The Record 2014 - 2015

REVIEWS OF THE YEAR Chapel Rev Charlie Kerr, Chaplain

The Chapel year began with two welcome services, the first for new Shells and their parents, and, the second for new Sixth Form pupils, both focusing on the idea of what we need to flourish at school. These services and the Ad Itinerarium for Leavers are seen as significant spiritual bookends for pupils’ careers at St Edward’s, setting their time here within the wider significance of lives held and nurtured within the love of God. The Autumn Term gathered momentum quickly with a series in Midweek Chapel on “Sacraments – Windows into the Transforming Power of God”. Each of the traditional seven sacraments was explored using the stained glass windows in the chancel of the Chapel as a starting point. On the 28th October the Chapel was full for the commemoration of the life of Derek Roe, OSE and Governor for 44 years. It was a moving occasion, with family and friends playing important parts in the service, but ultimately it felt like a joyful tribute to a man who gave so much to the School and so much to the world through his academic and professional pursuits. A service was held to mark the centenary of the beginning of the First World War and commemorated all those who from St Edward’s who died. A Head of House and a Shell from each House laid a poppy on the altar, and the highest-ranking cadet from each of the services of the CCF laid a wreath. The choir sang beautifully and three soloists (Myles Docherty, Jamie Fabian-Hunt and Tom Montgomery) contributed excerpts from Housman’s A Shropshire Lad set to music

by George Butterworth. We celebrated the Commemoration of the Chapel on the 23rd November with the help of Bishop Martin Shaw (Retd), and he consecrated over 30 new Lower Sixth pupils as School Sacristans in a service with a little pomp and some splashing of holy water! Our usual array of festive and joyful carol services brought the term to its close. The Spring Term sprang into action with The Very Revd Professor Martin Percy preaching at our opening Eucharist on the 11th January. Martin accepted the invitation willingly as both a parent of Joe (Upper Sixth, Sing’s) and, as Dean of Christ Church, an Oxford college that holds a special place in the heart and history of our own community. Joe Percy, Martin’s son, followed his father as our next preacher and he introduced the term’s theme of “Beyond the Bubble” by recounting his experience of founding a charity called Open Goal to support young footballers in the Palestinian West Bank. The series continued throughout the term, with most talks being given by pupils challenging each of us to look “beyond the bubble” of St Edward’s. We moved to The North Wall on the second Sunday of term for our annual exploration of worshipping God in a different place and with a different, more contemporary and evangelical style. Bubbles blew down from a bubble machine in the ceiling and with the help of Sarah Laing, one of our school nurses, we thought about how we could change the atmosphere within the bubble of our school. Confirmation once again proved

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