Christos
16 September, 2021
Catholic Education – Diocese of Rockhampton (CEDR) recently conducted Christos, a three-day formation program for teachers who may be considering a move to a leadership position in Catholic Education.
Led by CEDR’s Faith Identity and Religious Education (FIARE) Team, 17 participants from schools around the diocese joined the program via Zoom to reflect on their personal gifts and strengths and the spiritual dimension of leadership in a Catholic school.
CEDR Assistant Director: Mission Di-Anne Rowan developed the program which first ran in 2007 and has since seen 301 Catholic Education teachers participate.
Miss Rowan said the program was centred on the person of Jesus and His example of leadership as described in the Gospels.
“In the New Testament, Jesus is called ‘Jesus Christ’ over 200 times. ’Christos’ is the Greek version of ‘Christ’ and is linked to the anointing of kings, prophets and priests and the coming of the Messiah for the Jewish people,” Miss Rowan said.
“Today, Christians are anointed at their Baptism and during Confirmation and part of that Baptismal call is to give witness to Jesus’s message of love to the world through how we live our lives. Our Catholic school leaders are very much called to respond openly to this baptismal call,” Miss Rowan said.
Principal of St Anthony’s Catholic Primary School in North Rockhampton Michael Roach completed the Christos program in 2008 and has since held leadership positions in several Catholic primary schools in the diocese including the role of Foundation Principal of St Brigid’s Catholic Primary School Emerald which opened in 2014.
“Christos helps aspiring leaders to reflect on the ways they are already leading in their school communities every day. It allows participants the space and time to assess their personality strengths that help them grow as leaders,” Mr Roach said.
Mr Roach presented a session at this year’s gathering encouraging teachers to consider taking the step into a leadership position.
“I very much enjoyed sharing my leadership journey. I spoke about daring to lead and the importance of courage, vulnerability, purpose and emotional safety,” Mr Roach said.
‘In a world where we are encouraging young people to reach for the stars, it is important that educators are doing the same. CHRISTOS allows the opportunity for school leaders to identify staff who show leadership qualities and help them to realise this for themselves,” Mr Roach said.
“I was humbled to receive the invitation to present at this year’s gathering. I accepted the invitation as I believe in the program and developing our teachers to stretch themselves to achieve great things,” Mr Roach said.
