In all three Synoptic Gospels Jesus asks his disciples the question “Who do you say I am?” The setting and context in both Mark and Matthew is the area of Caesarea Philippi, and in Luke comes after the miraculous feeding of five thousand and at a time when Jesus had been praying alone. Like any good teacher Jesus asks a question that leads to more questions and deeper consideration.

From almost the beginning of European settlement Anglican schools in Australia have grown in different social and historical contexts. Over more than 200 years Anglican schools have been significant communities of learning, of presence and in shaping children and young people for their future in every area of the Australian life.

Every generation is one in which context changes. Schools are living, breathing relational as well as educational communities. Each has to meet different challenges and opportunities as educators help students, their families, and staff as well as those who identify with our schools, to understand and grow into the future in faithful, loving and Christ-like ways. In every generation Anglican Schools live the responsibility of enabling young people to be lifted in Spirit; to be ready for the ‘chances and changes of this fleeting world’, as one prayer says.

The second decade of the new millennium has opened Anglicans schools to new and pressing questions of identity as communities which receive, learn, live, speak, act and show God’s love. So, what’s our context? Who do we say that Jesus is as we help young people prepare for the world now and in the years ahead? Who do we say we are as individuals and communities of learning and faith? And why does it matter?