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Tag Archives: school chaplaincy

Clarifying the School Chaplaincy case before the High Court

02 Tuesday Aug 2011

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in local politics

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

postaday2011, school chaplaincy

The important debate re school chaplaincy (and Special Religious Education) in Australian schools is being waged on many fronts. Confusing the issues are political expediency and opportunism, unclear definitions, and a range of alleged apparent motivations across the religious sector. State specific situations, such as the “Ethics alternative” showdown in NSW and the administrative issues that pertain to Victoria’s arrangements add further confusion. An updated perspective on all this can be seen here.

However, it is important to know what can and cannot be achieved by the current High Court challenge relating to the National School Chaplaincy Program, a bilaterally supported Government funding initiative. And it is in one of the comments on the article by one Chrys Stevenson that clarification is to be found:

It is important that the public knows what will, and will not, be canvassed in Williams’ High Court Challenge. It is not about separation of church and state, it is not about funding for church schools, and it is not about the merits (or otherwise) of placing religious chaplains in secular state schools.

At issue is:

a) Whether expenditure on the National School Chaplaincy Program was ever properly approved by parliament.
b) Whether the contract between Scripture Union Queensland and the Commonwealth is valid.
c) Whether chaplaincy can be defined as a ‘benefit to students’ in the context of S.51 of the constitution.
d) Whether the NSCP guidelines impose a religious test for the employment of chaplains.
e) Whether chaplains can be defined as ‘officers under the Commonwealth’ in the context of S.116.

Which ever way this case is resolved, the community is going to have to come to terms somehow with a continuing interface between school and faith communities – government funded or otherwise. Is there enough maturity on either side to resolve the challenges that the debate has raised?

-31.911079 115.772731

Church State solution still simmers on the side-lines

11 Monday Jul 2011

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in local politics, Personal

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Church-State Relations, postaday2011, school chaplaincy

This came across my screen a few days ago and I think it’s one of the more cogent opinion pieces I’ve seen in the media as the High Court hearing on government funding for National School Chaplaincy Program approaches.
Hurdle in church-state juggle – Opinion – Editorial – General – The Canberra Times.
Next month, of course, a decision will be made and there will be winners and losers.
This will be the real test of maturity for either side of the debate.
How well will either side handle a loss/win?

-31.911079 115.772731

Teach, don’t preach: how to do religion in schools – ABC Religion & Ethics – Opinion

25 Wednesday May 2011

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in local politics, Personal

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Christian Religious Education, postaday2011, Religion & Spirituality, school chaplaincy

I’ve made my own arguments along similar lines. Ronald Noone, chaplain at Melbourne Grammar, adds some interesting points that, in my view, have potential to de-polarise the debate and de-wedge the issue.

Teach, don’t preach: how to do religion in schools – ABC Religion & Ethics – Opinion.

-31.911079 115.772731

School chaplaincy – sacred or secular?

23 Monday May 2011

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in local politics, Ministry

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

postaday2011, school chaplaincy

The wedge drives even deeper as the school chaplaincy debate continues.
This morning’s Eureka Street article and the array of comments is illustrative.

There was a time when “religious” and “secular” were complimentary terms, rather than opposed. Some of the rub off of this was seen in a letter in this morning’s West where an opponent to the National School Chaplaincy program opined that even if chaplains did not overtly express their faith their nice and kind character would, nonetheless, unduly influence vulnerable children! Heaven forbid! Perhaps we better screen teachers in state schools whose Christian faith expressed through a “nice and kind” character have the same unfortunate effect.

“Secular” never meant opposed to “religion”. The most succinct distinction I can grab at the moment is from Wikipedia:

Secular and secularity derive from the Latin word saecularis meaning of a generation, belonging to an age. The Christian doctrine that God exists outside time led medieval Western culture to use secular to indicate separation from specifically religious affairs and involvement in temporal ones. This meaning has been extended to mean separation from any religion, regardless of whether it has a similar doctrine.

This does not necessarily imply hostility to God or religion, though some use the term this way (see “secularism”, below); Martin Luther used to speak of “secular work” as a vocation from God for most Christians.

Using this distinction and given that a lot of the work of chaplaincy has to do with negotiating temporal affairs and the day-to-day challenges of their charges, their work can be described in a historical context as “secular” (confined to this era). Of course, because Christians cherish a perspective that transcends the temporal, this work is also “sacred” and therefore approached with the appropriate degree of reflection.

All this shifts the goalposts for the debate and the High Court challenge, however, so I don’t expect to see much public discussion on these finer points.

-31.911079 115.772731

No government funds, please: we’re Christians! – ABC Religion & Ethics – Blog

15 Sunday May 2011

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in local politics, Personal

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Education, postaday2011, school chaplaincy

Storm in a teacup or point of no return?

As an advocate for chaplaincy and stakeholder with my state provider (which, by the way, was formative in crafting the guidelines that made the whole thing workable before and after the complication of government funding), I find sense in the view expressed here: No government funds, please: we’re Christians! – ABC Religion & Ethics – Blog.

I expressed similar views at the time. I work with what we have now. Hang on to your hats, we’re in for an interesting ride!

-31.911079 115.772731

Funding school chaplaincy

28 Monday Feb 2011

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in local politics, Ministry

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Church-State Relations, postaday2011, school chaplaincy

Australia’s National School Chaplaincy Program is under review and the public is invited to respond to a discussion paper through submissions that are due no later than March 18th.

As I predicted when government subsidies for chaplains in schools was announced by the Howard government in 2006, religious organisations would need to prepare for a rough ride. As has been experienced in public subsidies for aged and health care, welfare and other community work, faith based communities not only have to negotiate competing philosophies and mountains of paperwork, but put a lot more effort into transparency and accountability to a wider range of stakeholders. This is not necessarily a bad thing – we can’t rest on our laurels and the drive to improvement of services is constantly on the radar, as it should always be.

There will be opposition, much based on misconception. Google “school chaplaincy funding” and the second highest link is to a campaign against the program on the basis of “separation of church and state.” In my view, this argument relies on a misunderstanding of the Australian Constitution which sanctions against the State establishing any religion. This has never been interpreted as non-cooperation. Historically, right from the time of the First Fleet, public policy has entertained “collaboration between Church and State.”

If the law decreed that chaplaincy funding cease based on a reinterpretation of the Australian Constitution, the government, to be consistent, would need to withdraw funding from a wide range of aged care facilities, hospitals, and welfare programs as well as withdraw chaplains from military  and other services.

The best outcome, in my view, is to continue collaborative engagement with all parties bringing goodwill to the table and agreeing on the most serviceable results for the Australian community.

-31.911079 115.772731

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