It reveals that there is a growing trend of people moving away from spiritual connections in the mode of worshipping regularly. With multiculturalism growing throughout the country, the number of spiritual areas being pursued has evolved and grown, and people are exploring non-traditional means of spirituality in their own lives. The trends show more openness around reasons why people turn away from their spiritual connections, and often reflect that people appreciate spiritual values and connection, however, wish to seek it in their own way, not so much through the church as their ancestors may have.

What challenges does it pose?

The growing downward trend of spirituality in Australia presents challenges for spiritually based educators and providers. Churches, schools, and other identities will have to change with the times and find new ways to connect to individuals who may have elected to move away from their spiritual upbringing. There is evidence that there are significant blocking factors for people to be attending spiritual worship places or identifying with a religion. This is an area in which churches and religious venues, will need to consider how they can connect and welcome people who feel they are blocked from having a spiritual connection. How can schools then also connect with a growing trend of students who identify as non-spiritual, when the basis of the school may be linked to spirituality and the values associated.

How could that challenge become an opportunity?

With such many people turning away from spirituality, it has created an opportunity for traditionalist bodies, to evaluate their connection to the community and look for ways to bring in and engage non-spiritual members of the community. Through exploring new ways of connecting with spirituality, the opportunities will arise for more areas of connection to spirituality. This has been further heightened by covid and the move away from meeting on regular Sundays. People have found other ways to connect to their spirituality, other than the traditional means of a Sunday church service. This means that the church and schools can become agents of spirituality who encourage community members to explore their spirituality in many different ways and identify in what ways they wish to connect to their spirituality on a personal level.

Growing up in a religious family with many spiritual values, I have had this instilled into my daily life and worshipping and connecting to my spiritual life have become second nature. Routine and regular connection to faith, has enabled me to become comfortable with my spirituality and identify the ways in which I may connect more to my feelings and emotions around spirituality. Having others around who are non-judgemental enables me to further feel comfortable in who I am and the spiritual aspect of my life being personal and respected.

What has hindered?

Having grown up in a Sunday is church day family and tradition, I have found that I lost connection to my spirituality as going to church became a routine rather than a thing I wanted to do. When I moved out of home I found that I engaged more spiritually by being in the outdoors and listening to music, which then was heightened when I would attend church and realised that it had become a habit rather than a choice. Disconnecting from regular church going has enabled me to realise where I connect spiritually, and appreciate these moments more without the need to be going to church every Sunday.

Two questions –

Why so much emphasis on the Old testament if God’s grace is revealed in the new?

Does the Lutheran understanding of spirituality focus too much on 2000 years ago, rather than the now?

Metaphor - Grace is often described as an undeserved and unearned gift that is freely given to all people through faith in Jesus Christ

Two questions –

How do we get non-spiritual people to realise the gift they are given through grace?

Many people are pushed away from the church because of their ‘sins’ as the church sees it, but by God’s grace they are made right….so why are men so quick to push others out based on their sins?

Simile – God’s grace is like a life-giving stream. Just as a stream of water sustains and nourishes all living things in its path, so too does God's grace sustain and nourish the spiritual lives of believers.

My initial responses were based around me and how grace helps me, however, my second list of responses were much more weighted around God and what he had done for me through Grace. It is more about him being selfless and the power of that, than about me being deserving of the Grace that is given.

Why is the concept of grace central to a Lutheran approach to spirituality?

From the video provided in the course PowerPoints on Martin Luther, I have come to the follow thoughts.

Martin Luther was a man who was regarded as being one who read the bible with a different lens and identified the power of grace that is freely given to all humans. Following in these teachings and understandings, Lutherans approach spirituality with a means of understanding that whoever or whatever they are or do, they are freely given grace, whether they like it or not. Lutheran’s have a strong emphasis on the fact that through Jesus and God, all sins can be forgiven and that all humans are welcome in God’s house as a result. Whether that be God’s house here on earth or beyond. Grace is freely given, and Lutheran’s live by that.

Whether it be the classroom, the playground, the staffroom or interacting with parents, grace looks like acceptance of all people for who they are. It is non-judgemental and supportive and understanding of the fact that God has chosen all humans to love and to bless on earth and beyond. It looks like any individual having a supportive and understanding conversation with another individual. It looks like teachers and parents working with students to identify the wrong they may have done but forgiving based on the fact that forgiveness underpins the grace focused approach of Lutheran Spirituality.

Sound like?

Whether it be the classroom, the playground, the staffroom or interacting with parents, grace sounds like words of encouragement and support from teachers and staff to students who are going through difficult times or facing challenges. Acts of kindness and compassion from students towards each other, such as helping a classmate who is struggling with their work or offering to share their belongings. Forgiveness and understanding when mistakes are made, with a focus on learning and growing from those experiences rather than punishment or shame. Inclusive and welcoming language and behaviour towards students from diverse backgrounds and identities, recognizing and celebrating the unique contributions and perspectives they bring to the school community. A culture of respect and empathy, with students and staff showing care and concern for each other's well-being and fostering a safe and supportive learning environment.

Feel like?

Grace feels different for every individual, based on their spiritual journey. Grace for some may feel like they are loved, for others it may be that they feel connected to those around them. For many it is a feeling of safety and comfort in the fact that they know they are loved, supported, and cared for, no matter what they do. In a school context it will feel for many as if others care about them and want the best for them. For parents it may be a feeling of comfort in knowing that the teachers have their students’ best interests at heart, and will not hold any mistakes against them in the forgiving nature of the school.

Grace informs my practice by encouraging me to be non-judgemental and forgiving in my approach to students, staff and parents. It guides me to be a supportive teacher, who encourage students to explore their spirituality and education, without fear of ridicule or persecution for making mistakes. It allows me to relate to students and understand that mistakes are made, but through God’s grace we can forgive and work restoratively with individuals to ensure that they are welcomed and kept safe in our community.

What intentional practices can I put in place?

I can intentionally welcome all students from whatever background into my classroom with no judgement. I can ensure that I speak up for anyone who may be getting degraded or judged by others in the school setting. When dealing with behavioural issues, it will come from a place of forgiveness and understanding of the fact that everyone makes mistakes and sin. I will also accept all staff and parents, and approach conversations with a supportive focus and an intent to love and welcome all.

1.      I connect with the concept of the bible being a library and not just a script. I think too often people read the bible and treat it as fact and we must live by it, but in what context is what we are reading being written in?

2.      It is incredibly old! How do people live and breathe by a book that was written thousands of years ago, and then gets re-written over time to suit the audience. Amazing book, but is it something to use as a law or rule book, considering changes in contexts.

3.      We always picture Heaven and Earth as two distinct sides. But as they say in this video, there should and is overlap between the two.

2.      Taking care of each other and the earth is important, the more it is done, the more the flow on effect is seen. We have made good, but with that comes the bad.

3.      The long term goal is a new world, which is overseen by the stewards (us) and cared for with God as the leader of Good.

2.      Perception of many religious people is that they are living a life of just hoping and waiting.

3.      Disciples of the church are people who are working alongside God, to push for change to create a world in which people live in the way that God intended.

1.      Creativity is what makes us an individual. Without creativity we are all the same.

2.      ‘If you are not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original’

3.      The whole purpose of public education is to create university professors. We are doing it wrong!

Everything overlaps, you can’t have a vocation these days without a community around it, which in part brings in relationships with others. If you have relationships with others, it creates a community, which often then connects to a vocation. So to put it simply, you can’t have any of these without the other 2.

2.      We are connected to Christ, he is within us and we see ourselves within him.

3.      The three visitors who came to Abraham have been deemed over time as a prediction of prelude to the Holy Trinity.

2.      So much of religion seems to be focussed on building a picture of how we are Good.

3.      It is the jagged/imperfect edges of us that God grabs on to and works with, he doesn’t grab on to the perfectly dressed, church attending good side of us.

A vocation is about being called to do something. It has a higher purpose, and we are called to bring knowledge, expertise and guide others within those vocations. We are called to bring what we love to the world.

What is my vocation? Am I living out my vocation through my occupation? How many different vocations can I have at once?

Vocation – Pathways

Reading this made me really think about whether I can serve God more in my day to day life. What am I being called to do and how can I achieve my success in serving others through these vocations? If being a teacher is part of my calling to serve, am I doing it justice. How can I serve better/more in my occupation if it is a vocation of mine. My understanding of vocation is me using what I love and am connected to, to go out and make positive change by serving others with that love and connection at heart.

I think it would be important for us to spend more time engaging with our colleagues, students, staff and wider community in ways which aren't just curriculum focussed. I think we need to find more ways to get out into our community on many levels to show and demonstrate the values that we cherish as a school. Through community service, community engagement and social events, we can connect more with our surrounding communities and begin the discussions which can help to lead to further growth in our community and connection to the 'Good News' of the bible.

What can we do less of?

I guess following on from above, we can possibly spend a bit less time focussing on the curriculum and putting such a heavy focus on things like university entrance requirements etc. This is all very important, but often overshadows the places in our lives where we could be building more genuine connections that improve and enhance our community around us. I think we need to do less reactive behaviour management, and really build on the way in which we proactively support and engage our students to be demonstrating positive values within our community on a daily basis.

Lutheran education is underpinned by community. There is a strong understanding and belief that we are all a part of God's community and that we are responsible for spreading the word of God, particularly to those that may not have heard the good news. With this in mind, Lutheran education is positioned in a unique way to be able to engage with a large number of bodies of the community in a positive way to show the values we hold so dear. We are able to connect with colleagues, students, parents, external providers and much more on a daily basis. With all of this in mind, Lutheran education values community highly, as without the community, there is no way to connect with the strong Lutheran values that are deemed important.

In what ways has the learning about community relationships informed your understanding of your role and contribution?

The learning has really reinforced my understandings of how important our role is as educators. It has shown me that not only am I a teacher of content, I am also a leader within my community who can have a positive impact on many people around me, particularly the students that I work with on a day to day basis. Many students who come to our college now struggle to identify with their spiritual connections and understand their spiritual role within the world, and I as an educator are in a unique position to be able to demonstrate strong Lutheran values that support and enhance students ability to learn about themselves, and understand their importance and role within our community. In many ways it has reminded me that I am a very active member of our community and that the way in which I engage and behave can have really positive impacts on the community that I live within.

Creation is so heavily full of beauty which replicates the beauty of God. It is intricate and precise, yet at the same point in time it is expansive and powerful. There are things that come through that may look bad (natural disasters etc), but out of that comes the good. The reminder from God that he is with us through all times of our lives, and he will guide and protect us to effectively move through and reach the 'Good' that is on the other side. It can be hard to sit back and look at the horrific things that have happened or are happening in our world because of humans. Is that a reflection of the sin of the world...is there generally good that comes out of these horrible bad times that shows God's love and grace towards us. His promise to be there to guide, support and love us, no matter what. Even when we consider the horrific events of WW2, there are so many amazing miracle blessing stories that are intertwined within the bad. But at the end of the day, the Good in our world really does outweigh the bad. We are blessed with sunrises and sunsets every day. Flowers, plants, smiles and laughter. All reminders that God created a perfect world through his creation, but it is challenged and hampered by the evil sinful acts of those who want to rip down that good.

Genesis - Visions

Exodus - Burning bush (talking to Moses)

Kings - Low whisper to Elijah

Jeremiah - Simply comes (the word of the Lord)

400 years later....

Hebrews 1:1-2 - Move from prophets, to His Son speaking to us

1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, ² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.

Peter - Through scriptures/The Bible

"we were eyewitnesses of his majesty"

"We also have the prophetic message" - Tells us why we need Jesus!

Our understanding of God, comes from the life of Jesus, which we read about in the Bible!

John 20: 30-31

³⁰ Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. ³¹ But these are written that you may believe^[a] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

As A School!

The story of Jesus is important to us in our context. This is why we do devotions, chapels, teaching Christian Studies (LIFE) and use God's word to guide our daily activities.

Me!

My responsibility is to ensure that everything we do from a devotional point of view is brought back to the Bible and the word of God. I need to impart the knowledge that the heart of devotions is the 'Good News' of the Gospel, to the students I am working with.

The story doesn't actually refer to whale at all. It has been altered over time to make it a whale.

T.Keller - Jonah's Story

"These were not just the folk down the road who listened to different music and
didn’t use the name Yahweh... they were monsters... And they were pretty
keen on destroying my people. So when God said go to Nineveh and warn
them – you can imagine there were many reasons why I ran away.
I didn’t care where I was going ... as long as it was far far away from that evil
place."

When you consider the situation, it was a life or death one for Jonah. He thought running away was the only way to survive and when faced with the fact it wasn't he gave up and was just like "just kill me"....because I am dead either way.

My Thoughts on it all!

I think this whole story and breakdown of the Bible strongly shows us how important it is to understand what the bible is telling us....not just read the Bible and take the initial words we see. It is important that when we are sharing the theology of the Bible, particularly in our school context, that we aren't just slapping words together on a screen and going...here, this is what the bible says in this one verse.

An example to consider, when Jesus sends out the Disciples two by two... most people picture 6 groups of disciples going out in pairs. However, when you look at the original writing of the bible the word used to describe two by two, is the same that is used when Noah collects animals on the Ark. So this simple interpretation suggests that Jesus sent the disciples out in pairs of male and female. Were there more than 12 disciples?? Were there actually 12 female disciples as well that have been neglected out of the whole story.

This example along with the story of Jonah, shows how important it is, that we are understanding the bible and the messages of the bible and ensuring that we are teaching it properly, understanding the varying contexts and able to articulate these understandings to students, not bend the words to match the devotion that we have slapped together on a Wednesday afternoon.

There is no good Lutheran education....without proper good understanding of God's word!

One of the main themes once again is the focus on Grace. The Grace that God offers and gives and how God's grace is for everyone!

Jonah Devotion

Compassion

God wants us to be compassionate.

He shows compassion to the people of Nineveh.

The gift God gives us is compassion, that we can then pass on to others.

Hook - A visualisation process of a student causing issues in class on a regular basis.

Connect this to the Ninevah story and the compassion that God showed for these nasty evil people.

Impart the Good news that God shows compassion to all.

Relate this to you being shown compassion and how you can then offer this to the children you are working with, when they might be going through a tough time or requiring compassion.

I feel quite comfortable about leading devotions. I like to find ways to impart my understanding and thoughts on to others, but with a unique spin where possible. Too often we just slap a story together, connect it to a bible verse and pray. I like to really dig in and try and create a deeper meaning and understanding of a theme or concept.

I think the biggest challenge is engaging individual's that clearly come from different backgrounds. If you preach a devotion in a way of listen and learn, many of the students will switch off the moment you mention the bible. For me I think there is a real art in being able to connect to those of strong faith, but engage those of little to no faith. That for me is the biggest challenge.

Other challenges in a school context might also include the avoidance of devotions from non-christian teachers, which creates a "Why do we have to do them if other villages aren't" approach from some students.

In a world where religion is becoming less important, how do I engage students and make it relevant to them these days?

I think one way to really work on these would be to have a really good structure and plan to the devotions I am preparing, so there is a clear focus. But then trial and error from there and reading the audience to know how they feel. Even things such as people saying 'Thankyou' or 'I appreciated that' after a devotion shows that you have found a way to engage.

A quote that stood out to me was "In addition, God daily and abundantly provides shoes and clothing, food and drink, house and farm, spouse and children, fields, livestock, and all property – along with all the necessities and nourishment for this body and life." (Martin Luther). I found this interesting because it really hints at the fact that creation is every happening. Every minute of every day, creation is occurring to provide for our needs, and also enable us to provide for others around us.

What this means for me and my role is that I am in a wonderful position as an educator, to impart this wisdom of creation on to others, encourage them to understand the creation and also see how creation is every evolving in our lives today.

What this means for our school / our classroom is that we are responsible for demonstrating the values of Grace and the grace of God within our classrooms, outside of our classrooms and within our surrounding community.

My learning plan is to continue to develop compassion and understanding for individuals, to pursue the underlying causes of the behaviour and look for ways to work with the individual to overcome their own challenges they may be facing, and ensure that forgiveness can be given freely. I will connect with Pastoral care leaders within my college to build my understandings and support of behaviour within our college. I will also look to the word of God and his demonstration of Grace, particularly when I am feeling overwhelmed, to help give me perspective and guidance in decision making processes.

As a result I will be able to develop understanding of an individual as well as be able to facilitate restorative conversations between many parties to develop further understanding and ability to forgive based on understanding.

How can we effectively encourage students to be spiritual in a growing world of it being ‘un-cool’ to be spiritual?

These questions are all ones that I can work on and feel more comfortable about by having discussions with our School Chaplain as well as the Pastoral Care team.

I think the best way to explore this would be through trainings like the connect training and then being willing to have conversations with others and try to impart knowledge on to them in a kind and nurturing way.

How can we engage more without losing the curriculum focus?

Whole school discussions needed, time allowance required to be able to effectively plan and implement strategies that can connect us more with the external community around us.