The Revd Canon Sue Binks, Diocesan Link Officer for the Diocese of False Bay writes about the back-to-school service at St Peter’s, Kleinvlei.
The Back-to-School Service in January at St Peter’s, Kleinvlei in False Bay Diocese after the long Summer and Christmas Vacation is a meaningful opportunity for the local Church to minister and engage with children, young people and families. Clergy, Choir, Governors and the Congregation come to Church in school uniform; it’s a riot of colours, stripes, bursting seams and knee-high socks and school ties.
Some will proudly wear the uniform of their new school for the first time; those who left school many decades ago will have scoured cupboards and charity shops to find knee-high socks and blazers. Many church members will have been working with the students in education, health care and social services and they too will be prayed for. Here is a real sense of ubuntu – community – truly lived out to support, guard and guide this up-and-coming generation.
The Revd Nitano says, “As a Parish we believe education is the most empowering force in the world and we are serious in supporting our young people overcome their difficult circumstances to reach their full potential.”
The Church Family provides each Learner with a bag of essentials – paper, pens, data and hygiene products. Many have little themselves but give generously what they can. Above all they give the young people value, encouraging them to seize every opportunity, to have dreams, to know the power of possibility.
The service is bursting with laughter; the Rector is transformed into a teenager, ‘aunties’ and ‘uncles’ share their stories, recalling happy times, tight scrapes and teachers. They poignantly recall the difficulties and challenges of the apartheid era, and there’s sadness that contemporary South Africa faces high levels of youth unemployment, gender violence and the daily disruption of loadshedding.
The Church Building offers safe space for learners to study and do their homework, Holiday Clubs, and snacks provided by parishioners. As the Academic Year draws to a close the Diocese provides practical and spiritual resources for Grade 12 students taking the ‘Matric’ exams that are their gateway to tertiary education.
