Celebrating Heritage
‘Heritage’ probably brings to mind images of 200-year-old buildings and precious pieces of furniture when you hear it spoken.
Often, we associate the word with a particular organisation or the sort of place that you take the children for an educational visit, perhaps a museum filled with rare and wonderful treasures from the past. This week we celebrate ‘Heritage Day’ at Calvin, but it is worth being clear about what it means and what we are celebrating.
As a school with a history, we are very conscious of the heritage that we enjoy. Our heritage includes facilities that were the result of volunteer labour, fundraising, and community effort. We also experience heritage through the ongoing connection of people and families who have given selflessly towards building and supporting this Christian school. Our brand-new primary playground funded by our parent-led Community Engagement Committee is a great example of this heritage. Heritage is also grown and developed as new families join us with a desire to commit to the community life of Calvin Christian School and for whose family, this has become ‘their school’.
‘Heritage’ has another meaning in Scripture. When the word ‘heritage’ is used it has the sense of a gift or a blessing from God, sometimes described as an inheritance. In Psalm 61 for example, we read ‘for You God, have heard my vows; You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name’ (v5). This is our ‘heritage’ the gift of God that leads to a fuller relationship with Him as individuals and as a community.
“As parents, it is worth remembering that we are building a ‘heritage’ for our children that is not material.”
This is what we celebrate as a school, the gift of God that continues to sustain a thriving Christian school. Not buildings or objects necessarily (although they are part of our heritage) but a community where our children can grow and learn, mature and even make mistakes, as part of what we would describe as a transformational Christian learning community. That is a place where they can grow in the knowledge and wisdom of the Lord as a whole person, growing in the academic, physical, spiritual, and relational areas of life.
As parents, it is worth remembering that we are building a ‘heritage’ for our children that is not material. A heritage that can be hard to name but is much more valuable than whatever physical heritage we might give them. It is a heritage of love and relationship, a confident foundation, and a sense of hope that can sustain them through the challenges of life. A knowledge that they are image-bearers of God, of eternal worth, and loved by their Creator.
As we partner in supporting these young people, we do well to remember the words of Psalm 127, ‘Children are a heritage from the Lord’ (v3). I hope you will join us in celebrating our heritage this Term as we support the Calvin Christian School community and our children. I look forward to seeing you at a soccer game, our Walking in the Light night, around our School or at an upcoming parent event.
Scott Ambrose - Principal
