Bernadette+Witham+-+Ryan+Catholic+College

Green(2000) defines charism as …a spirit-given way for people to share in the life of the church, a way of being Christian that is appropriate to them… a way of giving the Christian faith a context in the physical world, in actual people…(Brien and Hack 2005p.70-71) Ryan Catholic Community school (now known as Ryan catholic College)was willed for in 1975 by Ron Kern, a member of the local community, who in his will provided for an area of land to be given to the Catholic Church for the development of a school. It was a school designed and planned for by a faith-filled community who had as its vision a coeducational, integrated primary and secondary college that would enable an entire family to be schooled together. The school was named after Bishop Hugh Ryan, the first Bishop of Townsville diocese from 1938- 1967. Ryan’s charism is echoed in its school motto and grounded on the text from Scripture ‘ Stay with us Lord’ taken from Luke (24:13-35), the Road to   Emmaus and its reference to community .The word ‘Community’ is the lynch pin or defining feature of the College and expressed itself in practices such as students calling their teachers by their first name and the original name of the school. Ryan Catholic College is one of the few schools in the Townsville Diocese that is not founded on a specific religious order. Four of the five Principals have been lay people. Green (2009)talks about the significant role of the Principal in creating and nurturing the growth of the school charism. O’Connor (LFJ2009) says that charism is a particular way of living the gospel. In the 21st century, Catholic schools are staffed by a large number of non practicing Catholics. When Catholic teachers all came from clergy, Catholic schools were grounded in their charisms. Teachers had formal training in a shared way of life and would therefore better position to communicate that way of life to students in that school. Does it make sense to imbue a Good Samaritan, Franciscan or Josephites way of thinking when you do not have staff committed or grounded in these teachings? As Green (2009) points out a short course is not enough, it needs to be in their bones. Perhaps as schools shift from clergy to lay leadership a more realistic opening to the Jesus story would exist in big biblical ideas such as community. Community seems to be far more relevant to our modern context. What follows will look at community as the lay charism of Ryan Catholic College and explore it through four dimensions: school administration; the religious dimension; pastoral care and curriculum.