Comments & Editorials 14
School Assembly (1965)

"The school day in every county and voluntary school must begin with collective worship on the part of all pupils in attendance at the school except those excused from attendance at religious worship..."

"Collective worship must not be distinctive of a particular religious denomination...”

Education Act, 1944.

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Whilst interpretations of the above clauses would appear to be as numerous as the schools to which they apply, there seems to be a general consensus of opinion that school assembly is no longer fulfilling its moral or statutory obligations.

During the last two years, attempts have been made at St. Nicholas to rectify this. I intend in this short article to attempt to explain the raison d'être of the experiments made. What follows is purely my own interpretation of views which have evolved from discussion amongst a few members of staff and senior boys. It has not necessarily any relationship with the official school policy.

The requirements of the Education Act are, in true parliamentary tradition, vague in the extreme, but as far as "collective worship" may be defined, the school is required to assemble for the purpose of respecting and honouring God. It is, however, doubtful whether the majority of the school gather for any other reason than that they are forced to and that assembly is merely a time for routine notices. Equally, the minority who do attend assembly in order to "worship" must find this almost impossible under the circumstances.

The basic pattern of assembly - music, reading, prayer - need not be varied. It is in material and approach that alterations are to be made. The Victorian melodramatic stigma must be removed, the Authorised language passed on to the classicists and the scholars' apathy buried with such gems of hymnological surrealism as "Gentle Jesus, meek and mild" and "Hills of the North. rejoice!"

Our approach to religious music must be up-to-date; Appleford, Beaumont and Marsh have all produced hymns expressing religious thought in the popular idiom. This is not an attempt to cheapen religion but to enable those who normally find expression through this medium to worship God in the way which is natural to them. The idea is not to reject past hymnology en bloc: many hymns are lasting, timeless. But we must not seek to preserve the transient, as if they were the last vestiges of an ideal.

A similar argument applies to the material for readings. Although the Bible is the same in essence no matter what the translation, it is more easily understood in contemporary language. Sources other than the Bible may profitably be used. An understanding and appreciation of modern religious writings or secular writings with religious connotations help us to know God and worship Him more easily.

Finally there is the problem of prayer. Again, we should worship God in our own contemporary idiom and I suggest we include all forms of prayer in our service - intercession and thanksgiving as well as confession and supplication. These are but two possible improvements.

I have tried to suggest some practical methods of allowing due reverence to God, ways of making the ten minutes of collective worship sensible and worthwhile. I hope that the lead which St. Nicholas School has already shown will be developed and spread. Our approach to collective worship must be constantly revised. kept up-to-date; otherwise it will became a degradation of the God it is meant to serve,

E. F. CATTERMOLE

(St. Nicholas Old Boys)