Assemblies are compulsory in schools throughout the British Isles. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the requirement is for a daily assembly, but it is less frequent in Scotland. The daily requirement is highly contentious and much resented by teachers, particularly in secondary schools. The law is broken in many schools.
Traditionally the term ‘assembly’ has been used to describe this activity. More accurately it should be described as ‘Collective Worship’ in England and Wales and ‘Religious Observance’ in Scotland. In England and Wales, to be lawful the daily act must be demonstrably religious and worship of a divine being or power clearly evident.
Historically, the daily assembly has reflected the Christian heritage of the country. Since the 1960s this has become more and more contentious. In England and Wales the requirement is that Collective Worship should be wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character. It is often unclear what this means in practice and, indeed, which god is being worshipped, so that the legal criteria may frequently be widely interpreted or indeed ignored.
There is considerable pressure for change being exerted particularly to adopt more inclusive worship and the celebration of, so-called, shared values and common spirituality. Models based on concepts such as worthship and god-centred pluralism are very influential. The danger is that any new arrangements will either require compulsory acts of multifaith worship that are syncretistic and may please nobody, or will ‘ban’ acts that are distinctive of Christianity or any other religion. They may also require a balance in the range of celebrations. In order to prevent these outcomes, it is essential that evangelicals develop creative, inspirational models for new style assemblies that are appropriate for the modern context and that will win wide support from schools, particularly community schools. Following N.T. Wright’s warning that we lose our public signs, symbols and other iconography at our peril, we should not easily give up on assemblies altogether.
These models are likely to include relaxation of the daily requirement and the dropping of the word ‘worship’. Such flexibility should ensure that the invaluable opportunity that currently exists to share the gospel with large numbers of pupils is not lost.
However, it needs to be acknowledged that such call for change and flexibility is likely to excite considerable resistance from a vocal minority of Evangelicals who regard loyalty to the traditional model of school worship as a litmus test of Christian integrity. Though undoubtedly challenging, the Church needs to be prepared to resist what may be regarded as unrealistic and even backward-looking attempts to maintain a ‘1950s’ approach to school assembly if there is to be hope for effective future ministry through school assemblies in the very different context in which schools now have to operate. We would want to preserve the right for faith-based schools to worship in the distinctive manner of their particular faith.
