Our School
Kai ora koutou, a warm greeting to everyone in our KingsWay Community. This has been a month filled with questions. Let me share a few. We recently saw extensive media coverage focused on another Christian school, with some people questioning the school’s right to hold to aspects of their Christian faith. We are grateful that the Education and Training Act requires proprietors of integrated Christian schools like KingsWay to supervise and maintain their special character. We have a formal integration agreement with the Crown that allows our Proprietor to provide ongoing guidance about our special character, and our Board will continue to work closely with them as aspects of our special character need further clarification.
But there’s another question that needs to be asked: How do we know that all the time, effort and financial resources spent on our special character is making a difference in the lives of those who come through our schools? Certainly I can point to many alumni that have graduated from Kingsway who are shining brightly in the world they now move in. But I’m aware of others who within a few short years of leaving school are not living lives that are reflective of our values and faith. Acknowledging that there’s always a personal choice involved, I still think about those who have walked away from what we value. Could we have done anything as a school and community that might have changed their choices?
This month I had the privilege of meeting Dr Steve Fyson from New South Wales. When Steve meets graduates of Christian schools, he often asks them a telling question. He first finds out where they are now working or what their primary area of focus is, then asks them, ‘tell me one Christian principle that impacts on this area of your work or interest?’ This question challenges the notion that there is a divide between secular and spiritual. It also probes whether they own their faith or had they simply been reflecting the faith of their teachers and parents while students at school.
Jesus called Christians to be salt in this world. For sure, salt that loses its flavour is worthless as salt, but neither is salt ever meant to be the whole meal. Salt enhances and influences the meal it’s added to.
Through the life of Jesus, we see a transition from the Old Testament practice to stay away from a leper in case contact made you unclean, to Jesus touching the leper and it was the leper who was made clean. Rather than fearing the unholy, the holy should influence the unclean. This doesn’t mean we must compromise our values. We simply need to respect the power of Christ in us to have an influence in any situation we walk into. This is not to say we deliberately go looking for ‘dens of iniquity’, but neither should we fear or avoid workplaces, universities, sports groups or people who have yet to place their faith in Christ. Those who hold different views to our own are not our enemies. They too were created in the image of God and are significant. They too need to encounter the love and goodness of God. A question we could ask is how their interaction with our lives will do this?
The question is not about which environment our students find themselves in. It’s whether the power of Christ is resident in their lives. It cannot be an inherited belief or a reflection of their parents’ or teachers’ faith. Our children and young adults must personally encounter God for themselves so they will be effective in releasing the flavour of the Kingdom of God wherever they walk and stay true to that call.
So what can we do as parents? Good question! Enrolling your child at KingsWay and supporting the school is a great choice, but statistically not great odds for a successful outcome if your effort ends there. Your child needs to be regularly engaged in a healthy Christian community (including a church and youth group). Enrolment in a Christian school helps but doesn’t replace these crucial interactions. Set a positive Christlike example in your home. Encourage honest conversations with your child, being deliberate in wrestling with those tricky questions (age-appropriate) your child might have personally or about social issues or news events. And crucially, encourage regular (daily) Bible reading, either as a family or individually, as appropriate for their age. https://throughtheword.org/ is one of the many free resources that can be helpful.
Lastly, we have school board elections coming up in September. This is a great way to contribute to the life of our school. My final question is, would you pause and consider whether this is an area you could contribute to the life of KingsWay school, especially if you have business or governance skills? Please CLICK HERE for more details.
May God’s grace and peace flourish in your home.
Peter Wilding
KingsWay School Board Chair
