14 February 2025
The Parish of Wanstead and Wanstead Church School have been exploring together what being open to the work of the Spirit might mean in our own lives.
Head teacher Natalie Denchfield and Revd James Gilder, Rector of Wanstead, were inspired, after attending some diocesan schools training, to explore the idea of Kintsugi with the pupils at the school - reflecting that the beauty in the pots they had seen, broken and mended with gold, was similar to the process of healing and reconciliation which is the work of the Spirit in all our lives.
Volunteers and clergy from the parish worked with every child in the school to make their own clay pot and these were fired in the school kiln. The pupils were very keen to then smash the pots but everyone soon realised that breaking and putting back together in excess of 200 miniature works of art might be a task too far, so instead both children and adults glazed their pots in a variety of colours and painted the cracks on in gold.
According to Revd James Gilder, the result was a 'cracking success'.
"We inhabit a multicultural context which reflects quite a diversity of belief about what the word 'spiritual' means, so it can be difficult to encourage people young and older to grapple with this subject in a specifically Christian way. Sometimes doing something physical, like making a pot and reflecting on the beauty of the cracks, can be useful in grounding an issue that might otherwise be viewed as being somewhat esoteric'. Natalie Denchfield commented that the school was constantly striving to enhance the opportunities for its pupils to develop spiritually, so as best to cope with what they call the 'wows', 'ows' and 'nows' of life - the times of wonder, the difficulties, and the mundane. 'We take every opportunity to work together as a parish community across school and Church, and this was a really memorable and visible way of furthering that learning relationship.
"The head girl and boy said ‘throughout the year, we have been thinking about our school’s values of wisdom, compassion and strength. Our ow, wow and now moments both break us and make us, but it is our growth through these cracks that represents out connection, love and affection to God."
