The importance of Chaplaincy at Trinity
Trinity Grammar School has a strong support system and pastoral care network, including House Master, tutors, counsellors, and more all working together to ensure every student is getting the best support to thrive academically, emotionally, and spiritually. The School Chaplaincy team is an integral part of this support system.
You can expect to see Trinity Chaplains taking an active role in Christian Ministry across every campus including through:
- Chapel services every week for students from K-12
- A variety of annual and specialist Chapel services including House services, Lessons and Carols for Advent, and Remembrance Day with the Cadet Unit
- Chapel for all staff at the beginning of each calendar year
- Christian Studies classes
- Voluntary Christian groups
Senior Chaplain at Trinity, Mr James Harricks understands that Chaplaincy is important, not just for students but for the whole Trinity community.
“From my earliest experiences at Trinity Grammar School, I was convinced about the importance of School Chaplaincy,” he says. ”The opportunities to engage boys and adults of all ages in the big questions of life are endless!”
While Mr Harricks only started at Trinity recently, he notes that he’s had more conversations about Jesus in his short time here than he has in the last four years combined.
Enhancing Trinity’s learning community
Against the backdrop of Trinity’s mission to provide a thoroughly Christian education in mind, body, and spirit, School Chaplaincy plays an important role in spiritual growth, complimenting all other aspects of a Trinity education.
“School Chaplaincy occurs within a learning community where young men are making sense of the world they inhabit,” Mr Harricks says. “To walk with these young men as they form their own worldviews and grow into young adults is a tremendous privilege. Furthermore, to be able to offer students an opportunity to consider the claims of Jesus in the context of a school committed to a thoroughly Christian education just makes sense.”
“One of the privileges of working in a school is that it is a vibrant learning community. That we get to also learn about the God who made us and offers us life in his Son is something I get to be part of every day of the week.”
He feels the weight of the opportunities he has to offer pastoral care for families and staff who are struggling for a whole range of reasons.
“School Chaplaincy is so important because it helps us to place our learning community into a broader context. To be reminded that we are not alone in the world, to be comforted with the promises of God, and even to be challenged to form a worldview that takes us beyond the secular humanism of our age, means that Chaplaincy is important.”
Mr Harricks recognises that not everyone shares the Christian faith, especially at a diverse school like Trinity, but he notes that everyone in the Trinity community has a deep respect for the Christian foundations and vision for the School – something that the Chaplaincy team is a core part of.
“I just enjoy being a part of seeing this vision work itself out in practice across our different campuses and with different ages and stages of students, staff, and the wide community.”
