What are the principal qualities that distinguish a school as Episcopal?

What are the principal qualities that distinguish a school as Episcopal? as outlined by NAES

This question, more than any other, is asked of NAES by Episcopal school and Church leaders, parents, and the general public. The answer is that they are Christian communities whose missions integrate spiritual formation into all aspects of the educational experience. Episcopal schools are most distinctive when they are true to this mission and when they do so in the graceful and inclusive manner which is the hallmark of the Anglican approach to education over the centuries.

All Christian communities, even the most ecumenical and diverse of Episcopal schools, are upheld by the basic principles of the Baptismal Covenant. As expressed in the Book of Common Prayer, this Covenant maintains that individuals and institutions are called by God to adopt certain fundamental disciplines and dispositions in order to embrace fully their basic identities. As embodiments of the Christian faith, Episcopal schools are created to be communities that honor, celebrate and worship God as the center of life. They are created to be models of God’s love and grace. They are created to serve God in Christ in all persons, regardless of origin, background, ability, or religion. They are created to “strive for justice and peace among all people and [to] respect the dignity of every human being.” These principles are the basis on which identity and vocation are to be defined in Episcopal schools.

Episcopal schools have been established, however, not solely as communities for Christians, like a parish church, but as ecumenical and diverse ministries of educational and human formation for people of all faiths and backgrounds. Episcopal schools are populated by a rich variety of human beings, from increasingly diverse religious, cultural, and economic backgrounds. In fact, the intentional pluralism of most Episcopal schools is a hallmark of their missions. It is also a distinguishing characteristic of these schools that they seek to integrate religious and spiritual formation into the overall curriculum and life of each school community. Episcopal schools are clear, yet graceful, about how they articulate and express their basic identities, especially in their religious curricula and traditions. They invite all who attend and work in them—Episcopalians and non-Episcopalians, Christians and non-Christians, people of no faith tradition—both to seek clarity about their own beliefs and religions and to honor those traditions more fully and faithfully in their own lives. Above all, Episcopal schools exist not merely to educate, but to demonstrate and proclaim the unique worth and beauty of all human beings as creations of a loving, empowering God.

In practice, these principles and ideals are expressed through

• School Worship that is creative, inclusive, draws fully upon the liturgical resources of The Episcopal Church, and is a regular part of school life for all faculty and students.
• Community Life, in which reflection, prayer, and matters of the spirit are honored and cultivated and the physical, mental, and emotional health of all are supported and nurtured.
• Religious Formation and Study that is meaningful, academically substantive, and age-appropriate; and in teaching the Christian tradition, fosters dialogue with other faith traditions.
• Social Justice, which is the integration of the ideals and concepts of equity, justice, and a just society throughout the life of the school; the embracing and honoring of diversity; and the inclusion of community service and service-learning as an integral part of the life of the school.

By weaving these principles into the very fabric of the school’s overall life, Episcopal schools ensure that their missions are built on the sure foundation of a Christian love that guides and challenges all who attend our schools to build lives of genuine meaning, purpose and service in the world they will inherit.

- See more at: http://www.episcopalschools.org/episcopal-schools/episcopal-identity#sthash.3JXJu73H.dpuf

Unite us

For the Human Family

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Why is online learning important? From Dr. T.J. Locke from Episcopal Academy (PA)

Why is online learning important?

Read this excellent post by Dr. T.J. Locke of The Episcopal Academy (where I taught from 2000-2004) about the importance of online learning!

Check out his whole blog entry HERE

I do not feel the need to pit online learning against “bricks and mortar” learning. And for us at EA, it does need to be an either/or situation. It is my hope that all of our courses are academically rigorous, interesting, and inspiring-no matter the format. It does seem to me the field of online learning is becoming increasingly relevant and that we have a responsibility to gain some experience.Consider these three statistics from the Sloan Consortium study.

• Over 7.1 million students were taking at least one online course during the fall 2012 term, an increase of 411,000 students over the previous year.

• Thirty-three percent of higher education students now take at least one course online.

• Ninety percent of academic leaders believe that it is likely or very likely that a majority of all higher education students will be taking at least one online course in five year’s time.

If our students have not already experienced online learning, it seems obvious they will soon. As a part of our college preparatory mentality, we need to be helping students develop the skills needed to succeed and thrive in this learning environment. Taking an online course is not easy. It takes persistence and diligence. I like the idea that EA will be there to help challenge and nurture our students side by side, as they enter this new world.

Check out his whole blog entry HERE

10 Things Every College Student Needs to Know About Religion, by Martyn Oliver

I found this article compelling and quite spot-on.  A pretty good justification for religious studies.  I would, probably, go further and say that we also need to teach theology (especially in Independent Schools, and certainly in Episcopal Schools).

A thoughtful piece.

Chaplain Carey

10 Things Every College Student Needs to Know About Religion 

I love teaching students about religion. But we’d go deeper and further every semester if everyone understood these 10 basic ideas.

By Martyn Oliver
At FaithStreet

I'm about to take 100+ college students through their first course on religion, as I do every semester. Here’s what I wish they knew coming in (and, what I wish I’d known myself as an undergrad):

1. You don’t know what a “religion” is.

We tend to think of religion in terms of our own experiences with our own traditions. But religion is a slippery word. Did you know, for example, that the United States Armed Forces counts both Buddhism and Atheism as “religions”? Would your definition be wide enough to include them? Probably, because most of us agree that religions are sets of beliefs and practices shared by a community (and note: we can leave belief in a god out of the equation). But then, if you expand your definition just a little bit, Red Sox Nation or ComicCon cosplay start to look awfully “religious.” Are we cool with that?

As you study religion, your definition of it may get bigger, weirder, more slippery. I argue that the category of “religion” ought to remain a contested space, and what we hold to be elemental about our own tradition is not necessarily so for others.

2. History will screw with your beliefs.

Caesar did not call for a census that drove Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem — it just didn’t happen, despite what the Gospel of Luke says. Also, Buddhists have often been perpetrators of astounding violence, not only in contemporary Myanmar, but also in Japan, Tibet, and Thailand — peace, compassion, and mindfulness be damned. Religions tend to rewrite history, and the sooner we can come to terms with the discrepancies, fabrications, or willful ignorance of religious traditions, the better.

Just like it’s uncomfortable to confront the fact that slaves built the U.S. Capitol Building or that American settlers committed genocide against the Native People, the history of any religion forces us to grapple with the ugly realities of ourselves. This isn’t your professor being anti-Christian or anti-Buddhist — it’s just historical information. What you do with that information, however, matters. History doesn’t ask you to throw away a faith or dismiss religion altogether. Nor should it make you distrust academia for disseminating some nefarious agenda. Instead, at its best, history can help us ask how we make the future better.

3. If you call yourself religious, you might want to know something about your own tradition.

Some passing familiarity with the texts and traditions you hold sacred would be great. Some understanding of what makes your religion or sect different from religions a lot like yours would be wonderful. I’m not asking for the ability to cite scriptures chapter and verse, nor to explain John Wesley’s break from the Anglicans and the Moravians. But a general awareness about what one believes — and why, and why not — would be super helpful.

Too often, in intro courses, adherents of, say, Lutheranism, think they can skate through the Christianity unit, failing to recognize that Lutheranism and Christianity are not the same thing. Unfortunately, students usually have institutions and parents who do not foster a sense of consciousness about the peculiarities of their position. Once students recognize this, disenchantment often begins. That is never a professor’s intent, but students would be bettered fortified if they understood their tradition as having developed in particular ways and for particular reasons.

And if you can differentiate the Sermon on the Mount from the Ten Commandments, all the better.

4. All religions are not the same.

This issue is so critical that one of my mentors wrote a book about it. Different religions make different claims to truth, and the exclusivity of those claims matters. Students tend to accept and defer to pluralism without considering how they might be running roughshod over the claims of their own traditions. This is a good thing for civil society, but a problematic thing when it comes to explaining tensions between religions.

I spend weeks working to help people realize that while their neighbors’ faith may not (to paraphrase Thomas Jefferson) pick their pocket nor break their leg, it does seriously impinge upon assertions that one group of people is chosen and another is not. This matters. If it doesn’t, then you’ve sacrificed a part of your beliefs upon the altar of good manners. Not that I’m against manners, but we should know the consequences of our bargains.

5. Religions have good reasons for what they teach, do, and believe.

It might seem crazy to make offerings to a god with an elephant’s head, but only if you’re not familiar with Ganesha’s story and the obstacles he overcame to become who he is. From someone else’s perspective, it can appear equally nuts to worship a guy who managed to get himself arrested, beaten, and executed: what’s so great about martyrdom? Isn’t that rationalizing failure?

Read the rest HERE

Prayer to begin the year at Berkeley Preparatory School

Prayer to begin the year at Berkeley Preparatory School

Loving God, you see your children growing up in an unsteady and confusing world.  Bless them with the knowledge that your ways give more life than the ways of the world, and that following you is better than chasing after selfish goals.

Bless every member of the Berkeley Preparatory School community, our students, our staff, our teachers, our administration, our Board, our parents, our alumni, and all those who care deeply about this place.  We pray especially for those who are suffering in mind, body or spirit, and for all those in need.

Bless our students with a passion for learning, with an enthusiasm for life, and with the ability to set high goals and reach them.  Help them to take failure, not as a measure of their worth, but as a chance for a new start.

Bless each one of us here us with passion for our work, for healthy nervous energy and butterflies whether we are entering our first year, our 5^thyear, or our 45^th year at Berkeley. 

Bless us with the deep understanding that we are loved unconditionally by our Creator; that we are here to share our love, compassion, and wisdom with our students, so that they may, in turn, truly make a difference in the world.

In the name of One God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Chaplain Peter Carey

As Chaplain, I serve as a pastor, a priest and a teacher for our school community. I serve as a chaplain to every member of our community, regardless of background, faith tradition or perspective. Founded as an Episcopal School, Berkeley Preparatory School has welcomed students from all faith traditions and perspectives from the beginning. At Berkeley, we are blessed with a rich religious diversity and we believe that every member of our community brings important gifts to our community. Serving as chaplain in this community offers me a wonderful opportunity to minister to a wonderful diversity of people and I am blessed to serve in this way in this place.

As a Pastor, I offer pastoral care to our students, faculty, staff and families. I serve as a member of the Student Support Team, made up of counselors and student support staff. In addition, I serve as the Chaplain to the Administration Team and the Board of Trustees.

As a Priest, prayer is at the root of my work to care for students and other members of our community. Many of our meetings and gatherings begin with prayer or blessings, which offer a reminder about our gratitude for all that we are, and all that we have. In addition, I offer private prayers for our community members in need on a daily basis. Please be in touch with me if you have particular prayer requests. In addition, I design worship experiences in which our community celebrates, remembers and strives to live lives of hope and purpose. I lead the Chaplain’s Councils in each of our three divisions, whose purpose is to help lead and guide our interfaith convocations.

As a Teacher, I teach in the History and Religious Studies department and I currently coach boys’ lacrosse. Within the community, I also teach students, faculty and parents about the Episcopal tradition, and often give homilies in all three divisional convocations.

Berkeley is a tremendous place to be, and I am blessed to work with so many dedicated colleagues and such vibrant children and young adults. Welcome and Blessings!

Chaplain Peter Carey

Episcopal Prayers offered at the All-Employee Opening Meetings at Berkeley Preparatory School

The school year is opened with prayer at the opening All-Employee meeting held in the Lykes Center.  This prayer is taken from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer or, in some years, composed by the chaplain but still rooted in prayers from the Book of Common Prayer.  The prayer is offered on behalf of the entire school community, and is grounded in our Episcopal Heritage. 

For Schools and Colleges (BCP, page 824)

O Eternal God, bless all schools, colleges, and universities
[and especially ___________], that they may be lively centers for
sound learning, new discovery, and the pursuit of wisdom;
and grant that those who teach and those who learn may find
you to be the source of all truth; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.

For the Care of Children (BCP, page 829)

Almighty God, heavenly Father, you have blessed us with the
joy and care of children: Give us calm strength and patient
wisdom as we bring them up, that we may teach them to love
whatever is just and true and good, following the example of
our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

For Young Persons (BCP, page 829)

God our Father, you see your children growing up in an
unsteady and confusing world: Show them that your ways
give more life than the ways of the world, and that following
you is better than chasing after selfish goals. Help them to
take failure, not as a measure of their worth, but as a chance
for a new start. Give them strength to hold their faith in you,
and to keep alive their joy in your creation; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.