Why does God allow suffering? What are the differences between Roman Catholics and Christians? For David Chen, these are not unusual questions from students at Penrith Anglican College.

Questions like these are part of the reality of school chaplaincy, a frontline ministry starkly different from parish or youth ministry. From engaging with students in classrooms and corridors, to supporting staff and walking alongside families, school ministry takes chaplains into every facet of school life.

Almost 100 chaplains, Christian Studies teachers, and school ministry leaders gathered at The King's School last month for a day of encouragement, training and sharing ideas – one of the few professional development opportunities in Sydney for school ministry workers.

An exciting space for ministry

"The real craft of school ministry is proclaiming the gospel, walking alongside those who don't know Jesus, and being a general gospel presence in a school community," says the Rev Craig Tubman, community chaplain at Barker College.

"There's a huge number across Sydney serving in this way. It's an exciting space for ministry – school chaplaincy and school ministry is such a bespoke ministry. We're here [at the conference] to sharpen each other as we seek to serve our school communities."

Mr Tubman also works with the Sydney Anglican Schools Ministry Association, which co-ordinated the conference. Having been a school chaplain for 15 years, he knows the challenges and the joys of the role.

"I think one of the challenges of school chaplaincy is that it's really frontline ministry," he says. "Over the years what we've been working on… is to push [people] to be thinking about their ministry in their school."

Warning: wisdom required!

"A highlight [of school chaplaincy] for me is seeing students who really want to know more about Jesus," says Mr Chen, a Christian Studies and science teacher. "It's been encouraging to network and get to know other chaplains and Christian Studies teachers. Sharing ideas with each other is encouraging."

For Bronwyn Lihou, Head of Biblical Studies at Arndell Anglican College, the keynote talk on wisdom sparked reflections on her pedagogy.

"I found it really encouraging to think about how understanding the teacher relationship we hear about in Proverbs might translate into some of the things we do in the classroom," she says. "Being a chaplain or in biblical studies, you are on the forefront of change of culture. You really need an incredible amount of wisdom, discernment and patience."

Matt Roberts, the chaplain at Wollondilly Anglican College, adds that wisdom gives chaplains insight into "what it truly means to fear God… Fundamental to being effective as a chaplain is faithfulness in our relationship with God.

"[We need] an incredible sense of wisdom… where we need to balance having hard conversations with people, bringing biblical truths into those conversations, but also supporting staff, students and families in a way that helps them to feel loved and cared for."

Prayer

• Please pray for the work of chaplains, Christian Studies teachers, and other school ministry workers in Anglican and independent Christian schools across the Sydney Diocese.
• Give thanks for the many people who attended the conference and were mutually encouraged to press on in their important work
• Pray for wisdom for all involved in walking alongside school students, staff and school families, supporting them and sharing the hope of Jesus with them in all of life's ups and downs.
• Pray for chaplains and school ministry staff to be dependent on God in all things, that they will be wise, in tune with God's word and discerning in all things.
• Pray for God to be at work in school communities, among students, staff and families

What are students asking chaplains?

"Can Christians believe in evolution as the source of life? This question comes up more often than I anticipated."
Matt Roberts, Wollondilly Anglican College

"How did Jesus die the second time? That's when I realised we need to emphasise the ascension."
Bronwyn Lihou, Arndell Anglican College

"Where did God come from? Where is he now? We get lots of questions [like this] from every age group."
Tim Brookman, Northern Beaches Christian School

"In kindy, most of the questions are about what flavour of something I like. From kindergarten, we [also get asked] 'Did Jesus die?', through to 'How can I trust the Bible?' from Year 11 students."
Chris Nicholls, Richard Johnson Anglican College