What does a school chaplain do?

Here's a simple sign I put in my room and display for teachers as well. This is adapted from the SU role description. I've simplified the language enough for teachers. Still working on making it even simpler for my high school students. I'll post it here when I've got it.

What does a chaplain do?
1. Support students exploring their spiritual beliefs and worldviews.
2. Provide pastoral care for students and be a role model to them.
3. Participate in general activities in the life of the school.
4. Engage with local churches and community groups.
5. Participate with students in outside school events/programs.

Women and the Church

I recently had the pleasure of being the guest speaker at another church, and in conversation with one of the elders afterwards (while sipping the usual Nescafé Blend 43 and eating an iced vovo) I discovered that they don't allow women to preach. Now before I go any further, it's worth making a very strong note that I am not going to lay out what I think on the matter in this very short article, nor give a theological treatise on the topic. My intention is just to open up the topic, so that you intelligent readers can have the conversations, because I believe it's an important conversation to have.

Now a few observations. First, without going into any of the details, it needs to be said that the culture in first century Palestine where the church first started is not the same as the culture of 21st Century Australia. With that in mind, the answers the New Testament church came up with to various questions (including this one) may not always fit as snugly in our world today. Whatever answers we come up with today (to any of the "how to" questions) need to reflect both the way of Jesus and the needs of our own culture. I'll leave you to nut that one out.

Secondly, it might be worth pointing out that women feature much more in the New Testament than people usually suppose. Jesus' official twelve disciples may have been men, but there were also at least a handful of key women who seem to have been very supportive of Jesus - some scholars even suggest they may have been providing financial support to his missions.

Now look at the conversations. Through the gospels on almost every occasion the general impression is that most people - including the twelve - basically had no idea of what Jesus was on about. Yet there are at least two significant recorded occasions where Jesus seems to be impressed that someone actually got what he was saying... both times with women (John 4, Mark 7).

Fast-forward to Good Friday, where all of his followers have run away in fear. Wait, all? No, not all.

"Some women were there, watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James the younger and of Joseph), and Salome. They had been followers of Jesus and had cared for him while he was in Galilee. Many other women who had come with him to Jerusalem were also there." (Mark 15:40-41)

And they stayed with him, following when his body was taken down from the cross, to see where it would be placed. Then as soon as the sabbath ended and shops opened they purchased spices to prepare his body. Everyone knows the rest of the story. Sunday morning the women were there at the crack of dawn and were the first to discover that Jesus was alive - and not only that, but it seems they believed it before any of the men. They rushed back to tell the disciples (and where were the disciples? Hiding in a room). In the meantime, the resurrected Jesus thought it important to make a short stop off on his way back to the Father to have his first conversation, with who? Mary Magdalene. Read it again and notice how much women feature in this the climax of the story. In a male-dominated culture, what do you think this said?

It doesn't end with the gospels. In a culture filled with male leaders, the early church features a significant number of key women as well. At the end of his letter to the believers in Colossae, Paul writes, "Please give my greetings to our brothers and sisters at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church that meets in her house." At the end of Romans: "I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deacon in the church in Cenchrea. Welcome her in the Lord as one who is worthy of honor among God’s people. Help her in whatever she needs, for she has been helpful to many, and especially to me. Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in the ministry of Christ Jesus. In fact, they once risked their lives for me. I am thankful to them, and so are all the Gentile churches. Also give my greetings to the church that meets in their home.... Give my greetings to Mary, who has worked so hard for your benefit." Women play significant roles and feature in prominent places right through the New Testament. It seems that the early church had no problems with women in influential roles.

What about your church? Does it show the significance of both genders in its organisation and leadership? Are there any "rules" in place (even unspoken ones) that might need to be reconsidered? Could your church benefit from some more feminine creativity?

Recently I've been hearing a fair bit about how previously male-dominated fields - such as science and technology - are discovering just how much women can add to the conversation. Personally I would like to see the church leading this charge, and benefitting just as much from the new and fresh ways of thinking that women can bring.

Over to you.

Swearing

I had an interesting little conversation the other day with a couple of students in my chaplaincy room.

I overheard one of the students telling his friend, "Ben's not allowed to swear because he's a chaplain. That's like a pastor."

I've heard this kind of thing quite a bit in my life. When I was in high school myself, one of my mates picked up that I was a Christian, and from that point on whenever he swore and I was anywhere nearby he always apologised to me straightaway. "Oh sorry Ben." No matter how many times I told him it didn't bother me.

Thankfully the people at my school now don't feel the need to protect me from nasty words.

So anyway, when the student in my room told his mate that I wasn't allowed to swear, I piped up, "Actually the Bible doesn't say we're not allowed to swear," I said.

"Doesn't it?" He was surprised.

"Nope, there's nothing in there at all about swearing."

I let him think about it for a few seconds, then said "It does say that we should be kind to others though, and a lot of people find swearing offensive. So if you're around people who find it offensive, Jesus would say don't do it."

"Oh yeah." He got it I think. I wanted him to think about the why, not just the what. Following Jesus is not a set of rules - a point that even a lot of Christians don't get.

This is one of the key differences between high school and primary school chaplaincy. Younger kids respond best to rules - bite-sized bits of information: don't swear, clean up your room, be kind to others, look out for the kids who don't have any friends, listen to the teacher, stay in line etc. With teenagers we're helping them to become adults, so they need to start thinking through these things. Eg. "Some people find swearing offensive so make sure you think about the people you're around." Or someone mucking up in class, "Understand that your teachers are trying to help you learn - they're not against you. They're doing all this because they care about you. Do you want to get smarter? Do you want to pass the test? Do you think there might be a way for you to help some of the other kids?"

With teenagers (and young adults), questions are more important than answers, and it's good to throw a spanner in the works if it gets them to think about something they've heard instead of just accepting it. This is even more important when it comes to their own faith.

THINK

I stole this from another chaplain's room and thought it was worth sharing.

Facebook Makes You Sad

According to this Sydney Morning Herald article. It's worth checking out. I posted it on Facebook too, but sadly no one liked it.

How to Evangelise Without Evangelising

One of the electives at conference today was on how to be a spiritual support in your school. There are so many questions around this topic that I get the feeling we could have talked all day. What are we allowed to do? What are we not allowed to do? What's in our job description? What does the government say is in our job description? And it gets even trickier when you start bringing up specific situations.

As far as the government is concerned, chaplains are in schools to be a spiritual support to the students. However we have our hands tied a bit. There's a long list of things we can't do, like evangelising or proselytising (what is that again?). It's a topic that's been drilled in so often that you can start to feel a bit like a chef who's not allowed in the kitchen. Or like a black knight with no arms or legs. It's fair enough too. We want non-Christian people to be comfortable with us in schools. I have an atheist mate who has some very strong reservations about school chaplaincy and I completely understand why.

But there's also a lot we CAN do, and it's brilliant that we have the opportunity. Here's how I look at it, and I hope you find this helpful as well....

A few years ago some friends of mine in a simple home church decided to go through the four gospels and try to find out what Jesus actually wants us to do. If we're meant to be living Jesus' way, they asked - following Jesus, trying to be "little Christs," - well what actually is that way? What did Jesus actually tell people to do?

So this group went through all the things Jesus said (all the red letter passages) and took note every time Jesus told his followers to do something. It was quite a long list when they finished, but as they started to take out the repetitions and collate the similar phrases, in the end it all boiled down to seven ideas. Seven things that Jesus wants us to do. This is the way of Jesus right here. Ready? Here they are.

Love your neighbour.

Love your enemies.

Trust God (eg "don't worry about tomorrow").

Follow the Spirit (or "receive the spirit").

Hold your possessions loosely.

Reform yourself, not others ("take the plank out of your own eye...").

Be humble.

If people are doing those seven things then they are living Jesus' way. This is what it means to be a Christian.

And here's the helpful bit for chaplaincy. As I look at that list there are really only two that I can't push much in schools: trust God and follow the Spirit. The other five I can preach everywhere, to anyone, as much as I like. I can tell students that they should love their neighbour and no one will stop me. I can speak strongly about how important it is to be generous, and everyone will agree. At the moment there is a lot of discussion about refugees in Australia. I can have significant conversations with students about how we should treat all people with dignity and compassion wherever they're from - and what I'm actually doing without anyone knowing is echoing Jesus' words to love your enemies.

Five out of seven's pretty fantastic if you ask me. We can essentially help people to become quite a bit like Jesus without them even knowing it. These five ideas are well-respected in our culture (and most others) even if they're not lived out by many people. We just have to affirm them and demonstrate how to do it. And that's all before saying anything about God.

So don't feel that you can't say anything. You can actually say quite a lot of Jesus' message AND help people to start living it. There's of course a lot more to the good news than that, but I think it's a pretty huge head start.

Hope you find that helpful!

The Four Spaces of Belonging

Here's something I've found helpful for thinking about mission, networks, relationships and community: The Four Spaces of Belonging. The ideas come from Joseph Myers' book "The Search to Belong," about the ways that people connect. And here they are....

First there is the Public Space. This is a large-scale shared experience, where you feel you are part of a great number of people on the same wavelength, but you are still free to remain anonymous if you choose. E.g. A shared worship experience in a big church, a footy game, a movie theatre, a forum for Commodore or Mac owners, St Paddy's Day...

Next is Social Space. This is where we cluster around a common interest or focus (e.g. a BBQ, local pub, workplace, school event, party or function). Here you connect on a superficial level, sharing snapshots of yourself - who I am, what I enjoy, where I live, where I work... This is a natural space to be introduced to new people, ideas, invites - a great springboard to the other spaces.

A little more intimate is our Personal Space. This is a smaller group of our friends and family, close work colleagues, mums group, etc. Here we know each other well and share more privately, reflect together on faith, share our lives, pray for one another, care for one another. Jesus had this connection with his twelve disciples.

And finally there is our Intimate Space. This is only shared with a few people - our spouse and one or two close friends. These people know us as we really are - the good and the ugly. In this space we feel safe and secure to share the naked truth about ourselves, what we think, what we struggle with - the deepest parts of ourselves. Jesus shared some things only with his closest friends - Peter, James and John.

The idea is that healthy community is a combination of all of these spaces, not just the deep, intimate ones. So you're in danger if you're connecting in the public space but not anywhere more personal. And you're also missing out if you connect in deep intimate relationships but avoid larger settings where you might run in to new people.

Churches have tended to view the deep, personal settings (like accountability groups, one-to-one discipleship and mentoring) as the places where spiritual growth happens and so have worked to push people towards the inner spaces. Myers calls us to value each of the four spaces equally and recognise that God is active in shaping us at every level.

What about you? Which spaces do you feel most comfortable? Are there any that you're missing out on? What changes could you make so you can find a sense of belonging at every level?

Our Church: Small and Simple

If we can't fit in a home, we'll start another group.

Small, simple groups have many advantages over big congregations (which is why big congregations work hard to get everyone into a small group!). Here are just a few....

Community. It's easier in a small group to get to know the other people, do life together, and look out for each other. Small is easier for food and conversation. Small groups grow community more naturally – you don't have to work so hard on community; the struggle is trying to avoid it! You can't go unnoticed in a small group - you are involved whether you like it or not. Small church becomes like a family or team more easily than an organisation.

Simplicity. Practically, small, simple churches have many advantages over more complicated ones. They are much easier to start up, sustain and adapt. Many more people could run a home group than could run a big church, which means we could potentially grow many more churches by using simple church thinking. Pastors of big churches have to be extraordinary. The bigger the church, the more exceptional the pastor must be, and if a pastor finishes up, it can take months to find someone else for the role. Simple churches, on the other hand, can be run by more everyday people, because there are no teams, programs, strategies, administration, services, sermons or staff to worry about. Any problems can be worked out by the group together, with extra wisdom from outside experts wherever needed. And small groups are much more flexible if changes are required. These are some of the reasons why simple church expressions might be an effective way forward for the church in Australia.

Mission. This flexibility means that small churches can more easily reflect the surrounding culture, work their way into existing communities and influence them from the inside out. Smaller groups can connect more individually with people outside the church, although this generally happens more slowly. Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed, which slowly grows into a not-particularly-large weed-like bush that is very difficult to get rid of and tends to pop up all over the place.

Large churches with many ministries require many people to keep them running, and the best church members gradually spend more and more of their time on the church community (services, home groups, playgroups, music teams, camps, leadership, youth/men's/women's/children's ministry and so on) - which can sometimes lead to spending less time with the non-church people in their life. Simple church recognizes that everyone is already a part of various communities (work, school, uni, mums groups, sports teams) and we try to encourage members to connect with the people in these communities better, to be Jesus where they already are.

Our church has only one official get-together a week, so as to make room for real life: dinners, coffees, BBQs, sports, picnics, family days, school prayer groups, fishing, community festivals, watching the footy, and so on....

Discipleship. Churches have for many years recognised that discipleship happens best in small group settings where there is space for conversation. People grow at different rates and God is doing something different in everybody's life, and the best discipleship adapts to these changes as they come. A small group conversation allows for personal questions (try sticking your hand up during a sermon to clarify something or offer a different perspective!) and provides the space to relate Jesus' message and way of life to people's individual lives - to their particular work setting, family environment, personality, skill set and to their own dreams for the world.

There are just a few to whet your appetite.

Technology makes us lazy

A mate of mine recently pointed out that iPads are being used more and more in school classrooms these days. He didn't like the idea at all and said that he reckons technology makes us lazy. He also reckoned that kids will miss a lot because the iPad does so much for them, like spelling, writing and maths. I've got a few thoughts on the topic that I'll post in the next week or so, but what do you think?

Does technology make us lazy? Should it be used less in the education of our kids?

Rain, gluey kids and simple church

I don't know if you've ever tried to have a conversation with someone in the middle of a kids festival before. Strangely enough I've found myself in this situation quite a few times - twice even in the last week. The first time wasn't planned though. It was meant to be a relaxing conversation with a friend at the peaceful Powerhouse cafe overlooking the Brisbane River. Turned out the Powerhouse was in the middle of their big school holiday festival. Look out for it next time if you've got primary-aged kids. Give it a miss if you want a quiet conversation. And maybe check the weather too, like we didn't.

Still, in between dodging little kids with gluey hands and trying to stop the rain from diluting our cappuccinos, we managed to have a conversation worthy of the cheerleader tag. The gentleman I met with has been involved in starting a simple church group over the last year or so. When I say "simple church" I mean it doesn't have organised services or paid staff. It's a small group of people who are keen to follow Jesus and are flexible in how that might look for them. Actually, sometimes I wonder if "simple" might be a bit misleading. My church lately has been having quite a few of our Jesus conversations in amongst rain and gluey kids.

The group that my Powerhouse friend belongs to call themselves "The Assembly of Grapes," which in itself is telling.

There are a few of these around and they all look different depending on the people in the group. One of the key aims of Postcard Radio (the people I work with) is to find these simple church groups and support them however we can. It can feel lonely in these small groups sometimes, especially for leaders. It's a different way of operating than the normal church way and sometimes you can feel like a bit of a lone ranger. There are a lot of people on this journey though, and some really good ideas are being tried and experimented with. We'd like to help pass around some of these ideas and stories if we can.

If you are in a simple church group in QLD, please let us know! We'd love to know what groups are around - so we can support and encourage the groups and facilitators, and also to help individuals connect in with some of these like-minded people.

On a different note to finish, here's something that stuck in my head from my rain-soaked friend last week: "I think that much of the time the church is answering questions that the community isn't asking. We need to spend more time listening to people. Like the catholic priest who started out his ministry by setting up a couple of chairs at the local shopping centre, and just sat there. Most of the time he sat by himself, but when some crisis events happened people were lining up to talk."

Listen to your neighbourhood, like Michael Frost talked about in the last video I posted. Sit there. Have the coffees. Get amongst the families and kids. Find out the questions people are really asking.