In an interview for BBC Radio 4, the Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev John Pritchard, responded to recent calls from the National Governors' Association (NGA) for the practice of daily Christian worship in school assemblies to be abolished.
Last week, the NGA, which represents school governors and trustees in England, called for the 70-year-old requirement, introduced by the 1944 Education Act to be scrapped since "schools are not places of worship, but places of education."
Responding to the comments, Bishop Pritchard highlighted the "unique" role played by schools assemblies in both "building community" and allowing children to "reflect on the deeper values that undergird the school community" and shape society at large. He acknowledged that these values are drawn "very largely" from the Christian faith, and that "so much of what has made us what we are has come from a Christian source", including the values of love, compassion, forgiveness and mercy.
However, the Bishop suggested that the requirement for Christian 'worship' in schools should be replaced by a time of 'spiritual reflection.'
Speaking separately to the Telegraph, Bishop Pritchard said: “I think in the 1940s when all of this was put together it was possible to say that collective worship represented the mood of the nation but I don’t think that is where we are now.
“There is a sense in which a compulsion about religion does a disservice to that which I think is most important which is keeping the good news of the Christian faith alive in our culture.”
Andrea Williams of Christian Concern raised concerns that 'spiritual reflection' would quickly be watered down and undermine the very Christian witness that he wants children to enjoy.
Christian Concern's Andrew Marsh responded to the call from the NGA on Voice of Russia.
Listen to the report here >