Hospitality
NOVEMBER 1
Editorial
Thursday and Friday last week provided the annual late-October long weekend for our WCS families and provided spiritual and professional refreshment and growth for our staff team. The Edvance Annual Gathering was live-streamed to our staff gathered in the gym at WCS. The theme this year was Education as Hospitality. Thursday’s lecture and discussions began with looking at scripture in order to understand how hospitality is woven into the biblical command to love and care for one another. Hebrews 13:1-2 tells us: “Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!” A key concept communicated by Dr. David Smith was, “If a school is a hospitable space, it will serve as a home that introduces students to a tradition of knowledge, creates a safe space in which they are shaped by constructive practices, and makes room for students to move in new directions and begin to tell their own story.”
As we see considerable tension and ‘taking sides’ in our world currently, it is more important than ever to find and share our common story, to bring people in, to build trust, to serve each other with justice and mercy.
I wonder if we as parents and school partners are raising children/students who are aware of their stories and are committed to caring for others. Do your children know your family’s story? Do they know their faith story? How are they growing and expanding their circles of interest and contact? Are they demonstrating care for and interest in the stories of others? It starts with love for others. Galatians 5:22 “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.” My prayer is that WCS and our families reflect the abundance of love, honour and grace that God has given us, and that our lives and actions are characterized by generosity and hospitality.
Carol Verbeek, Principal
