How Do ‘Bishops in Action’ Help Lead The Anglican Church In The Christian Faith Today?Christianity
Name of Unit:How Do‘Bishops in Action’ Help Lead The Anglican Church In The Christian Faith Today? / Faith:
Christianity
Key Stage In Which This Unit Should Be Taught:
Key Stage 2 / Recommended Year Group(if specified):
Previous Learning:
Christianity units in Key Stage 1
AT1 Learning About Religion
Focus:Forms of expression. / AT2 Learning From Religion
Focus:Identity and belonging.
What This Unit Teaches:
How each Church of England school is part of a parish which belongs in an Anglican Diocese and is overseen by a bishop;
The structure and workings of the Church of England, including the role of an Anglican bishop;
How the Church of England is part of an international Anglican communion, a group of national churches which originally derived from the Church of England, and that this is part of the worldwide Christian Church;
Develops knowledge of the role and work of bishops in the Anglican church;
Supports understanding of Christian teaching associated with the role of bishops, e.g. apostolic authority, spiritual leadership, Biblical images of ‘being a shepherd’ and offering pastoral care.
Key RE Vocabulary:
Anglican, Church of England, Christian, faith, bishop, parish, deanery, archdeaconry, Episcopal area, diocese, international Anglican communion, church, worldwide Christian Church, apostolic authority, spiritual leadership, Biblical, shepherd, pastoral care. / Cross-Curricular Links:
Computing;
Geography; History; Literacy; Numeracy; Music; Personal, Social and Health Education; Citizenship.
Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development:
The need to grow and develop spiritually, understanding how learning helps spiritual growth;
Living by a faith and / or a set of values that guide how to behave;
Working together collaboratively, together being stronger;
Encouraging a global perspective on the Christian community and an understanding of similarities and differences amongst Christian communities, celebrating this richness of diversity, particularly with all having a common faith. / Sensitivities:
Ensure that teaching reflects women bishops as well as men within the Church of England and in many other parts of the Anglican worldwide communion.
The ‘Bishops in Action’ website that supports this unit is being updated to reflect women bishops, but in the meantime teachers will need to ensure that they present images of women bishops as well and that all language used is inclusive.
However be sensitive that some people still do not accept women as bishops, both in parts of the Church of England and in some other countries.
Possible Further Thinking and Extension Activities:
Invite your area bishop or diocesan bishop to visit the school, maybe the class at the time that they are studying this unit of work.
Saint Nicholas,
Greater depth of learning from further exploration of the ‘Bishops in Action’ website:
Exploring the debate about women bishops, i.e. history, areas for and against, campaign group WATCH, previous campaign group MOW, (Movement for the Ordination of Women,) etc.
The Lambeth Conference 2018. / Future Learning:
Possibly: Who Is Jesus? (Depending on where this unit is place in the school’s RE Curriculum Map.)
Understanding Faith in . . .
Learning Objectives / AT1 / AT2 / Suggested Teaching Activities / Points To Note
Lessons 1 & 2
Pupils should:
Express awareness of the Worldwide Anglican Church and religious beliefs about the role of Anglican bishops in a range of styles and words used by Christians and suggest what they mean;
(AT1)
Ask questions about who we are and where we belong, suggest answers that a bishop might give and consider who inspires and influences themselves and others.
(AT2) /
/
/ How Does a ‘Bishop In Action’ Help Lead
The Anglican Church In The Christian Faith Today?
Remind the pupils about the special nature of their school, the school that they belong to.
It is a Church of England school.
What does that mean?
Who does the school belong to?
Discuss how the school is part of the parish church.
Explain what a parish is and the structures of the Church of England, how it is organised into:
A deanery;
An archdeaconry;
An Episcopal area;
A diocese.
Discuss how a diocese works; it supports parishes in ministry, education, youth and children’s work, mission, care for church buildings, finance, etc.
Make sure pupils know which parish, deanery, archdeaconry, Episcopal area and diocese that they come to school / live in.
Explain that the Church of England is a denomination of Christianity. What other Christian denominations do the pupils know of? What other Christian denominations are there locally?
The Church of England is the English part of the Anglican church. The Anglican Church is international, worldwide; there are Anglicans all across the world. This is called The Anglican Communion. Communion means ‘together’.
What are the leaders of the Church of England called? (The titles of their roles?)
Explain that the very senior leaders in the Anglican Church are called bishops. There is a bishop for each Episcopal area and each diocese has a bishop.
Who is the area bishop for the Episcopal area that the school is in?
Who is the diocesan bishop?
The remainder of the unit focuses on bishops leading the Anglican Church in the Christian faith today.
There are 6 areas for pupils to learn about:
What is a Bishop?
What Bishops wear?
Consecration;
Bishops Worldwide;
Being an Archbishop and The Archbishop of Canterbury;
Bishops in the Bible.
Lesson 1:
Pupils should divide into 6 groups and each group should research and learn about one of the areas, becoming ‘experts’ on that particular aspect of a bishop.
They need to ensure that they include information that addresses the 2 learning objectives of this unit,
including:
Information about the role of an Anglican bishop;
The international dimension of the Anglican Communion, which is part of the worldwide Christian Church;
Christian teaching associated with the role of bishops, etc.
Pupils could use a variety of resources and in particular the ‘Bishops in Action’ website:
The aim is for each group to prepare a presentation on their particular area of a ‘bishop in action’ to share with the rest of the class so that, by the end of this teaching unit, everyone has been able to learn about the role and work of bishops in the Anglican church in the widest sense.
The presentations could be presented in a variety of forms.
Lesson 2:
Each group shares their presentation about bishops in action with the rest of the class, giving the class time to ask questions at the end.
At the end of the unit of work, pupils reflect on:
How do bishops lead the Anglican Church in The Christian faith?
Who has inspired and influenced them in their lives? / Please Note:
Ensure that teaching reflects women bishops as well as men within the Church of England and in many other parts of the Anglican worldwide communion.
The ‘Bishops in Action’ website that supports this unit is being updated to reflect women bishops, but in the meantime teachers will need to ensure that they present images of women bishops as well and that all language used is inclusive.
Resources:
The ‘Bishops in Action’ website accompanies this unit.
It provides a wealth of information about bishops and the worldwide Anglican Church.
This includes:
teachers’ fact files with background information as well as links with websites and suggestions which contain further information;
Pupils’ fact files;
Posters;
Sets of activities;
Photo bank;
Downloads;
Videos.
This website was written by SEER (South East and Eastern Region of Diocesan RE Advisers.)
Diocesan website.
Sensitivities:
Be sensitive that some people still do not accept women as bishops, both in parts of the Church of England and in some other countries.
Southwark Diocesan Syllabus for Religious EducationSouthwark Diocesan Board of Education