In school education, ‘resilience’ is the latest buzz-word.
One of the interesting findings of recent research is that spirituality has been shown to be a key factor in helping people build this resilience.
The only way a state school could teach spirituality would be for them to ask the local religious communities to send representatives to teach the children of their respective faiths.
Yet, what I have just described is exactly what our NSW state school system currently enjoys with Special Religious Education (SRE).
SRE brings a smorgasbord of spirituality into our state schools. It is taught for free by skilled and passionate volunteers from the community. It offers the tools needed to help students form resilience in this pressured and chaotic world.
If SRE didn’t exist, we’d invent it. So why would we ever want to lose it?
Read my full article at www.sydneyanglicans.net
One of the greatest challenges in youth ministry is making connections – between younger people and older leaders, school students and local churches, and most of all, between believers and unbelievers. Camps are a venue that can achieve all three.
Read more in my monthly article at your.sydneyanglicans.net.
It is difficult to argue with C. S. Lewis’ famous sentiment that “pain is God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world”. But what do you do when your nation is characterized by health and prosperity? How can God’s message be heard above the deafening sound of materialism?
Read the answer in the full article at your.sydneyanglicans.net.
Immunisation is great when the disease is life-threatening. But immunisation can be an issue when the foreign object is life-saving. This kind of problem can occur when we give people a tiny taste of the gospel without a full exposure to the implications or fruit of the message. If we are not careful, we can lead people to end up hardened against Jesus, not softened to his promises.
Read the full article at your.sydneyanglicans.net.
Here’s an excerpt from today’s sydneyanglicans.net article on Schools Ministry entitled ‘Schools in for outreach’ in which I am quoted:
Involving youth ministers in school ministry is one of the main strategies for reaching school students, says Year 13 Director and Youth Ministry Lecturer at Youthworks College, Jodie McNeill.
“One of the best connections a youth minister can have with unchurched teenagers is to teach high school scripture.
“Not only do you potentially get an extra hour a week to disciple your church kids, you also get to meet their friends and tell them the gospel.”
Jodie adds that getting students on board to reach their friends is an important factor.
“Youth ministers must not only work hard at making time to teach lessons, they should also be active in recruiting volunteers to join them in this remarkable mission field.
“There is probably no better way to link with high school kids than to teach SRE (Special Religious Education) in their schools.”
Any comments or thoughts? Participate in the special forum for this topic which I am moderating at www.sydneyanglicans.net.
Jodie McNeill lives in Sydney, Australia, and is the Executive Director of 
