R.P.E Department - Visiting Speakers - FOCUS ON CHRISTIANITY

As part of the R.P.E department’s drive to promote a greater understanding of religion throughout the school, we were delighted to invite in pastors Graham and Ben, from Wymondham’s Hope Church. They visited twice, giving assemblies to both Y10 & Y11 students about their personal experiences of Christianity and answering some questions from Mr. Clarke’s students to aid them with their studies.
Graham spoke first, telling the students how he started to have faith in Year 10, when he decided that if life ended at death, then it would be completely without meaning. He then met God in the person of Jesus when he attended a church service one day. He became a Christian because Jesus had conquered death. It was really interesting to gain this insight into his faith and where it stemmed from.
Next, his son Ben told his story. He hadn’t been a Christian growing up, but he met his wife at a church youth group and was intrigued by the relationship she had with Jesus. One day, at church he had a realisation that following Jesus was the best thing he could do, and Jesus became real to him. Since then, he has done his best to follow and get to know Jesus.

Mr. Clarke’s students had prepared some tricky questions linked to the syllabus for our speakers, such as ‘How can an all-loving, all-powerful, all-knowing God allow suffering?’ Despite these questions being rather layered and complex, the speakers handled them brilliantly. They explained that to them, erasing God from the problem of evil does not solve the problem, but makes it worse. Ben also shared a personal story about how his suffering with mental health, brought him closer to God. They also referenced the story of Job, so giving an answer on both a personal and an educational level.
The questions answered gave a fascinating insight into the Christian faith for our students, showing how believers tackle the tricky, age-old questions and what they believe about justice, heaven, hell, miracles, and even dinosaurs! Whilst the views held by Ben and Graham may not match the beliefs of all Christians, it was great for the students to hear their perspectives first-hand.

Some quotes from the Year 11’s about their thoughts on the assembly:
‘I found the assembly really interesting, and I learnt lots about Christianity.’
‘Ben and Graham made their answers and conversations very clear to us listening. Outstanding presentation.’
‘The speakers were engaging, they really made me think. Ben’s story was very interesting. It was the perfect thing to start my Wednesday.’

Written by R.P.E Subject Leaders - Chloe Wall and Paige Harvey-Cole Y13