Editorial

Abraham Kuypers, one of the founding fathers of the Christian Education movement is often quoted as saying “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!".

At MECS we allow this truth to sink into our souls and it sits at the foundations of who we are and what we do. We intentionally remind ourselves that all we have is given to us by God and we are stewards, not owners.

Then when we take this truth and sit it alongside our belief that we are called to live out of a Gospel of love, recognising that all people are created in the image of God and that loving others is a command, we have a rock solid foundation to navigate complex thinking.

For us in Australian Christian education, this means recognising, respecting, and learning from the stories, wisdom, and history of the First Peoples of this land in a way that recognises:

· Before anything else, God is sovereign over all

· All people are created in the image of God and deeply loved by Him

· We are commended to love our neighbour as ourselves

· Justice and reconciliation are spiritual matters that reflect the heart of our loving God

· Our Gospel of love and hope tells us that we can be agents of change and healing

Embedding indigenous perspectives in our teaching and school culture is not simply a curriculum requirement or a token gesture. It is a way of faithfully living out the gospel—acknowledging God’s sovereignty over all, seeking justice, and valuing the voices of others, including those who have cared for this land for thousands of years, that we now share it with.

This perspective also reminds us of the gospel call to reconciliation. Australia’s history includes deep brokenness, injustice, and pain. As a Christian school, we cannot ignore this reality. Instead, we desire to invite our students to grapple with it honestly, guided by our Gospel of love and hope.

At MECS, as we seek this genuine and authentic recognition, we see this happens in tangible ways. In the next few weeks as we host students from Gawa Christian School in Arnhem Land, as our Year 10’s head off on their Discovering Country Camp and as we engage in planned and spontaneous conversations with students around these matters,

we hope and pray our students will have open hearts and open minds to what it means to love and understand others.

These authentic discussions and experiences aren’t contained to our oldest students but begin with our youngest students at MECS. In Kinder, where I spend my days, conversations about indigenous perspectives, culture, respect and what it means to live in harmony together are part of our every day. These are not rituals or things to be checked off but genuine engagement with these complex and deep matters.

Last week in my K3 class, we sang a song that included an Indigenous word for 'welcome'. The children know this is from the language of the Wurundjeri people, the first caretakers of this part of God’s world. One child asked why when people came to Australia they didn’t share the land. Our spontaneous discussion ended with me saying, “I pray that you will be a generation who truly understand what it means to live in harmony on this land given to us by God".

It is my deep hope and heartfelt prayer that our students and community will live out our calling to love God and love others, becoming faithful citizens of both God’s kingdom and this land we share.

Gill Birkett

Kindergarten Director