Each month, articles that can be included in a school newsletter by a chaplain will now be provided in Chaplaincy Matters. Regular communication to the school community will help improve the understanding of what a chaplain does and help families and staff get to know ‘their chappy’ and the service being offered at the school. If people in a school community don’t understand what a chaplain does, or that the service even exists at the school, fundraising and other activities can be difficult.
Consider doing the following:
- Get permission from your Principal for newsletter articles and check if there is approval for the inclusion of a Bible verse before you use one. If you can’t include a Bible verse, edit the thought pieces that have been provided and remove the bible verses.
- Call it something like ‘Chappy’s corner’ or ‘Food for thought’. Include a photo of yourself – you want the school community to recognise you.
- Finish the article with your name e.g. Chappy Jan.
- Have at least one article a month included in your weekly school newsletter, weekly if possible.
- Below are 5 articles for the next month – provided by Chappy Teresa. Teresa has been a chaplain for 12 years and is now a regular Chaplaincy Matters contributor sharing articles she has prepared for her school newsletters over the years. Teresa has also given chaplains permission to put their own names to her articles – so that they can be a personal message from chaplains to their school community! Five articles were also included in the October Chaplaincy Matters in the ‘Top 5 fundraising and promotion tips’ article. Thank you Teresa!
Article 1 – the theme is about Charity
Food for Thought
Our world seems to be overflowing with worthwhile causes that are in desperate need of assistance. Just to name a few – the homeless, the refugees from wars and the victims of natural disasters and diseases, as well as people who are suffering due to physical or mental disabilities. It’s not surprising that we can be left feeling that the needs are too big and that there is nothing we can do about it all.
If that is how you feel, then I’d like to suggest another way of looking at things. Forget about what you can’t do, and instead please take the time to consider what you can do. Whether you donate unused clothing and household items to a charity shop or commit to donating a few dollars a month to a good cause, every bit you do does help.
When many people make those small differences, you can end up with major changes and huge improvements in people’s lives. If each person in Australia only gave $1 a year to help others, that would result in over 20 million dollars worth of help annually.
There is a very wise saying, ‘Whoever sows generously will also reap generously.’ What this means is that if you develop an attitude of generosity towards others, you will soon discover that generosity will flow back to you when you are in need of help.
So please take the time today to ask yourself ‘What can I do?’ and then go ahead and do it.
A message from Chappy …….
Article 2 – The theme is about LETTING GO OF THE PAST
Food for Thought
Letting go of the past – this is sometimes not an easy thing to do.
If you have been hurt badly by people or by circumstances, you can often find yourself reliving those experiences over and over in your mind. Think about this though – if you picked up a small pebble every time something upset you or someone offended you and refused to put it down, it wouldn’t be very long before you had collected an awful lot of pebbles. Carrying this burden would eventually start to impact all areas of your life; your health and your happiness.
And so it is with the hurts in your life. You can choose to not let go. You can cling tightly to the memory of every disappointment and negative experience. If you are like that, I can guarantee that you are not a happy or emotionally healthy person.
Recognise that there is nothing you can do to change what has already happened. However, you definitely do have the power to decide whether you allow past hurts to wreck your future happiness. The choice is yours.
A message from Chappy …….
Article 3 – What makes you attractive
Food for Thought
Have you noticed how many articles and advertisements there are in magazines and newspapers and on our televisions that are related to things that promise to make us look better?
Diets and exercise routines, wrinkle creams and tanning creams, cosmetics and hair products, not to mention all the latest fashions – some may make you feel a bit better, some may even make you look a bit better and some will cost a fortune, but none will guarantee that you will become a more likeable person.
It is true that making the effort to look our best is important, but no matter how great we look, if our attitude towards others is lacking, no amount of money spent on our appearance will improve what people think of us.
Take the time, today, to think about what people really think of you. Are there things about your behaviour towards others that you know you should change? You are the only one that can make those changes.
If you start each day by reminding yourself of positive attributes, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control and really endeavour to display these in your relationships with others, then you are likely to be a much loved and greatly admired person.
A message from Chappy …….
Article 4 – End of Year Stresses
Food for thought
The end of the School Year is almost upon us. Each year, as we approach the time of ‘Peace, Joy and Goodwill’, have you ever noticed that we also tend to be faced with one of the busiest and often most draining times of the year.
End of year exams and assignments, as well as an ongoing stream of school and work break ups have left us all feeling a bit stressed. Students, teachers and also parents can start to feel overwhelmed and often quite on edge.
Are you starting to feel this way? Instead of allowing yourself to get to the point where stress is beginning to affect our health, as well as relationships within your home, why not go and talk through your feelings with someone. Have you ever heard the saying ‘A problem shared is a problem halved?’ It’s amazing how much better you will feel after a quiet conversation with a friend perhaps over a cup of coffee.
‘A cheerful heart is good medicine’ so be determined to not let life’s busy schedule rob you of your health and happiness. Make sure that your Christmas is indeed a time of peace and joy.
A message from Chappy …….
Article 5 – Christmas Peace
Food for Thought
Another school year is coming to an end and the Christmas Season is almost upon us – the season of ‘peace and joy’.
How I wish that were true. The reality is that the violence that we see reported on our TVs every night will still continue on regardless. So where have we – the human race – gone wrong? Could it be that we no longer know how to live at peace with one another?
Consider these words:
‘Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.’ (NIV Bible).
Let me encourage you to read through these words again, and then ask yourself how your love for others shapes up against the principles above. I don’t think any of us gets it perfect or right, but this Christmas season, can I urge you to genuinely attempt to work at improving your relationships.
The results of your efforts will indeed bring some of that longed for joy and peace into your homes and lifestyles, and not just at Christmas, but on into your future.
A message from Chappy …….