An open door for questions – Les Moreman’s SRE teaching experience
Growing up, Les Moreman’s family were inconsistent at church, but SRE was a constant in his primary school years. He has fond memories of singing songs about God in SRE classes as a child.
You gave me Jesus and you made me your child
And I just thank you Father for making me, me
“That really stuck with me,” Les said. He didn’t expect that many years later, some of the highlights of his ministry work would involve teaching SRE.
After being involved in church youth ministry during university, and training as a high school music teacher, Les went on to do a ministry apprenticeship. During this time, an opportunity arose to do paid high school SRE teaching, which was a natural fit given his teaching background and passion for young people.
Across his time teaching SRE, Les has taught every age, from Kindy right up until Year 10. He’s seen many students gain a grounding in the Christian faith through these lessons, as well as having a space to ask questions as they come up.
Younger students often ask questions about what is real or true, as they sort through all the stories they encounter. Children are given so many stories and messages through television or books or school or what their family says at home, and part of growing up is testing these stories and seeing what holds up against reality, Les explains. Younger students are also working through the implications of the love, forgiveness and grace of the Gospel story, and how relating to one another might be transformed by this message.
Older students also ask about how true the Bible is, and want to interrogate the claims it makes about Jesus. But under those questions, teenagers are often really asking: how important is this? How much attention should I really be giving the call of the Gospel to lay down my life and follow Jesus?
With the rise of TikTok influencers, Les has encountered students bringing him questions about things they have seen online. “You’re often the Christian they know, and they can bring questions and compare what they see online to the reality.”
His ministry in SRE has also given opportunities for Les to connect with the staff in schools. Les describes moments where staff had sought him out, “for prayer, or for support, pastoral support, or just to be finding out more. There’s been a good chunk of that. It’s also really encouraging that the staff in the school mostly have their own children participating. They are the most aware of the shape and content of the SRE classes and what they look like. So it’s a big endorsement when their own children are participating.”
SRE classes range in size from school to school, but the primary schools in which Les’s church are involved in running SRE have seen a recent healthy turnaround in numbers. Les and his team had planned for a certain number of classes this year, but ended up needing to create more classes, because the number of students signing up was bigger than anticipated. The need for more teachers is ever present.
“In our church there’s just myself and then the assistant pastor and then one volunteer and we cover everything,” Les shares. “That’s three of us across eight classes at both schools.”
To those without a background in teaching who might not feel confident to give SRE a go, Les says that the key is just loving the kids. “There’s quite a well structured program and the school will have the support in place for you to be able to succeed in delivering meaningful lessons.”
The door into schools is currently open, but Les knows things could change at any time. Rather than despair at this possibility, Les wants to make the most of the opportunity while it exists, saying, “There are so many voices in the lives of children – in the school environment, outside of the school environment – and this opportunity is such a uniquely preserved thing.”
Les, and other Christians running SRE programs, need more teachers and more support from local churches to take the gospel through these open doors and into the lives of children across Australia. For Les, investing in SRE programs is a no-brainer – “it’s a wisdom thing – it’s foolish to not be invested in it.”