Editorial

 At MECS, we are committed to being what philosopher and theologian James K.A. Smith calls “a peculiar people”. Not strange for the sake of being strange, but peculiar in the biblical sense: set apart, defined by a different story, shaped by a different perspective, and animated by a different hope.

This past week, that peculiarity was on full, glorious display in our school’s production of Shrek the Musical, performed at Burrinja Theatre. Amid the laughter, costumes, explosions, sets and choreography, the final ensemble number—“Let Your Freak Flag Fly”—grabbed my attention and made me smile (actually, I don’t think I stopped smiling and laughing through the entire show). In my 18 months of being Principal at MECS, I regularly celebrate and marvel at the fact that we are all so different. MECS is good at embracing different, it’s good at celebrating diversity, it’s good at finding people’s strengths and helping them find their place in God’s story.

Being a Christian, a follower of Jesus is, in many ways, to be a misfit in the world’s eyes. It is to belong to a Kingdom that confounds status and power, that lifts the lowly, that breaks bread with outcasts. We believe that we are a “chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s peculiar people” (1 Peter 2:9 KJV).

Smith also reminds us, that Christian education isn’t merely about delivering content. It’s about formation—cultivating hearts and habits, shaping desires toward the good, the true, and the beautiful. That means our classrooms are not just places of learning; they are places of belonging.

And what does belonging look like? Sometimes it looks like being asked to play a game at recess, sometimes it looks like a bunch of Year 7 boys managing the sound and lighting desk, sometimes it means working backstage and ensuring all of the props are in place. At MECS, it is always our aim and hope that belonging means that students are seen, known, and loved—for who they are and who they are becoming in Christ.

Our school is peculiar because it insists that every student—every image-bearer—has inherent value, and a role to play in the unfolding story of God’s redemption and therefore a role to play in our community. As a learner, as a friend, as a helper, as a creator as a leader, as a worshipper.

The poet-theologian Walter Brueggemann once wrote:

"You are children of God. You are wonderfully made. You are loved more than you know. 

So go into the world—not afraid, but peculiar, 

with courage to be different, 

with hope to be free, 

with faith to belong to something bigger than yourself."

So let us be a community that embraces its peculiarity—not with embarrassment or awkwardness but with joy. A community that sings and serves and learns in ways that point to the Kingdom. A school where everyone knows they belong.

Michelle Dempsey

Principal