Bishop Ivan Lee introduces us to the ministry team at the Western Region’s Penrith Anglican College

After opening the Senior School Learning Centre at Penrith Anglican College on October 17, I seized the opportunity to ask the Headmaster, Barry Roots, and the Chaplains George Statheos and Greg Lees, a few questions about the school and mission.

Ivan Lee: Barry, how do you see Penrith Anglican College in relation to the Diocesan Mission to bring ten per cent of Sydney’s population into Bible-based churches?

Barry: Well, we certainly see the school as a mission field. There is no requirement from parents or students that they be Christians or churchgoers. So because of our open policy, the majority of our families are unchurched, and, after contact with us, some end up in local churches.

Ivan Lee: But why would unchurched families come to a ‘church’ school? And then how do such families get connected to a local church?

Barry: Many unchurched families want the values and view of the world that a Christian school espouses. What happens is that because staff openly and informally talk about God and Christ in our day-to-day running of the school, the students go home and ask their parents about Christian and spiritual matters. In turn, families are turning up at local churches to find out more.

Ivan: That’s terrific! Besides staff talking about their faith when natural opportunities arise, what more formal Christian teaching is there?

Barry: We run chapel once a week – but there are five running simultaneously because we don’t yet have a building to house the whole school altogether. The students themselves actually run chapel, and parents have an open invitation to come along. In fact, there is a large number of parents who come along every week. And of course we have Christian education classes; we call them Divinity classes here.

Ivan: Now, George and Greg, as school chaplains, it’s great to hear of parents coming along to chapel services. Have you run any other events that parents have been invited to?

George: Yes, we are really excited by an Easter service we held this year for the first time; 200-300 parents turned up. Most of them would not have been churched families. So, now we are planning our first Christmas service.

Ivan: Tell me about your teaching program.

George: Well, Greg and I work together to plan a teaching program that is both biblical and takes into account where the students are at. The program includes New Testament, Old Testament, theological topics, and we also look at books such as those written by John Dickson. We also look at other belief systems such as different religions and some of the major cults, so that students can see what makes the Christian faith different.

Barry: Yes, we want students to understand other world views, so that when they go, for example, to university and are bombarded with various belief systems, they are intellectually prepared.

George: We also run more serious Bible studies after school for those students who are already Christians and want to study the Bible in greater depth.

Ivan: Greg, are there any special ways or events that help you as a chaplain to get to know the students and the parents?

Greg: Yes, there are. For example, we organise outings and camps and other activities where there is opportunity for us to get to know the parents. Another way we make contact with parents is a morning tea every fortnight after assembly, where we build relationships. Also, because I used to be a PE teacher, I get involved in sport and through that get to know the students.

Ivan: Barry, today we named the new building after Elizabeth Fry. Tell me about her.

Barry: Elizabeth Fry lived from 1780 to 1845 in England, and was a Quaker prison reformer who transformed the lives of countless thousands of prisoners, convicts and homeless people. She visited women prisoners and their children who lived in squalid conditions and insisted on better living conditions. She began a free school at her home and set up a shelter for destitute children in London. She was a Christian who was fired by her faith to inject greater humanity into a largely inhumane prison system.