Spiritual Life

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Nativity singing at Christ Episcoal School in Maryland

Here in the Christ Episcopal Community, we consider our responsibility to inspire minds to learn, hearts to love, and hands to serve fundamental to our mission.

We use our time together during Chapel to fully engage in these intents. All students in K-8th grades have Chapel during their regular school week, and our preschool students attend Chapel multiple times during the course of the year. In Chapel, we use biblical stories, liturgical services, and inspired music to help students understand the value of spiritual practice in modern life in a way that is inclusive and respectful of each family’s unique faith journey. While we leave doctrinal teachings to parents and faith institutions of the students, we do use the Episcopal faith as normative for our community. Our liturgical services are from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer and reflect Anglican traditions, including the Lord’s Prayer, the Creeds, and the lighting of candles by acolytes. We offer optional communion during seasonal services, where students can choose to approach the altar to receive communion or a blessing. Our Chapel Leadership Team includes staff members, our seminarian, our clergy, and our school music teacher. We teach our students to engage in spiritual life using all their talents by incorporating music, writing, reading, drama, and creative movement in our Chapel program.

Each month we focus on a different Cardinal Character Trait in Chapel, as part of an ongoing exploration of what it means to be persons of good character, and also about being forgiven when we make mistakes. Above all else, we hold that God loves everyone, no exceptions. We engage in hands-on service to our neighbors and teach acceptance of people as they are, and not as we would wish them to be, learning to love others and to love our authentic selves.

We expect all our students to exercise tolerance and respect for the Episcopal traditions, as we honor and respect all spiritual traditions in our Community. As an Episcopal School, we aim to help students understand how our history has been influenced by the culture, social customs, and beliefs that have come down to us from generation to generation. From that, we encourage the quest for spiritual understanding and a love of others to emerge, creating a sense of beloved community where all of us matter, and we can all grow and thrive.