always been committed to education and to building schools. Across Australia we have approximately 160 Anglican Schools. In the Diocese of Perth alone we have 16 Anglican schools, with a further three in the Diocese of Bunbury. As a church we are so blessed to be engaged with tens of thousands of people who work and learn in our schools.
As Bishop for schools in the Diocese of Perth, it is my great joy to visit all our schools regularly. On my recent four day, 100km Pilgrimage Walk of Joy with 8 Anglican schools and one Jewish school in the southern and central region of the Diocese, I had the wonderful opportunity to walk, worship and talk with many students about joy.
The Pilgrimage of Joy began from Peter Carnley Anglican Community School with students and staff joining us from John Wollaston Anglican Community School and Frederick Irwin Anglican School from the Diocese of Bunbury also joining us. We began the journey with a tree planting and smoking ceremony conducted by Noongar elder, Barry Winmar. We then celebrated the Eucharist, where I was gifted a beautiful Pilgrimage Crozier made by staff from Peter Carnley Anglican Community School.
There was a real sense of joy and excitement as we set out together on the long walk to St George’s Cathedral. Over the next four days, I walked with over 500 hundred students and many staff from 9 schools (Peter Carnley Anglican Community School, Frederick Irwin Anglican Community School, John Wollaston Anglican Community School, All Saints’ College, St Hilda’s Anglican Schools for Girls, Christ Church Grammar School, St George’s Anglican Grammar School, AngliSchools International and Carmel College).
During the Pilgrimage many students shared how their families, friends and hobbies give them great joy. But perhaps surprisingly to some people, a large number of students shared with me how their faith gives them a deep sense of joy in life. Some students spoke about the joy and comfort of prayer; the joy of going to church together with their families; the joy and sense of purpose of reading scripture; and the joy of having a relationship with Jesus Christ and seeking in community to love others in action.
In a secular society where Christian faith at best is only mentioned in passing, the lived faith experiences of young people are rarely heard in the public sphere. One of the great gifts of our Anglican schools is that they are all built on the faith in the crucified and resurrected Jesus Christ. Therefore, we do not shy away from speaking about our Christian faith and practising it together in our school communities.
Given the faith language taught and practised in our schools, I was not surprised to learn how important faith can be to some of our students. However, I was deeply encouraged by the number of students who were keen to discuss the importance of their faith with me, and I felt honoured to hear their stories.
Central to my message during the Pilgrimage was that finding and living with joy is central to what it means to be Christian. As St Paul teaches in one of his letters, we are “to rejoice always and in everything give thanks”
(1Thessalonians 5: 16-18). Throughout the journey, I kept emphasising to students that joy is distinct from happiness. Happiness is an emotion. Joy is a state of being. Joy is a gift from the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22) and joy comes from faith that our life has meaning and purpose and that our meaning is found in loving God and loving our neighbours as ourselves.
Deep and lasting joy is found not in isolation, but together. For the kingdom of God is between us, as Jesus teaches in Luke’s gospel (Luke 17:21). And our purpose and our joy is therefore found in community. For we are created in love and for love. And when we remain in love and community, our joy, as Jesus teaches, will be made complete (John 15:11).
It was such a privilege and joy to walk with so many students and staff from our Anglican schools, and I take this opportunity to thank all the 9 participating schools. The hospitality of the schools and enthusiasm for this journey of faith was deeply inspiring, and it showed me once again how strong and unified our Anglican schools are.
The Pilgrimage of Joy is the completion of a two-year project of walking with and in between all 16 of our Anglican Schools in our Diocese, connecting all our schools together in our shared Anglican identity. It has been an immense joy and honour and privilege to walk this journey, and I can’t wait to see what the next Pilgrimage journey together will look like.
As you read this Messenger edition, I hope you, like me, will find much joy and inspiration in reading about our Anglican schools in WA.
Grace and peace
+Hans