Focus on a Subject: Biblical Studies through the lens of Spiritual Formation

At the beginning of Term 2 this year, I was privileged to be appointed Head of Faculty for Biblical Studies. This included a return to Senior School, where I began my KingsWay journey in January 2020. Among the fruits of this change has been the creation of some new units, which Mr Grant & I felt would be helpful responses to student needs while addressing potential gaps in the existing curriculum. One such unit was Does God Still Speak, developed by Mr Jared Grant for Year 12 and 13 classes.

In my classroom, Does God Still Speak came on the back of another new unit on Spiritual Beings, so we were fresh from discussing the complexities of Yahweh, Satan, angels and demons through the lens of ancient Biblical cosmology. Exciting stuff! Does God Still Speak was essentially HOW does God speak, looking at the overlap of heaven and earth and the moments of connection between the temporal and spiritual. To boil it right down, in many ways, it was a ‘how-to’ series on operating in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. While this new unit pairing was not intentionally complimentary, I found that students had a firm concept of the spiritual at work around and throughout the world and were eager to learn more about and even engage in the Spirit’s work of redemption for themselves.

A highlight for me was creating space for the Holy Spirit to move and inviting the students to participate. Most did. Sometimes, students came forward for one-on-one prayer; sometimes, they prayed for each other; sometimes, one sat in a circle while multiple people waited on God. Some experienced words of wisdom or knowledge, others saw visions. There were hugs and tears (even from me), and a number remarked on how accurate certain prayers and encouragements had been. The Spirit at work was palpable. One somewhat sceptical student I prayed for said immediately afterwards, “How did you know all that stuff about me? That’s freaky.” I believe moments like this are the most spiritually formative in young people’s lives. 

We can spend a lot of energy and time discussing, preaching, and debating – all of which is good – but the danger can be a Christianity of stalwart doctrine, fine-tuned theology and biblical ethics but little transformative life and supported by scant experience. That is not the Gospel. Pursuing Jesus is a relationship and looks like a new creation life. Spiritual formation is at the heart of our Christian faith, and it has been so encouraging to see our Year 12 and 13 students take a risk, step into praxis, and see the Holy Spirit faithfully work in and through them.

We have an incredible opportunity to provide such spaces and experiences for our young people in school- linking Biblical learning and living in tandem as we all strive to be faithful disciples of Christ, growing in spiritual formation.

Simeon Hawkins
Biblical Studies Teacher