Religion in Schools

From a recent trip to Portchester Castle (near Portsmouth)

I was blessed to stay with Katie and Victor (fellow ex-pats).

They welcomed me into their home and I got a chance to explore their amazing town!

Daffodils are like wildflowers here... everywhere!

When I began volunteering in this Catholic retreat centre, it was no surprise that the groups that came here were either from Catholic parishes or Catholic schools. What was surprising was how many there have been. Hertfordshire (our county) just seems to keep pumping out groups of Catholic students. I have grown up in the US where there are a smattering of Christian schools, but they are all private, and definitely not the norm. Our country has chosen to keep the two separate generally. So one of my standard questions to young people is "So, what do you think of having religion in your school?" because it is so foreign to me. Their responses always include a kind of blank look and something to the effect of "it's alright...".

Well, as I have discovered (I mean, I knew this, but I didn't quite realize this) is that the majority of schools in England are Catholic schools. To these young people, having religious education as a part of their studies is completely standard - they know nothing different, and are surprised when I tell them how separated the two are where I come from.

To me, having a class where we pray, and going to a school that builds in time for worship is bizarre. But these schools, like US schools are graded on performance in math in science, are also evaluated on their religious life.

My automatic assumption is that English students have greater opportunity to explore their faith, learn about their religion, and strengthen their community in a religious way. But I am discovering that it may do the opposite. By having religion as a standard subject, it makes it quantifiable, and takes away those more 'spiritual' experiences that one might experience in a parish that focuses more on the worship, fellowship, and prayer life. When these young people come to SPEC, a place that does focus on the latter mentioned areas in a way relateable to their generation, they are pretty surprised. Many comments in their evaluations say "I learned that being Christian can be cool", "I actually prayed during prayer" and things like that.

I look back on my own experience, and I really had to choose Christianity. I mean, my parents certainly had a say in my location on Sunday mornings and Thursday nights (choir :) ), but as I grew, it became something I owned for myself. Had it been a school subject, I could have just sailed through, experiencing it every day with all my friends, but because it was somewhat counter-cultural, it gave me the opportunity to embrace and value my beliefs as my own.

For more pictures of Portchester, click here.

For pictures of a recent trip to Oxford, click here.

For some SPEC social events, click here.