What is 'meant' by Service in Anglican Schools?

Year 12 Final Day Blessing at Caulfield Grammar School

The Reverend Ryan Holt, Head of Chaplaincy | Caulfield Grammar School, VIC The term ‘service’ is readily used yet surprisingly slippery to grasp. The word often used for service in scripture diakonia occurs frequently and includes complementary perspectives.

Service reflects the nature of the Triune God and character of the incarnate Jesus who ‘did not come to be served but to serve’ (Matt 20:28), and declares, ‘l am among you as one who serves’ (Luke 22:27). Following the way of Jesus, all those who identify as Christian and belong to a community that shares his name are called to serve. Jesus Christ as the embodied of what it means to be fully human also reveals that service is part of being our full or whole selves, with service universally recognised and respected across the ages.

Whilst all followers of Jesus are called to serve, we learn that different people are also called to different forms of service or gifts of service for the health of the whole (1 Cor 12; 1 Peter 4). Service spans waiting on tables (Acts 6) to the nature of true community leadership (Luke 22). Whilst it is difficult to capture every biblical aspect of service, we can see service as both a virtue and practice, gifted by the Triune God to all people, exemplified by Christ, holistic, located in the ordinary and extended to all in different measure. Service is also an expression of a selfless love willing to learn from and with others.

When mentioned in Anglican Schools ‘service’ can encompass a range of other interdependent and related themes or virtues, such as the call to love our neighbour, hospitality, community engagement, justice, charity, social enterprise, advocacy and character. Service is not only a virtue and practice it is also a popular experiential pedagogy ‘Service Learning’. To have service stated as a priority at an Anglican School or broader network is common and rarely contested. ‘Character and Service’ emerged as an important pillar of Anglican School identity in the paper by Rev Dr Daniel Heischman for Anglican Schools Australia, ‘service’ remains a core value of Anglican Schools Australia and service is the focus of this edition!

Yet, if we asked our school communities what service means, I wonder what they would say? What experiences would they draw upon as exemplary? Does service have limits to preserve its essence or is the term problematic? Does Anglicanism have a particular flavour of service in a marketplace full of meaning? Or to quote, Dennis Denuto in the Aussie classic, The Castle, ‘It’s just the vibe of the thing’.

These ideas and questions (Denis Denuto excluded) are being considered as part of my doctoral research in my own context of Caulfield Grammar School. An Anglican School in Melbourne which has service as its founding vision through its founder the Rev Joseph Henry Davies

in 1881 and today 140 years on, commends service in its value of ‘Living Wholeheartedly - engaging in life with purpose, courage, passion, humility and in service with other’. Where does service sit within your school? and ‘What does service mean?’

Part 1 of the study will be the descriptive phase. This includes gives formal attention to gathering research from the community through methods such as interviews and focus groups of students past and present, staff and community members. Some possible questions - ‘What does service mean?’ ‘How is it experienced?’ ‘When is it most meaningful?’ Parking my own suspicion about what will be shared I am curious about what will be named, critiqued, and if patterns will emerge.

Part 2, the interpretive phase. This will involve focussing on the lived experience and asking the ‘why’ questions. Unveiling the multivalent meanings behind our practice and experience. What influences what we do? Where do we find wisdom? What can we learn from and with other disciplines beyond theology?

Part 3, the nominative phase. What ought to be happening? Drawing upon the resources of theology, our Anglican tradition, ethics, exemplary communities of learning and own ethos, how does what we espouse ethos marry with our lived experience?

Part 4, the performative phase. What should we do or consider going forward? Does our framework, practice or use of the word ‘service’ need to be narrowed, expanded, or even renamed? Do our practices hold together in a purposeful way? This phase of the cycle returns to the first and invites renewed practice as well as understanding.

Each phase or task forms a whole and a recurring cycle of consideration with questions, enabling a fluid back and forth. The hope of the research, commencing in 2022, is that it will not only inform my own context but will invite conversation and consideration in Anglicans Schools across Australia and beyond. Whilst my own school context has its own particularity, we have much in common and share in the same questions as others. Asking questions about service in a COVID immersed world may bring nostalgia, numbness, or even new imagination? Time will tell.

Major Brendan Nottle of the Salvation Army, a much-loved Melburnian, and our first keynote speaker at the 2021 Anglican Schools Australia online conference, invited us to the imagery of a typical Bourke Street intersection (a true delight to the senses), with a cross section of people from all sectors, seasons, and stages of life, with their own longings and life stories. Standing at the intersection as both participant and observer, Brendan challenged each of us to be a humble guest and ask wholeheartedly, ‘What is actually happening in the world today?’ and ‘How can we participate faithfully, hopefully and lovingly?’

In looking for encouragement to these formidable questions, we need not look further than the well-worn gates of Liverpool Football Club’s Anfield stadium which remind us, ‘You’ll never walk alone’. We are called not just as individuals but as communities to learn and serve, and even walk with and follow, ‘The One among us who serves’ and who ‘Came not be served but to serve’. The Reverend Jacqueline Weston has joined the Bishop Tyrrell community to commence her first Chaplaincy role within a school. It was Bishop Tyrrell’s community faith story and holistic approach to learning that inspired her to consider the move from her previous role at St. James’ Anglican Church at Morpeth, where she was the parish priest.

“School for me was a time of questioning the meaning and purpose of everything. It’s a privilege to join a school like this that values critical thinking and assists students in their own journey of asking the big questions at this stage in their lives.” Said Jacqui.

“Young people are growing up in a world that has lost the sense that the dignity and purpose of human life are found in being made in the image of God. Instead, young people feel under enormous pressure to be ‘winners’ in life to believe they are worthwhile. This hinders their confidence and their willingness to learn by making mistakes.”

“But shame and fear do not lead to flourishing human life; the message of the gospel is that care and dignity bring out the best in people. Every child needs to know that they are accepted and valued, not just for their achievements, but for the wholeness of who they are.”

Jacqui hopes to nurture a healthy Christian community through Bishop Tyrrell’s shared understanding that faith creates wholeness and balance in the community by giving students the confidence to pursue their unique gifts.

“In helping to discover their gifts we are building community,” explains Jacqui. “We are all equipped with different gifts for building up the body of Christ. The holistic approach to learning at Bishop Tyrrell fosters an attitude of curiosity and many opportunities for young people to discover gifts they didn’t even know they had! The dream is for every student to know they have value, self-worth, and are encouraged to follow their passions and share their unique gifts with others.”

“This is how I hope to help Bishop Tyrrell’s learning community live out its faith: by bringing people into communion with God and with one another.”

Jacqui is a Cambridge Trust Scholar and had the “dream” opportunity to do postgraduate study at the University of Cambridge. She enjoys softball, comedy, detective stories, and family life with her ten-year-old son.

New Chaplain

Bishop Tyrrell Anglican College, NSW