1. THE RELIGIOUS LIFE OF THE SCHOOL
Welcome … how this session will look and make connections with the rest of the day. Story about how this day is always a challenge as we would have many other places that we would prefer to be. However this is where we are on Wednesday 20th January 2010 and given some of the tragic stories we have heard in recent days about the people of Haiti we are called to be people of compassion, people of gratitude and people of presence. Enter into this day and be mindful of our vocation and ministry in this community of Emmaus. Holidays are times to relax and for me one part of that is to read. Share the story of the book and what message it had for me.
Purpose: RLOS will assist school communities in the development of the faith of their members by providing a lens through which their religious life may be viewed and developed.
Section 1: Background information and contextualizes the contemporary Catholic school
Section 2: Presents the four components for understanding the religious life of Catholic schools. Each of the components is distinctive yet interrelated and complementary. Each of the four components have three elements which help schools reflect on their practices.
RLOS matches 4 out of 5 of the Priority 1 of the Strategic School Renewal Framework. Learning and Teaching of Religion makes up the fifth.

3. What do we mean by this?
Elements within this component include the ethos, the identity and charism; the aesthetic environment e.g. religious art and iconography, provision and design of sacred and reflective space; pastoral care and personal and social development programs; school policies, procedures, organisation and structure.
World view expressed through the religious Identity and culture of the school
Beliefs, values, practices, relationships, welcome, physical environment, culture
Share story about Elliott’s enrolment interview
All areas of the school contribute to the religious identity and culture of the school – everyone’s responsibility

4. Ethos and charism Embedding ethos and charism
Living the vision and mission
Communicating the ethos and charism
The word Charism, in the tradition of the Church, refers to the spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit used for service of the whole community.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are graces freely given to the soul which enables the graced person to respond freely and promptly to the inspirations of God.
These extraordinary gifts or graces of the holy spirit are given to individuals for the sake of others
St Paul lists nine of these graces in his letters to the early Christian communities. Read 1 Corinthians 12:4-11.
Wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, speaking in different kinds of tongues, interpretation of tongues.
St Paul insists that virtue of charity is above all other charisms (1 Corinthians 13). Charity is the ability to love God above all things and to love others for the sake of God.
The Charism of an Ecumenical school provides the pathway to Jesus Christ and God. The Charism is not the end – it’s the way we get there.

5. Authentic Christian community
Building dignity and diversity
Building quality relationships
Practising Christian hospitality
Developing practices, polices, structures that promote the respect for the dignity of each person
Welcome, encourage and support the families, staff and visitors
Christian hospitality – how are people welcomed into this community, how the values expressed through word and action. Gospel Values – not just talk about, bring it in to every day events.

6. Creating a sense of the sacred… Enhancing the religious culture
Resourcing for a sense of the sacred..
sense of the sacred
Sense of the Sacred – through art, design, space, well cared for gardens, school grounds, iconography
Engaging the senses – liturgies, prayer rituals
Resourcing – the sacred spaces of the school, Professional Learning for teachers about how to…

7. At the end of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus commissioned his followers to “go and make disciples of all nations”. Read the text from the Bible (Mt 28:19). The term used by the Church to describe this activity is evangelisation.
In its broadest sense the word evangelisation is taken from the Latin word “evangelium” which translates to ‘good news’ or ‘gospel’.
Evangelisation includes not only the proclamation of the gospel in words, but all of the Church’s ministries and the realisation of its whole mission. So it is not part of what we do, but rather implicit in all we do.
There is directive attributed to St Francis of Assisi which says “Preach the Gospel always, and when necessary, use words! ”Evangelisation is not just about the words but every way the church continues the ministry and mission of Jesus in the world. This includes celebrating the sacraments, doing works of justice, peace and compassion, building up community.
Ecumenical Schools are Evangelising Communities
When we use these guidelines we are talking about a narrower sense of the word evangelisation. What we are referring to is how schools can contribute to the evangelising mission of the Church.
It is referring to how students/staff/school communities can become evangelising communities and therefore be witnesses to the greater mission of the Church.

8. Living the Gospel creating a Christ-centred environment
A call for openness that invites each person to experience a change of heart by engaging with the world of Jesus. There is invitation for discipleship and ministry.
Evaluate the effectiveness of how Christ is presented and interpreted in the life of the school e.g. on websites, in rituals, inconograpghy
Using restorative justice practices to develop a Christian culture of forgiveness and reconciliation
Identify and use scriptural texts to promote and support the Christian values of the school
creating a Christ-centred environment
embedding the gospel in practices and processes
celebrating the Good News

9. Spiritual Formation Providing formation for staff
Spiritual Formation is orientated to the spiritual growth of each individual.
Engage people with expertise for staff formation. Incorporate the Catching Fire framework.
Provide faith formation for student by intentional planned moments, retreat, meditation, prayer experiences
Celebrate the religious unity and diversity; invitation for other representatives of other faith traditions to participate
Express spiritual awareness through creative arts, dance, drama, technology, media
Providing formation for staff
Planning formation for students
Responding to diversity
Seeking creative expressions

10. Witness to the Wider Community
Participation of families in the life of the school and engagement with wider faith communities of participating churches.
Give witness to the beliefs and values of the Christian Tradition and authentically proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Invitation for students to be involved in retreats, camps, reflection days
Develop ways of meeting the needs of the community and beyond
Encourage connections with others in youth ministries
Communicating the school values/beliefs through newsletters, blogs etc
celebrating with others
reaching out
making connections
communicating the Message

11. Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the request of asking good things from God. St Augustine “Prayer is communication with God”
Worship is described as the adoration of God that may be expressed through praise, self-sorrowing, thanksgiving, sorrow and petition.
Worship of God is described as private when it happens anywhere, anytime.
Liturgy is public worship centred on Christ.

12. Christian Prayer Drawing on the tradition Nurturing prayer life
Teach and use a variety of traditional prayers
Nurture prayer life by modeling and explaining gestures
Provide a variety of prayer devotions, silence, mandalas, litanies and mantras, traditional prayers
Drawing on the tradition
Nurturing prayer life
Providing a variety of experiences

13. Celebration of liturgy and sacraments
Developing skills in liturgy
Promoting participation in liturgy
Celebrating sacraments
Liturgy is the formal public ritual of the Church made up of very specific elements and structure set down by the Church.
Liturgy is the term used to describe the official public worship of the Catholic Church – Sacrament of Eucharist, other sacraments, Liturgy of the Word and Liturgy of the Hours
It is the action of Christ and the people of God to give praise and thanks to God and celebrates the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
In the liturgy, the Christian community, expresses who they are through words, symbols, gestures, music and movement, expressing their faith and having their faith nourished and strengthened.
Prayer rituals are flexible.
They are not part of the formal, public ritual of the Church, but can be prayed by individuals or groups whenever they choose.
The Rosary, Novenas and the Stations of the Cross are Prayer Rituals.
Sacraments are Liturgy and therefore there are structures
Show video of the Sacrament of Penance
Preparation: the more involved the participants in the preparation, the more meaningful is the experience. Teach about silence, gestures, prayers, ritualistic actions, Sign of the Cross, tracing the cross before the Gospel, processing to Communion or for a blessing, the Sign of Peace

14. Ritualising everyday life
Ritualise everyday events – bring in scriptural texts when talking about Gospel Values
Commissioning and Blessing ceremonies – birthday blessings
Promote simple rituals for families – part of the evangelising mission of the Church
Promote and use prayer rituals in the classroom, with staff, whole school
Incorporate sacred spaces
Ritualising life events
Using prayer rituals in the classroom

16. Justice in the school community
Give witness to the beliefs and values of the Catholic Christian Tradition and authentically proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Invitation for students to be involved in retreats, camps, reflection days
Develop ways of meeting the needs of the community and beyond
Encourage connections with others in youth ministries
Communicating the school values/beliefs through newsletters, blogs etc
Respecting the dignity of all
Praying for justice
Building a just community

17. Action for Justice Applying Catholic social teaching
Caring for the environment
Learning through service
Give witness to the beliefs and values of the Catholic Christian Tradition and authentically proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Invitation for students to be involved in retreats, camps, reflection days
Develop ways of meeting the needs of the community and beyond
Encourage connections with others in youth ministries
Communicating the school values/beliefs through newsletters, blogs etc

18. Reflection on Action for Justice
Give witness to the beliefs and values of the Catholic Christian Tradition and authentically proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Invitation for students to be involved in retreats, camps, reflection days
Develop ways of meeting the needs of the community and beyond
Encourage connections with others in youth ministries
Communicating the school values/beliefs through newsletters, blogs etc
Promoting critical discernment
Building a culture of reflection

19. On the inside page of your booklet you have one of these images
On the inside page of your booklet you have one of these images. Find the page that this image is on and read the description at the top and then the list of examples. This list is by no means prescriptive nor exhaustive and all examples have been gathered from real schools. Complete the strategy and then I will ask you to find others with the same photo and share. These will be collected at the end of the session in sets so that they can be used by the leadership team to assist with planning etc.

20. Your Task… Each person select a component
Use 10 words or less to explain the elements to the people at your table
Find one idea for each that your school is doing and share
Find one idea for each that you would like to try at your school or in your classroom and share at your table
Your Task…
Each person take a picture from the table
Find that picture in the RLOS Guidelines book and look at what it is connected to. Read that part and come up with ten words to explain that part and share with people at your table.
Find one idea in this section you are already doing and share at your table
Find one idea in this section you think you might like to try and share at your table.