Penny Mulvey
19 June 2024
Have you ever considered where God is in the selfie? Or perhaps you might have wondered where God is when no one is looking?
These were two of the questions put to a four person panel at an Anglican Schools Forum at Melbourne Girls Grammar in the last week of term two.
The panel included Archbishop Philip Freier, students from Firbank Grammar and Caulfield Grammar School and facilitator Carolyn Clark.
All Anglican schools embrace students of other faiths, as most schools do. But the archbishop reminded the audience that it was hard for faith to be “deep, personal and central, if we do not hold our faith exclusive”.
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“The character of religious faith,” Dr Freier said, “is holding it as true, while also enabling others to hold their faith.”
Student panellist, Martha Ickeringill, when asked the question about God in the selfie, said there was no room for nuance as complicated issues are reduced to headlines.
“Views can be misconstrued and can lead to anxiety … but on the flip side, it has a great capacity for community,” Martha said.
“You can find togetherness in social media. There’s always someone else who thinks ‘that’.”
Another question to the panel and the audience addressed the question of where God is when no one is looking.
For Martha, her intrinsic motivation to do something comes out of a desire to help others.
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Elijah Holt, the other student panellist, was asked how the good deeds of Christian students would be different to the good deeds done by those without a faith.
His response reminded the audience that we are all part of a bigger picture, called to do our particular part in God’s creation.
Other questions addressed in the panel were Where does God sit in the silence? Where is God in the environment? And Where is God in Anglican schools?
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