Worship, The Deanery

Our theme this term is 'WISDOM'

Our Christian faith is central to everything we do at The Deanery CE Academy, and our collective worship plays a big part in our school lives. Sometimes we assemble as a whole school family and worship together, such as at Christmas or the end of term. Every week we gather together as tutor groups to reflect and worship as a smaller group. We base our worship around our core values and have a termly theme. For example 'wisdom', and this theme will often reflect the time of year or special memorial days occurring at that time. We use our tutor worship as a way of reflecting on our own lives, our relationships with each other and with God, and as an opportunity to learn how we can live “life in all its fullness” ~ John 10:10. Everyone is invited to participate, whether of faith or no faith, and are welcome to use this time of self-reflection and stillness as appropriate in their own lives.

This term: Wisdom

What does it mean to be 'wise'? To know a lot of stuff? To be educated to a certain level? To have a lot of experience? To be old in years? I remember being at University and one of my Theology lecturers was extremely intelligent and knowledgeable, but his lectures were so boring! He didn't know how to use the knowledge he had to create engaging lectures which were inspiring and meaningful for the students. Being wise is much more than just being 'smart'. It is about knowing how to use the knowledge we have to make good choices and inspiring others to do the same.
One person who is particularly known and revered for their wisdom is King Solomon. A well-known example of Solomon’s wisdom is his judgment in a dispute over the identity of the actual mother of an infant child (1 Kings 3:16-28). Solomon offered to split the living child in half, understanding that the true mother would prefer to lose her son to another woman than to have him killed. Solomon was not only wise in his rule as King but had excellent general wisdom as well, and multiple books are attributed to him in the Bible. .
The Christian Bible is full to the brim with wisdom, whether that be found in the traditional Book of Proverbs in the Old Testament or the parables Jesus told during his ministry, which can be found in the New testament. But sometimes it can be difficult to know where to look if we are seeking something in particular. One way of accessing the Bible could be to use a website Biblegateway.com. This website has a handy tool where you can enter a key word or phrase and it will give you results based on that. It also has the option to change the translation as well.
"Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom" ~ James 3:13. Let us ask God to help us to make the right and wises choices in our lives, and to use the talents and gifts He has given us for the better of our world.
Mrs Gallagher April '23

Our school community plays an active role in our collective worship, and our newly formed 'worship committee' has taken a leading role in planning, preparing, and delivering sessions for their peers. In January our worship committee delivered a whole school assembly to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day from our chapel, via Zoom. We reflected together on the atrocities of World War 2, and prayed for all those affected by genocide, both in the past and today. More recently, on Ash Wednesday, we had a whole school service led by Rev Phill and then our WC went over to Kingfisher to spend some time with the youngest members of our community. It was so lovely to be able to work alongside the little ones and share our gifts and faith with each other. Lots of messy fun was had! We look forward to working with the Kingfisher children a lot more in the future.

Our wonderful and inspiring worship committee were asked to speak about HOPE at the annual Diocese of Bristol Education Conference in October '22. They spoke from the heart about those issues that are important to them, and their hopes and dreams for our world. They captivated a room full of adults with their eloquence and sincerity, and earned a huge round of applause. "Out of the mouths of babes you have established strength" Psalm 8:1