Wisdom and Justice - Balderstone and beyond!

Micah 6:8: 'The Lord God has told us what is right and what he demands: "See that justice is done; let mercy be your first concern, and humbly obey your God."'

This year, as a school worshipping family we shall be continuing on our journey of discovery through God’s Big Story with a focus in the first term on wisdom (what does it mean to be wise as a Christian?) and how this links to justice

Personal justice - 'playing fair' with others; respecting others' rights; acting responsibly and fairly with the people we meet each day. Living out our school’s mission statement in all we do in and around our school and communities

Social justice speaking up on behalf of others in the community; recognising that others are fellow human beings with the same rights as ourselves; making sure all voices are heard impartially; challenging biased reporting, unfair practices and institutional prejudice; working for a fairer society

• “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25;40, 45)

Global justice - honouring human rights for all people – linked to the statement in our mission of ‘Loving one another’ as part of a global family; campaigning for a fairer world; challenging unfair systems of trade and exposing financial exploitation; speaking up for the poor, the marginalised and the vulnerable; giving a fair hearing to migrant workers, refugees, the forgotten poor and the powerless; speaking up against global inequality; reassessing our own experiences of justice in the light of global issues

As this half term also includes Harvest festival, we shall be exploring a ‘just harvest’ and how this links to our work towards becoming a Fairtrade school and also our work with the Beluba Foundation – harvesting a just future for our twin school. The British values links are with the idea of democracy and rule of law (our laws make sure that people are not hurt or exploited by others and to protect us from our own worst behaviour!) However, we want the children to understand that as Christians we have to be ready to stand up to injustice and challenge and change rules/laws/systems if they are not following our golden rule – “treating others as you want them to treat you (Matthew 7:12) linked to our mission statement. It also links to forgiveness – justice is about not judging but forgiving and making change. We want our children, this term to feel (through prayer and worship) that they can and ARE making a difference to God’s world – acting on behalf of others through supporting them in prayer, understanding and supporting Fairtrade and also school council and Salt and Light group involvement in school decision making.

Epiphany… big questions &  God’s bigger answers

This half-term we shall be continuing on our journey through god’s Big Story with a focus on asking the BIG Questions about faith. We are rooting this half term’s worships on our mission statement bible verse.

from 1 Corinthians 13:13. "And now these three remain:  faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

Hope is coupled with faith and love as one of the three most enduring gifts of the Spirit.  We are going to start our journey with the wise men as we explore the symbolism of the gifts.  

This half term we are going to focus on these 3 values of faith, hope and love linking them to our journey through God’s big story and thinking closely about faith, hope and love as the 3 most enduring gifts we are given.

This next half-term we focus on healing, reconciliation and justice – as we explore the big questions surrounding Fairtrade, Lent and God’s salvation plan put into action. We continue in our exploration of Jesus’ ministry and his healing/miracles. We are preparing for Fairtrade fortnightbrom the 25th Feb onwards. Our Fairtrade champions, from Year 5/6  who attended the Diocesan Fairtrade conference are all fired up and ready to share their findings with us all. Perhaps we are being called to become a Fairtrade school and to make more sustainable decisions in our school and classes. These could be topics for discussion in class worship – How can we be better stewards of all we’ve been given?

We are linking this theme to a deeper understanding of God’s justice and what this means to us in our lives, our school, community and our world!  Justice is done when negotiation is transformed by reconciliation; when people become more than objects of desire, manipulation and profit; when poverty is confronted by asking, not how much the poor require, but how much the rich need; when the goods of the earth are looked upon, not as sources of private profit, but as sacraments of divine and human inter-communication. As and when such things occur, then God’s justice is done, and there the kingdom of God becomes manifest. For the justice of God is the kingdom of God.

Mark Searle: Serving the Lord with Justice

We’ll be exploring where chocolate (cocoa) comes from, the unfairness at the heart of one of our favourite treats and how we can use our voices and consumer power to address it. We’ll look at ‘wants’ versus ‘needs’ and what people need to live a dignified life. Fair trade isn’t asking us to make huge self-sacrifices or give up things (like chocolate) but it is about showing others respect and showing them Jesus’ dignity of being paid what their work is worth.  Can you be the difference in your home and be a champion for a fair price for all farmers/workers?