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Church Schools

29 November 2001

Church Schools and the Church - a discussion paper

From Matthew Jack
Resourcing for Mission Policy Group

The situation

Each one of the thirteen schools listed in the Presbyterian Church's Year Book has its own constitution, history, and experience of relationship with the Church. Generally though, it is fair to say that Church schools were founded by professing Presbyterians who felt a Christian responsibility to educate the young. A typical early history of a Church school features strong involvement in school matters by Church people, and strong involvement in Church matters by school people. The Church and School populations regularly intersected and intermingled. Schools were kept in direct touch with the structures of the Church through the Church's appointments of chaplains and principals. Before the days of school chapels, students worshipped at local Presbyterian churches, where incumbent ministers saw their ministry to the whole people of God as including chaplaincy to schools. The community of Church and School was actually and observably one.

In more recent times, responsibility for the appointment of principals and chaplains has passed from the Church to School Boards. The increasingly technical and specialised knowledge required on school boards now tends to preclude Presbyterian people of general good will (but with no specific skill) from finding places on School boards. Whereas once before, common membership of Church and school community was enough to maintain Church and school contact, now special efforts are required.

Within this new requirement of special effort, some schools and presbyteries1 have become more intentional in their relationship, and have managed to maintain a productive and positive interaction. This is, however, by no means the general rule. It is not at all uncommon to hear of presbyteries and schools that never speak. Moreover, it is not unheard of that some schools and presbyteries relate to each other in a positively antagonistic way. These presbyteries dismiss schools as label-stealing elitist organisations with only perfunctory interest in faith. These schools dismiss presbyteries as stuffy institutions with no interest in young people.

Just as each school and each presbytery has its own history, so each Church / School relationship has its characteristic quality in the present. It is the belief of the "Resourcing for Mission" policy group (P.C.A.N.Z.) and also of the Presbyterian Church Schools Conference 2001, that any Church / School relationship can benefit from respectful, hopeful discussions about shared interests, responsibilities and hopes. Shared history is not enough.

What Next?

It is suggested that Presbyteries / UDCs which have Presbyterian Church Schools within their bounds, approach each school individually, to talk about the future. Because each relationship is so particular, it is hard to suggest a precise agenda for such meetings. In some instances the agenda may be "meeting again, for the first time." In other instances, if the parties to the discussion are already engaged, the agenda could be more precise. Agendas that are appropriate for happy relationships are not often appropriate where parties are hurt, suspicious, or angry. Each Presbytery / School combination will have to work out its agenda sensibly.

Reality Checks and De-demonising the Other

For Presbyteries:

Church school people are worried that fees are high, and beyond the means of many who could benefit from private education. They do their best to provide subsidised places, but the real costs of education are such that subsidies are really risky. Integration has made things rather more complicated for some schools, in terms of roll numbers and the filling of places. Church schools do make provisions for chaplaincy. Chaplains are not strange people who are more interested in cake and cricket than Christian faith. Just like parish ministers, they try their best to communicate the Faith in a genuine, creditable way. Just like parish ministers, their Christian resources gets drawn into all manner of pastorally complex matters. "And where human hearts are breaking . . ."

For Schools:

A lot of Presbyteries strain under the weight of lifeless regular business that they have to process. Presbyteries will never be free to spend all their time talking about Church Schools. Nevertheless, most presbyters, when asked where the Church's energy and resources should go, will mention the "young people." Many of them, whether they admit it or not, will feel that they are failing the young people. They know it's not easy to be young. The trouble is that they also know it's not easy to be old, or sick, or failing the mortgage. They have responsibility for many different sorts of people. Most Presbyterian communities are stretched. There will, however, be within your presbytery someone who has time, skills and love to enhance the relationship between the presbytery and the school. This person may even be disguised in a brown suit.

Brief Comments on the Implications of Partnership

In serious partnership you can expect to have to make sacrifices. In serious partnership, where there is respect and generosity, you can expect to receive benefits that autonomy cannot provide. However, if you enter into Christian relationship evaluating how the sacrifices and benefits will balance out, then you're probably not entering at all. Christian relationship tends to be based on a sense of calling and "rightness" that transcends such equations. Calling and rightness, in this instance might be tested by our answer to questions like: Is the drift from our common roots right? Is God calling us to do something together? When these people talk about their hopes, do I understand what they're going on about?
Relationships need to be mutual.
Once relationships begin, they tend to grow by small degrees; but sometimes they die.

Conclusion

The "Resourcing for Mission" policy group, and the Presbyterian Church Schools' Conference 2001 suggest that this discussion paper be forwarded, in a spirit of Christian hope, to the Presbyteries / UDCs within whose bounds there are Presbyterian Church Schools. To assist Presbyteries / UDCs, the following set of recommendations might be adopted.

Possible Recommendations for Presbyteries:

(1) That the report be received.
(2) That Presbytery appoint N, N, and N to initiate a conversation with schools X, Y and Z.
(3) That the outcomes of the resultant conversation be communicated to Presbytery, and also to the "Resourcing for Mission" policy group.