This is significant!?!?
Every Australian school will be eligible for a $20,000 grant to employ a chaplain – on condition the government is happy with its choice of spiritual guidance provider.
Prime Minister John Howard said today his scheme to promote pastoral care and spiritual guidance for students would be open to all public and private schools.
The scheme would be entirely voluntary and was not designed to favour chaplains of one religion, he said.
“It’s available for both government and non-government schools, it’s not restricted to Christian chaplains,” Mr Howard told reporters in Canberra.
Under the three-year, $90 million program, schools will employ chaplains to provide pastoral care, religious and personal advice and support to students and staff.
Read the whole article here
Two more quotes from further down:
“Any new chaplaincy program must be flexible enough to take into account the diversity of religious beliefs in our school systems,” she said.
But Greens senator Kerry Nettle labelled the chaplaincy program a “stupid political stunt addressing a non-existent problem”.
1) Greens Senator Kerry Nettle hasn’t been to a government school lately!
2) What does it mean to “take into account the diversity of religious beliefs”?? Does this mean the Christian Chaplain can’t say anything about the exclusive claims of Jesus??
What do you think? Is this thing good? Does it help or hinder the Christian work currently being done in state schools?
It’s a great initiative i think, but I see a problem in that 20k is simply not enough money. Either the school will have to fund the rest (not likely) or a chaplain will have to support himself.
Considering that there are fairly rigorous guidelines for this scheme, I can imagine most principles deciding not to take it up as an option, opting to not go through all the paperwork and save themselves the trouble.
That being said. I do hope we soon see many more Chaplains in government schools.
maybe it could be part-time
2 days a week
one chaplain might do 2 schools nearby for 2 days each.
then a church for 2 days.
that would mean 40K from the government plus pay from church.
maybe???
It is a good idea, and will at least get the church more influence in government schools. At my school, for example, we have a group run by volounteers, but is very small, and in truth, I don’t find it particularly worth while or effective at attracting non-christians. I am one of about 2 or 3 comitted christians at my school, (there are a few of ‘those’ sort of catholics, but I don’t count them), everyone else is atheist, hindu or muslim. So, the opportunity for the school to at least raise awareness would be good. I wonder whether Howard understands the Christian faith as being more than a set of values, though…