It was a 13th century tutor at Oxford University, Edmond of Abingdon, who advised his students, “study as if you were to live for ever; live as if you were to die tomorrow.” We can no longer take for granted the place of religion in our institutions; we have, instead, to understand it. Such is, perhaps, the flight of the owl of Minerva in the twilight of modernity, in the dusk of the late twentieth century and in the early dawn of the twenty-first century.

Religion, perhaps most especially the Christian religion, cannot be reduced to culture. It is not a cultural artifact. Our task, instead, is to understand its animating principles which give shape and form to character and to culture, to individuals and to institutions.

Religion is what binds (re-ligo) the soul to God; a bond most intimately expressed in the Christian religion in the unity of God and Man in Jesus Christ. That bond imparts an identity and belongs to the character of this institution, to its history and its life. It is there to be understood.

But to honour and respect the Christian religious principles which belong to the historic foundations and vision of this school is also to find an honourable, honest and respectful way to engage our post-Christian culture and other cultures informed by other religions.

In the task of encouraging “universal literacy”, there is a great and pressing need to foster some degree of “biblical literacy.” The Bible is, after all, one of the great foundational texts which continues to shape souls and form cultures. The images and their understanding are there for us to enter into prayerfully and thoughtfully. I do not need to remind any of you of the critical role that the Church has historically played in education. At the heart of it all was a love for the Word of God.

For Anglicans, it was a wonderful confidence in the doctrinal or credal understanding of the Scriptures which underlay the educational efforts to open the Scriptures to everyone so that, as sixteenth century Anglican Divine put it, “every ploughboy” - and ploughgirl, too! – “would be as well versed in the Scriptures as the most learned clerk at the university.”

It is my hope and prayer that in our morning devotions we shall not only find ourselves in the presence of God but also actively engaged in wrestling with the understanding of the Word of God. And just so, Jacob becomes Israel.

It is a study in which, indeed, we live for ever. 

(Rev’d) David Curry

Ad Facultum # 2 (Address to the Faculty)
August 2009

Concerning Chapel

The Chapel is an integral and unique aspect of the culture of learning at King’s-Edgehill School.

An essential part of the School’s identity, the Chapel relates to all four pillars of the School’s life – arts, athletics, academics and community – insofar as moral, intellectual and spiritual principles inform every aspect of the educational experience.

The School’s foundations are inescapably and undeniably Christian and Anglican.

Bishop Charles Inglis, in 1788, within a year of coming to British North America, having had to flee from the American Revolution, set up a School, this school, and then in the following year, 1789, established the University, which since the fire of 1920 has been located in Halifax. There was and there is an informing vision – the idea of an education that is about the whole person and contributes to public life and service. It is captured in the School’s motto. Deo Legi Regi Gregi and it is complemented by the motto of Edgehill – fideliter, faithfulness. In this view of things, religion is a key component of education. Many, if not most educational institutions in the Maritimes and beyond, have a religious foundation. At issue, is the task of honouring the School’s spiritual derivations in a responsible and honest way.

The Chapel building and the service respect and reflect the school’s principles of identity while recognizing that not all students or faculty are either Christian or Anglican. The Chapel and the service are not some sort of vague, no-name mushy religiosity catering to the muddle of pluralities of identity; but neither is the experience sectarian. It does not presuppose nor can it presuppose ’a faith community’ because people come from all over the map of spiritual and religious identities and commitments: atheists of various denominations; Jews of various sorts; Muslims of various sorts; Buddhists of various sorts; Hindus of various sorts; and Christians of various denominations and interests, ranging from the nominal to the utterly indifferent, from the hostile to the sentimental, from anti-church to the worship of family; not to mention the anti-clerical, and those who are simply allergic to religion. Those who think religion is an experiential ecstasy induced “rave”, in short, religion as orgasm, or who think of it as “an endorphin high”, may be disappointed.

The Chapel and the service are simply and objectively about ’the faith commitment’ of the School to its historical foundations and a culture of learning that includes religion.

The necessary task in our day is to think the role and place of religion in the culture and the global world. There is a growing awareness that this cannot be relegated to the personal. King’s-Edgehill School is uniquely placed to contribute to that task by recognizing that it is simply part of who we are and what we do.

The service is generically Christian and Anglican but in ways that connects respectfully and honestly with other forms of Christian worship and with other religions, particularly the revealed religions of Judaism and Islam. It seeks to acquaint students with some foundational themes –creation, redemption – and to speak to the confusions, concerns and complexities of contemporary culture. It seeks to connect to every aspect of the School’s life and to put things on a kind of spiritual foundation whether it is the environmental aspects of ’operation clean-plate’ or the concerns about ’bullying’, for instance.

It provides a stable and structured beginning to each day. The miracle is that it happens and happens so easily. There is heavy student involvement: student Chapel prefects, student servers, student readers, student leaders of the prayers, student organist. Our hope is that, with a choir programme, there can be the beginnings of a more vibrant student leadership in the singing of hymns.

All these things go to the issue of the educational task – literacy, both biblical and literal, service and leadership, responsibility and respect. It happens.

The Strategic Planning Committee was firm about the role and place of the Chapel at the School and that it should not be diminished. In the sub-committee’s view, the Chapel needs to be valued and appreciated more, not less, by both administration and the staff in the sense of recognizing what goes on, morning after morning, week after week in a no-fuss, no-mess kind of way.

It is humbling to me to see how cooperative the students are and generally respectful and attentive. In the Attention Deficit Culture, learning how “to be quiet in themselves”, to use John Naugler’s phrase, is a tall order but a necessary task.

I am humbled by the support of faculty and students. There are so many grace-notes:  Fanny M. asking to lead the prayers; Liz L. saying after her speech in the public speaking programme that she was ready to read in Chapel and doing so; Benji H., a Jewish Jamaican finding serving in Chapel, especially during his grade 10 and 11 year, a basis of stability; Devan D. singing Venite Adoremus on his way to classes after one Chapel morning; the willingness and eagerness of a Rosie D., an Emily V., a Katherine C. to serve; Malcolm M. commenting about a grace that was said at one of the banquets; the quiet commitment of a Hayden M.G. in helping out at senior chapel; the incredible witness of Jared S. who just stepped in and stepped up to help with things in Junior Chapel and, on that score, an incredible moment of him remembering from the year before his accident a particular Scripture lesson and even something I said; Dale Block telling me about how he appreciates the special nature of the Chapel space (and once in a while, even something that is said); Leah Grandy finding something helpful about what we can and cannot know in the face of the fears and worries about the Swine Flu; Derek Bouwman talking about the lessons and the homily in computer science class; Michael S. having a bit of a hard time dealing with the idea of the ’Goth Rev’; in short, the various conversations and comments that arise out of the Chapel during the course of the day in quiet but real ways.

There are various secular and sacred arguments that explain the role of the Chapel and they are mentioned in the little booklet which I have provided you (Chapel Booklet).

There are a few specific recommendations of the sub-committee. The first involves the installation of thermostat with a timer on it in the Chapel which will allow for a more efficient use of heat. I hasten to add that this in no way takes away the crucial job of the Assistant Headmaster, Mr. Darcy Walsh, without whom Chapel cannot happen. He will continue to be ’the master of the blower,’ charged with pressing the button that turns it off should the fan come on during service! Secondly, the sub-committee recommends establishing a Chaplain’s Corner Bulletin Board that will provide some information and instruction about the role and place of the Chapel in the life of the School and thirdly, a link on the School’s website to the Parish of Christ Church website which contains a wealth of educational material. And fourthly, the sub-committee suggests the idea of instituting an extended leadership role for the Grade Ten students in Junior Chapel.

It is hoped that these modest recommendations will serve to re-confirm the critical role of the Chapel in the life of the School and as an integral element of the School’s identity. I am grateful for the support and suggestions of the members of the faculty, particularly, the fellow members of the sub-committee, Derek Bouwman and Kevin Lakes.


(Rev’d) David Curry
Chaplain, English and ToK Teacher