School Assembly

I've not been to school for the better part of two decades. Today I sat back and witnessed my first school assembly for a long time. 

It was brief, forming part of the morning registration, and I was informed in advance that five minutes was all you got.  After a short welcome by the assistant head, the minister was introduced.  From my seat I was able to watch the reaction of the assembled third year audience.  As soon as my Local Assessor, Kathryn, (and she was introduced as Kathryn, not Mrs X or Rev Y)  took to the floor, there was a subtle change.  All eyes were to the front, and everyone was focusing on her message.  While everyone had given due respect to the head, Kathryn had their undivided attention.  Many of those present she will have known from primary school, so she seems to have earned a trust and respect from her flock.

Afterwards I was at the local school chaplains meeting.  I knew half of those present, but it was a priveledge to hear about the work they are doing in schools.  These ranged from small village primary schools to large town secondary schools. I heard about the types of project they were involved in, topics they had been asked to speak on (Embryology???) and the challenges they encountered.  One of the ministers asked for my impressions.  I told him that the thing I picked up was that  they weren't just chaplains to the class, they were also a workplace chaplain.  I was aware they had assisted staff with problems outside work, but also shared in the good times, by being invited to family events.  A school chaplain is chaplain to the school, not just the pupils.

This whole ministry thing is a much bigger role than the job description would suggest.


To crown a pretty good day, at the Student Feed I was introduced to a baptist minister from Cameroon and we had a great old blether.