Chaplaincy News

Pilgrimage 

 On Thursday, 25 July, five student representatives from Shelford Girls’ Grammar, along with Mrs Jo Adlard and myself, attended the Anglican Schools Service at St Paul’s Cathedral in the city. It was a lovely gathering of staff and students from over 25 Anglican schools across Victoria, bringing a beautiful sense of unity and community across the schools. The theme of the service was ‘Pilgrimage’, a symbolic journey of our travel from our respective schools to come together at the sacred place of worship. Each school participated in the service with our Junior School and Senior School Captains carrying the Shelford banner during the entry procession and recessional. Our school was honoured by leading the entire procession of schools and our students represented us proudly! 

“Pilgrimage is a powerful metaphor for any journey with the purpose of finding something that matters deeply to the traveller.” Phil Cousineau – writer, filmmaker and teacher 

This year has been somewhat of an unexpected pilgrimage for our Shelford community as we navigate the mountainous path towards the closure of our school. For many of us, we are yet to determine what our destination is – a new school or a new place of work – and yet we press on faithfully and embrace the meandering trails and unexpected directions that come our way. But at the heart of our journey this year is the pursuing of meaning and memories. As we soak in the beautiful views of what Shelford has given to us during our time here, it helps create an image of what we truly desire in a school community and gives language to what matters to us deeply as students, families, and staff members. We journey on towards the unknown of next year, holding tight to the elements of Shelford that we love and adore, and carrying with us the essence of this beautiful community. Our journey is one that has the potential to not only be transformative for us as travellers, but also for our future destinations. We know what matters; we know what we care about. And we will carry this with us into the new horizons that come our way next year.  

Bless you all as you continue to journey together through this final year of Shelford.  

Erin Juers

Chaplain