College Ethos
Our Christian Ethos
Encounter Lutheran College is a school in which teaching, learning and all other activities take place in the context of the Christian faith as understood and taught by the Lutheran Church of Australia.
This means that as a Lutheran school, we are:
- A community of worship and service, sharing and living the good news of Jesus Christ.
- A community that acknowledges God as Creator and joins with Him in the ongoing creation and care of the world and all people.
- A community that recognises that God has intentionally created each one of us and that each of us is uniquely gifted to live in relationship with God and others.
- A community where grace abounds. While recognising the brokenness of humanity, we reflect on the unconditional love of God, revealed through the saving work of his Son, Jesus.
- A community open to the influence of the Holy Spirit, who invites and equips for a life of worship, learning and service.
- A community that values learning as God’s gift to people for their wonder, growth, and to inspire them to respond to the needs of the world.
- A community of hope, nurtured by the promises of God’s word, love and forgiveness which empowers our staff and students to embrace their future with confidence.
Christian Studies at Encounter
As with all Lutheran schools, Encounter Lutheran College is attended by students who reflect and represent the diverse range of cultural and religious/faith positions in Australia including a variety of religious traditions, non-religious perspectives and Christian denominations.
With this in mind, Christian Studies is seen as an essential and distinctive part of the Christian education program at Encounter. It is an additional learning area that belongs to the formal curricular program of the Lutheran school and as such operates within the same parameters as other learning areas - with appropriate assessment and reporting, timetabling, budget, staffing and resourcing. It is a compulsory part of the curriculum up to Year 11.
Christian Studies is taught using the curriculum set by Lutheran Education Australia, called the Christian Studies Curriculum Framework.
Teachers who have responsibility for the teaching of Christian Studies are supported professionally by meeting the accreditation requirements of the Lutheran Church of Australia ‘Staffing Policy for Lutheran Schools’ which provides them with the opportunity to reflect on their spirituality and to articulate a personal vision for teaching Christian Studies as well as developing a comprehensive understanding of the Christian Studies curriculum requirements.
The students who participate in Christian Studies bring a wide range of faith, life and spiritual understandings and experiences embodied in differing worldviews. This diversity has implications for the planning and teaching of school-based Christian Studies programs and the need to accommodate varying levels of biblical literacy and engagement. While faith responses or commitment to Christ are not a general expectation in the formal curriculum, there are areas of the broader framework of Christian education where these can be actively nurtured and expressed. [BLEA, 2012].
Worship
The Encounter Lutheran College community worships regularly in a variety of settings, ranging from staff or class devotions to whole College SHINE worship. It is an important expression of identity and spirituality for our community.
We believe that worship is about God’s love for all people. In worship, people have the opportunity to respond in prayer, singing and praise. We also believe that in worship, the Holy Spirit works through the word of God to nurture and inspire the community.
The faith backgrounds of students and staff can be diverse, and therefore some aspects of worship are different from those of local church communities. Worship in the Lutheran education context is conducted in ways that are accessible to students. It uses language and style that communicate the relevance of the gospel to the lives of students in a range of ways, as God works differently in different people at different times.
Encounter Lutheran College acknowledges the Ramindjeri people of the Ngarrindjeri Country as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we live, work and learn. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.
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