A Guide to Celebrating the Eucharist in School

A Guide to Celebrating the Eucharist in School

Contents Introduction Page 3 What is the Eucharist? Page 4 Why Celebrate the Eucharist in School? Page 5 The Process Page 6 Where to Find Help Page 10 School Eucharist Page 2 April 2013

Introduction The Eucharist, (Greek for thanksgiving), or Holy Communion, lies at the heart of Anglican worship. Church of England schools play a significant role in the Anglican community and some of them choose to mark their distinctive place by offering Eucharistic worship. Celebrating the Eucharist can be a high point of a school s worship programme, whether it takes place weekly, termly, or annually. There are many and diverse ways to explore this form of worship and the experience is widely recognised for the significant contribution it makes to pupils spiritual development and to the life of the whole school community. The aim of this guidance is: to consider the implications for pupils and the school of celebrating the Eucharist as part of the worship programme to help schools make informed decisions about whether to proceed to offer a process to explore the Eucharist in school to offer practical guidance on planning, preparing and organising a school Eucharist. Throughout the Christian world, the sacred meal shared by Christians when they meet and worship together is known by many different names. In this document, the term Eucharist will be used but here are some of the others: Eucharist: the word Eucharist comes from the Greek meaning thanksgiving. Holy Communion: this refers to the experience when Christians come together to share in the sacred meal of bread and wine. Breaking of Bread: this reflects the experience of Christians in the early church. Lord s Supper: this name points back to the last meal (the Last Supper) Jesus shared with his friends on the night before he died. Mass: derived from the Latin word missa (dismissal). At the end of an act of worship, Christians are sent out, as God s people, into the world. Divine Liturgy: this term is most widely used in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Text based on extract from Thanks for the Memory, Diocese of Chichester, 2005 School Eucharist Page 3 April 2013

What is the Eucharist? We have all experienced the pleasure of sharing a meal with friends. It is a social event that brings people together and it is something with universal appeal that reinforces our communal life. Food does not only sustain life; there are times when meals have special significance, e.g. a birthday party, a wedding breakfast. Important times in religious calendars are often marked with special meals. For Christians, the sharing of bread and wine is of great significance. In most Christian churches the principal act of worship is the one where this takes place: the Eucharist. The Eucharist recalls the events of the Last Supper which Jesus shared with his disciples the night before he died. It is both a remembrance of the sacrifice and death of Jesus and a celebration of the belief that Jesus is still present in the lives of Christians today. The ritual of the Eucharist follows the instruction given by Jesus to his disciples at the Last Supper, when he commanded them to share bread and wine together, whenever they met, to remember him. This coming together has been faithfully carried out by Christians throughout the ages. When they remember and act on his words, they believe Jesus is present. It is a mystery that touches the lives of Christians around the whole world and binds them together in the belief that despite all the world s problems, God is at work in the world and God s strength can overcome human frailty. Christians believe that God has made the world to be a good and beautiful place, but that it has fallen away from God and so contains pains and misunderstandings. To put it another way, heaven and earth have become separated, although they are still linked in the same way in which a shadow is linked to its object. Spiritual awareness helps people to recognise this link, and Christians believe it is only in Jesus that heaven and earth can be completely reunited and the shadows removed. The Eucharist makes Jesus present, and connects human beings to him. In this way, anyone present at the Eucharist can experience being in a place where heaven and earth are brought together. This is why Jesus commanded his disciples to do this in remembrance of me (Luke 22.19). School Eucharist Page 4 April 2013

Why celebrate the Eucharist in School? There are three good reasons for celebrating the Eucharist in school. It helps the school community to meet with and thank God: o underpinning and nurturing the Christian ethos of a school o bringing an experience of awe, wonder, mystery and joy o providing a powerful way of encountering who Jesus really is o giving an opportunity for the school community to bring thankfulness and hope together under God It strengthens the bonds of human fellowship enjoyed by the school community: o developing the whole school community by bringing together children, teachers, support staff, parents and governors o developing connections between school and the local church o developing connections with the worldwide Christian family o developing connections with past and future generations It helps shape the lives and behaviour of members of the school community, offering: o a significant part of a child s growth in spiritual awareness o a distinctively Christian practice that shapes school life o a life-enhancing pattern of prayer and worship that shapes individual behaviour o a place where repentance and forgiveness are experienced and learnt Above all, the Eucharist is a way of experiencing and learning about what the Church is and does. School Eucharist Page 5 April 2013

The Process If you want to take the next step, try following this process. Take time to think things through. Celebrating the Eucharist in school is not a requirement and your decision may be, This is not for us, but exploring the possibility can open up many opportunities for your school and its life within the wider community. EXPLORE Collaborate Discussion between head and parish clergy about school Eucharist Gather information Ask other schools about their experience of school Eucharist Visit and attend a Eucharist in another school. Canvas opinions from staff, governors and parish clergy. Invite a member of the diocesan team to help you to explore further. Discuss Facilitate discussions about school Eucharist: governors meeting, staff meeting Be aware the process may take time. This may be completely new territory for some staff, governors and parents. They will need time to absorb information, assess pros and cons and think through some of the issues that are involved. Consider children, families, members of staff who have little or no previous experience of the Eucharist. Make an informed decision Having gathered information and discussed the implications make an informed decision with the Governors and staff about whether to proceed further. School Eucharist Page 6 April 2013

If You Wish To Proceed PREPARE Decide who will be involved in the preparation and planning (e.g. Head or worship coordinator, staff member, clergy, children, parents) In what way will the Eucharist become part of your school worship programme e.g. one off trial, at major festival times, weekly, monthly, termly? Will the whole school be involved or just certain year groups? Who else could be invited e.g. parents, governors, local community? How will information be communicated to parents? You may wish to have a parent on the working group. Give time for responses. What preparation will the children receive? How will you make links with RE and Collective Worship? Who will receive communion or a blessing? Your local parish will have a policy about children and communion and this local practice should be followed. (See the Diocesan Guidelines on Admission to Holy Communion) School Eucharist Page 7 April 2013

CELEBRATE Practicalities When? Set a date. Where? School, church, playground? Will parents, governors, members of support staff be invited? Planning the liturgy Decide upon a theme Select readings Choose music Write or choose prayers (NB some parts of the liturgy are required. Clergy will advise on this.) How could children be involved? Presenting dramatic interpretation of readings writing and reading prayers making responses singing and making music artwork baking bread School Eucharist Page 8 April 2013

CONTINUING NURTURE Having experienced a school Eucharist How might the school s programme of collective worship now be developed? Review any changes that need to be made to the RE programme. Consider an on-going pattern of school Eucharists. Monitor the impact on the school community. Review the budget for worship resources. Are there further training requirements? How will the school ensure the on-going nurture of children s spiritual development? Fix a date to review the process on the school development plan. Administration of the chalice in secondary schools Students may administer the chalice as part of a school Eucharist under certain conditions with permission from the Bishop. The following regulations apply: 1. The students concerned must be considered by staff at the school and the school Chaplaincy team to be suitable. 2. The students must be baptised members of their home church. 3. The students should be instructed and supervised by appropriate members of the Chaplaincy team. 4. Authorisation in the form of a letter and list of names from the Chaplaincy team must be submitted to the Bishop. 5. Authorisation is only given in the context of the school Eucharist and is not transferable to the students home parishes. 6. Authorisation ceases when the student leaves the school. School Eucharist Page 9 April 2013

Where to find help Careful consideration needs to be given to how the bread and wine is distributed. Some children and adults will receive bread and wine in their own churches. They will have been prepared, in various ways to do this, depending on the tradition of the church. Others will be used to receiving a blessing. If your school receives children from different parishes you will need to take into account these various practices and discuss a way forward. There are also likely to be people who have no experience of Eucharistic worship and may well prefer to just observe. There are a number of schools in the Diocese that celebrate the Eucharist as part of their collective worship programme. If you would like to discuss their experiences, explore how they have negotiated these issues or visit to see for yourself, Alison Seaman, the Diocesan RE and Worship Adviser can put you in contact. Alison and the other members of the Education Team are also willing to work alongside schools wishing to hold a school Eucharist. aseaman@chelmsford.anglican.org Useful resources For teaching about the Eucharist in RE, use the Year 6 scheme of work The Eucharist in the Chelmsford Diocesan Syllabus. http://www.chelmsford.anglican.org/re.html The diocesan guidelines for collective worship, Breathing Space, are also on the diocesan website. http://www.chelmsford.anglican.org/collective-worship.html Be Bold, Ed A Seaman, Church House Publishing, Chapter 7 Be In Communion Exploring Holy Communion in Primary Schools: Guidelines from the Diocese of Gloucester. Go to http://www.gloucester.anglican.org/resources/jfish/ to obtain a downloadable copy. Take a Look at Our School Eucharist, Church Schools East. Available from www.churchschoolseast.org or Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich tel:01473 298570 Every Faith Matters: Guidelines for RE and collective worship in multi-faith church schools. Available as a download from www.everyfaithmatters.org.uk His Spirit is with Us, Leslie Francis, Kevin Mayhew A project based programme on Holy Communion. Going for Growth: Transformation for children and young people and the Church, Archbishops Council Education Division. Go to www.cofe.anglican.org/info/education for a downloadable copy. School Eucharist Page 10 April 2013