Life beyond school
Big changes bring both opportunities and difficulties, as Eleanor O'Donnell explains.
Whether we are old or young, big changes in life's immediate circumstances bring both new opportunities and potential difficulties. The transition from school to the outside world of work or study is one such time.
For students in our Anglican schools, and also in other Christian schools, a notable change from the life of school to life beyond school is the end of the pattern of worship that the schools support. Students intentionally work towards the finish of lessons and sporting groups and other school activities, but often the end of the ubiquitous framework of Christian prayer, Bible reading, reflection, and song leaves an unexpected gap - even, and perhaps most particularly, for students who do not have a particular association with a church outside of the school community, or who are not yet sure of their own faith position.
What happens to spirituality and faith post-school?
For students finishing school this year, or for those supporting them, spending time with other people for whom faith matters is a good start. This might take the form of finding a mentor, or a group to be part of. University chaplains and Christian groups are not hard to find, and some churches link well with uni students. Students and job hunters alike can check out the local churches, and if a local church seems like a helpful place to be, that's great. If no suitable Christian community seems to present itself, personal reading and prayer is a good holding pattern to pursue while keeping one's eyes open for like-minded people. Forming a small group of friends who could become a mutually supportive mini 'church' is a very worthwhile, though more difficult aim for school leavers.
A challenge for Anglican churches is to find a way of better connecting with the student body of our Anglican schools in particular, and all schools generally.
Those making the transition from Anglican schools in Tasmania to the world of work and study each year number in the hundreds. Each of those hundreds of students has considered faith from a Christian point of view, worshipped God in an Anglican setting, sung songs that affirm the love of God, prayed, said the Apostle's Creed, and had the opportunity to receive Holy Communion. While there is more to an active faith than being a student at a Christian school, most young people genuinely miss the soul-food they received at school when they leave. Change always brings both exciting possibilities and potential difficulties.
Nurturing and growing the faith of young people leaving school for work and study is both exciting and difficult, and it is a challenge that the Anglican Church needs to take up immediately and seriously.
The Revd Eleanor O'Donnell is Chaplain at St Michael's Collegiate School