I did not realize initially that in our 300 Schools around the Western Australian community that all of the Chaplains in them are Christian in both faith and practice.
Youth Care is the main body that supplies these men and women into our school's to teach and to care for our children.
As a Christian myself I am most concerned that the Chaplains are all Christian and my proposal to Youth Care is that they seek out or explore other faith path and traditions and that their Chaplains become Pastoral Care worker's and that each of these men and women start to learn and to really go to a much deeper level of insight and awareness of what it means to not be a Christian. I have the deepest respect and love for these men and women yet I sense and see the need for Pastoral Care people to represent all of the Faith path and Traditions in our Community. So my suggestion and recommendation to Organisations such as Youth Care is that they seek out an Organisation that can teach their Chaplains about this. The children in our School's are not all Christian, they are a reflection of their parent's who may be Buddhist, Hindu, Muslin ect ect. All I am suggesting, and suggesting strongly is that Organisations such as Youth Care really look at this. Wouldnt it be lovely to have, say, a Buddhist nun being a Pastoral Care worker at one of our School's. Or perhaps a Muslim man being a Pastoral Care worker. I am suggesting that we move away from the name Chaplain and start using a more inclusive word such as Pastoral Care support, that we place into our School's men and women of all Faith path and traditions, that each person, grounded in their faith path have a sense of how the OTHER, worships and prays and lives.
Please write to Youth Care or email them and suggest to them that this would be a valuable way to go in the future with their Organisation.
blessings and I welcome all comment.
Br Francis Mary