Spiritual Life

What Can You Expect at Kainon?

At Kainon our goal is to have our spiritual values guide everything we do. Whether it’s in the classroom with the students, or with parents in a private conference, or in a staff meeting in the afternoon, we strive to embody the Lord’s teachings.

There are many ways that we pursue this goal. This is a list of what students can expect while at Kainon in the area of spirituality:

Chapel and Classroom Worship Almost every day begins with some form of Worship.

On Tuesday and Wednesday the whole Primary Phase gathers in the church for chapel. The students will sing two hymns, say the Lord’s prayer, and recite the weekly recitation. One of the Pastors will share a passage from the Word and a short talk on how it applies to our lives. Parents are more than welcome to attend. It runs from 7:35-7:50.

On Thursday, the whole school, including the Pre-Primary Phase, gathers in the church. With the younger ones present, the format and content are simpler. It is beautiful to see the little ones being looked after by the older students. Our grade 5s meet them down at the Pre-Primary, lead them up to the Church, sit with them during the service, and lead them back down at the end. To accommodate the little ones, this service is at 9:30.

Bible Study

Grades 4-7 have Bible Study twice a week, for an hour each time. These are taught by one of the pastors. Bible Study is an opportunity to dive more deeply into the details of the Bible than is possible in a short chapel talk. The basic format of Bible Study is to work through books of the Bible, always looking for what they teach us about the Lord, our relationship with Him, and our relationships with others. A lot of life-orientation takes place in these Bible Study classes.

Behaviour and Counselling

We meet the children where they are. When they struggle or act out, we first try to get to the heart of the matter and support them emotionally or spiritually. We help them form a conscience so that they know right from wrong and can make good choices from that inner strength. At parents’ request, pastors are available for individual counselling sessions with students.

Yearly Theme and Weekly Recitations

Every year we pick a theme from the Bible to be our focus. We explore it and apply it in many ways, especially during the first term, but also coming back to it throughout the year. This theme will be the topic of various chapels, events, and talks to the learners. We think of ways that it can improve our lives as individuals and shape our behaviours both at school and at home.

Some past themes include Faithful Service, A Heritage from the Lord, Looking to the Lord, and Heavenly Joy
We also have a short sentence of scripture as a recitation each week. We recite it together during chapel and worships, and ask the students to have it memorized by Friday. We hope that by having the children memorize passages from the Word the ideas will stick with them and be useful to them as they go through life.

Singing for Church and Bible Pageant

Twice a year each phase (JP or SP) prepares a few hymns in music class and then performs them as part of a Sunday service at New Church Westville (the same building in which we have chapel).

Core Spiritual Beliefs

One of Kainon’s greatest strengths is the framework of Christian morals and values that underlies everything we do. Kainon is affiliated with New Church Westville.

God

The Lord God, Jesus Christ, is the one God of heaven and earth. Like all Christians, we look to Jesus Christ as God. We put special emphasis on the fullness of God in Jesus Christ. The Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist together within this one Divine Person. In everything we do we look to the Lord for guidance.

Life

When we keep the Lord’s commandments, both outwardly, through our actions, and inwardly, through repentance, we grow spiritually. Salvation is therefore not something that happens in a moment, but a process that takes a lifetime. Because how a person lives is so vital to salvation, salvation is open to all people, of all faiths, provided they strive to keep the Lord’s basic teaching to love God and to love the neighbour.

The Word

The Word of God (the Bible) is our connection to God. Every phrase of the Word has some spiritual meaning that applies to our spiritual lives. This spiritual meaning is more significant than literal history, and in fact, not all the stories of the Word are to be taken literally. For example, the Creation of the Universe in the span of seven days is a symbolic story about how the Lord recreates a person throughout a lifetime.

The New Church

Historically the church goes back to the 1700’s, to a man named Emanuel Swedenborg. Swedenborg was a Swedish scientist and philosopher. When he was in his fifties he saw a vision of the Lord, who commissioned him to publish a series of books of theology. Swedenborg did this, claiming that the ideas were not His own but that they were inspired in Him by the Lord. Swedenborg himself never started a church, he simply published the books and asked people to draw their own conclusions. Various people read the books and decided that yes, these ideas did indeed seem to be inspired by the Lord, and so they adopted them as the framework for a new organization. New Church Westville (which runs Kainon School) is part of one of those worldwide organizations.