no school can work without becoming a true
community. Nowhere is this more true than here
at King's - and at the other Woodard Schools like
Bloxham - and nowhere is it made more explicit
than here in this Chapel, where for the last
century the community has gathered together. Not
for nothing do we celebrate that community here
in the service of Holy Communion.
The Chapel is also a sign, a symbol of
commitment. To listen to those in high
educational places - government ministers and
the like - you would think that schools exist to
deliver the child's educational entitlement, to
produce young citizens with the necessary skills
to be effective economic units, that it is all about
what you get out of education. But as we know,
this is a community that is committed to the
service of other people, to producing, as the
Bloxham School prayer says 'profitable members
of the Church and Commonwealth', to putting in
to practice Christ's charge to us to love our
neighbour as ourselves. With all the discussions
on the public benefit of independent schools, it
is worth remembering that the greatest public
benefit that they - or any school - can give is for
its pupils to acquire a deep ethos of commitment
to other people. We are not here simply to be a
happy, positive community, but we are also here
to be sent out to do God's work in the world.
Finally, the Chapel is a sign, a symbol of the fact
that at the heart of the school is not the founder,
or the Headmaster, or even the School Council
or the Woodard Board, but it is Christ himself; if
we are the living stones, then it is Christ who is
the cornerstone chosen and precious. Nathaniel
Woodard said that "Education without religion is,
in itself, a pure evil, nothing more or less". We
might not go so far, but in these days when faith
schools are under attack, this Chapel stands for
the firm conviction than in this school it is Christ
who is at the heart. We are gathered here for
the Lord's Supper. Because it is Christ who is
the Lord of this school, this Chapel, and - we
pray - of all the members of this community.
So we give thanks for a hundred years of this
Chapel, for the faithful men and women, girls and
boys who have worshipped here, who have been
drawn together into a community of mutual
support and belief in excellence, who have
committed themselves to witnessing to and
serving their fellow men and women, and who
have done it all in the strength and love of God as
revealed in Jesus Christ. Not for nothing is this
service also a Eucharist, a thanksgiving, for all the
blessings that Christ has bestowed on this school.
And we pray that this Chapel may continue to
stand as a sacrament, a symbol that King's
College continues to put Christ at the heart of all it
does, secure in the faith in his promise for the
years and centuries to come: "And remember, I
am with you always to the end of the age."
Aluredian
14
(Verse 1 can be repeated at the end)
1. A hundred years! A hundred years, O Lord
This faithful school has worshipped in this
place.
And still today your name is here adored!
We thank you for abiding love and grace.
2. We thank you Father for the constant prayer
Of those who saw with faith a vision clear;
And those who freely sought their wealth to
share,
To build for Christ a place of worship here.
3. We thank you Christ, for Architect's design;
For toiling labourer, for craftsmen's skill.
May we in purity like white walls shine,
And in a world of darkness do your will.
4. For generations past who worshipped here,
Who join us now, but on another shore,
Thank Holy Spirit! May we persevere;
And live by faith as those who went before.
5. We celebrate this treasure we have found!
In body, mind and spirit make us one;
And in this unity may love abound
In our great school, while endless ages run.