The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd and Rt Hon Justin Welby, visited Christ’s Hospital School, near Horsham, on Friday 4 March.
During his visit, Archbishop Welby met with pupils and staff over lunch and watched the school’s famous lunchtime band parade. He then spoke to pupils during two informal sessions in the school chapel, answering a variety of quite challenging questions.
The archbishop said that Christ’s Hospital is ‘an extraordinary place’ and said he was impressed by the intelligent questions. Some of the topics discussed included issues surrounding love, sexuality and morality, kindness towards others, the evidence for the existence of Jesus, climate change, what people should expect from world leaders, and the role of faith in a world that is reliant on science and technology.
One pupil, Alex, said: ‘The real highlight for me was the time he took to properly answer each question.’ Keir, a year 13 pupil, called the talk ‘very insightful’, while another, Daisy, said she appreciated how ‘down to earth’ the archbishop was during the discussions. ‘I think it made it easier to understand his beliefs for a lot of people in chapel who don’t necessarily have the same beliefs as him,’ said Daisy.
Senior chaplain of Christ’s Hospital Craig Huxley-Jones said the school was delighted to welcome the Archbishop of Canterbury. ‘To have Archbishop Justin among us to encourage us is a real thrill,’ he said.
Head Teacher Simon Reid said he was pleased to show the archbishop what Christ’s Hospital stands for. He said: ‘We are very proud of our mission at Christ’s Hospital which began in 1552 and carries on today: to challenge disadvantage through transformative education.’
