Creating Space for the Year Ahead

Scripture Reflections for Chaplains

Each year, our Adelaide chaplains gather at the beginning of the school year for worship and reflection. One of our regular practices is to create space to reflect on our ministry and vocation for the year ahead.

This year, our shared reflection uses a selection of Scripture readings to help us notice where God is present in our chaplaincy, our school communities,   and our own inner lives

In our time together, chaplains will be given personal space to choose one reading that resonates with them, to reflect on the accompanying questions, and then to share insights, thoughts and prayers in small groups.

These same reflections are offered here on A Place for Mission so that chaplains across Anglican schools in Australia may engage with them in their own context, individually, with colleagues, within school chaplaincy teams, or alongside those they minister with.

May these readings and questions provide a quiet, prayerful way to centre yourself for the year ahead and to notice God’s presence in your ministry and daily lives.

How to Use These Reflections

• Read through the suggested Scripture passages.
• Choose one reading that resonates with you as you begin this school year.
• Read the passage slowly.
• Notice the words or phrases that speak to you and sit with them.
• Take time to reflect on the questions that feel most relevant to you.
• You may like to journal your reflections, thoughts and prayers.

Jesus Visits Martha and Mary

(Luke 10:38–42)

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to what he was saying.

But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.”

But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Reflection Questions

• What are the “many things” that distract me from Jesus’ presence?
• In what ways might I be more like Martha? More like Mary?
• Where do I feel tension between task and presence?
• How does this story shape my priorities with students and staff?
• What practice can I adopt in 2026 to be more present?

Jesus the True Vine

(John 15:1–9)

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.”

Reflection Questions

• What does abiding in Christ look like within my week?
• What “fruit” do I see in my chaplaincy?
• Where might pruning be happening in my life or ministry?
• How do I stay connected to the source when demands rise?
• What fruit might God call forth through me in 2026?

What Does the Lord Require of You?

(Micah 6:6–8)

“With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?                                         

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Reflection Questions

• Where do I already see justice, kindness, and humility in my ministry?
• In everyday school life, where am I being invited to live these more intentionally?
• What does “walking humbly with God” look like for me right now?
• How do I balance speaking up for what is right with gentleness and compassion?
• What might I be called to focus on or release as I look toward 2026?

Psalm 139 (Selected Verses)

O Lord, you have searched me and known me.

You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely.
You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it.

Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts.
See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Reflection Questions

• Where do I feel seen or known by God in my ministry?
• Where do I notice God’s quiet presence in my school day?
• What am I carrying inwardly that I don’t often share with others?
• Where do I need to trust God’s presence in the unseen or difficult parts of my role?
• What gentle invitation do I hear from God as I look toward 2026?

Personal Choice Reading

You may wish to choose a favourite Bible reading that has shaped you, sustained you, or continues to speak into your ministry.

Reflection Questions

• What stands out to me in this reading?
• How does this passage speak to my school context?
• How does it shape my presence with students and staff?
• What practices or rhythms is this reading inviting me to put in place this year?
• What focus or change might this reading invite in my ministry in 2026?
• What is my prayer for the coming year?