No greater words could be delivered to our young people today than those of St Edmund Campion from his 'Brag', reminding us all some five hundred years later, that God works in us and for us. Chaplaincy at The Campion School aims to encourage and support the school community in our journey of faith, a journey we recognise is unique, and sometimes challenging for each person.
"The expense is reckoned, the enterprise is begun; it is of God, it cannot be withstood. So the faith was planted: so it must be restored."
Faced with the threat of the most horrific methods of torture and death, St Edmund Campion never wavered in his faith, more so, it served to drive him forward to serve the people of God all the more. Thankfully we will never have to endure anything like the hardships our patron was faced with, but we do understand that each person has their battles with faith and challenges associated with being a teenager. The role of Lay Chaplain is to provide both the staff and students with an arm of friendship and support which is compassionate in the way that Jesus offered his love to every single person. It is to encompass a feeling of Christian fellowship and ensure the values of Christ are a part of our whole school life by: providing a full and varied liturgical programme that includes Mass, organising the school’s retreat programme, providing opportunities for social justice action and fundraising events, upholding links with parishes and the diocese and doing all I can in the form of weekly resources and support to maintain our Christian ethos.
We are blessed to have a supportive network of local priests, as well as a number of former students who have gone on to be ordained. They help us celebrate Mass regularly. We celebrate Mass together as a whole school community on special occasions; at the start and end of the school year, on Campion Day and on Ash Wednesday. There are also ample opportunities for personal prayer or collective worship in our school chapel. Year 7 students have class Masses on a regular basis.
Retreats are a fantastic opportunity for our students and staff to evaluate their faith journey and develop an understanding of the importance of Jesus in their lives. In Year 7, pupils are taken to Aylesford Priory for a day and in Year 9 they spend the day at our diocesan retreat centre, Walsingham House. In Year 8, in form groups, we go to London to visit the Jesuits' church in Farm Street and also the site of St Edmund Campion's martyrdom, Tyburn. In Year 11, a group of forty students go on a pilgrimage to Rome. It is an unforgettable experience. In the Sixth Form, we return to Walsingham House.