CHRISTIAN VALUES and THEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND

Autumn One: Love

A core Christian Value is Love. Our school's vision encourages all to love themselves, love each other, love learning, love life for God is Love. The Bible explicitly tells us that God is Love and that those who live in love live in God and God lives in them. (1 John 4:16)

The belief that God has revealed Himself to us as love is at the very heart of the Christian faith. The original Greek word that the New Testament uses to describe the love of God is agape. Agape does not mean romantic love or even the love we might feel for our family or close friends. It means putting others before ourselves whether they deserve it or not – a selfless love-in-action. God’s love calls us to serve others freely without expectation of reward – even people who we don’t like or who don’t like us – because they are made in the image of God.

At the centre of the teaching of the school is that we are all created in the image of God; that we are all individuals and that we are treated equally. Genesis 1: 27  “So God created humans in his own image. He created them to be like himself.”

The value of ‘Love’ underpins everything we do in school. We believe that through a focus on Love by working together as part of a strong and supportive family, we can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us.

Autumn Two: Peace

The Hebrew term for peace, ‘shalom’, has a deep and complex meaning, encompassing much more than simply the absence of hostility or war. Shalom includes ideas of healing and health, wholeness and well-being. It means harmony, stability and security within a community. It refers to relationships based on truth and righteousness, where people flourish because they are nurtured.

 In Jesus’ message, peace is an almost tangible element. It is his gift to his disciples. Paul describes God as the God of peace, the Christian message is called the ’gospel of peace’ and peace is one of the ‘fruits of the Spirit’. It seems that humankind has to learn and re-learn the message of peace. It does not come easily or automatically. We constantly fall back into hostility and suspicion.

Peter, quoting the Psalms, says we must ‘seek peace and pursue it’ (1 Peter 3:11).

Jesus blesses those who are ‘peacemakers’ and calls them ‘sons of God’. It is noteworthy how often the word peace is used in parallel with the word ‘righteousness’. Peace cannot come by simply wishing it to be the case. Peace is founded on righteousness and justice.

Christians are called to share in Christ’s work of restoring wholeness. The Christian vision in this respect is far-reaching and challenging: harmony between people, harmony between people and God, and harmony between humans and the whole created order.