Faith, Justice and Formation

Staff Spirituality Day

Yesterday the whole staff, teaching and support, gathered at Oxford Falls for our Staff Spirituality Day. As we focus on Gospel Spirituality this year our day was centered on the theme, ‘Faith, Hope, Love’. As well as spending some time together, we divided into three groups and rotated through the three core components.

Faith – we experienced an Interreligious Dialogue Panel with representatives from Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Baha’i. We asked various questions and grew to understand one another, while realising there is more that unites us than divides us. We can be open to learning and understanding without losing our own faith and without disrespect.

Hope – a session looking at the philosophy and science of hope in our world, how it fits into our work and how we need to ‘do’ hope, not just wish for a better future. This also allowed us an opportunity to be creative.

Love – we engaged with the local bushland in the hope to love creation even more deeply through a First Nations lens. We learned the purpose of local trees and bushes and how they guide everyday life for our Aboriginal brothers and sisters in the past and still today. We took away some tips and tricks for living.

It was a day to stop, reflect and consider how we can live faith, hope and love in not only our work, but also our individual lives. It inspired us to consider if we are a living spring in our community, while trying to feel God’s presence and actively standing by our beliefs (EREA Charter reflections).

We offer our gratitude to all of our presenters and we hope a few seeds were planted to grow up in each of us.

Gillian Daley

Director of Identity