On April 8th, at 1.30pm, a packed All Hallows' Chapel in Southwell School held a formal service of decommissioning for Mr Royce Helm, the 7th Headmaster of the school.  Royce has held this role for the past 13 years, and he and his wife Rhona are headed to Melbourne, where Royce will become part of the leadership team of Melbourne Grammar School, as Head of Grimwade House.  During Royce's decommissioning service, he symbolically returned the school keys and the school roll.  Bishop Helen-Ann gave the Address below, on the text Sirach 44:1-15.

There are two occasions in any given year when clergy up and down the country, and probably all over the world get anxious.  Only two, I hear you ask?!  Well ok, let me rephrase: there are two occasions *in particular* during the year when clergy get anxious.  If you'd visited our home last Saturday, you may have seen various post-it notes around the house, even in the fridge:

Don't forget clocks go back tonight!

The fear of being too early or especially too late for church gives me the chills even as I speak! 

We live our lives by the clock, and nowhere is this more evident than in the life of a school.  Bells ring, time-tables are ordered, lessons begin and end, and at some point in the day, everyone goes home, only to get up the next day and do it all again.

The narrative of the Bible is very good at ordering time, and if you wanted to, you could spend a good deal of time ‘number-crunching’ various statistics.  An appreciation of time in the Bible is often accompanied by what has been achieved or learnt in that time, and this is a particular feature of the Wisdom Literature of which our reading derives; more about that briefly in a moment.

Today, we mark the end of a season of time in the life of this school, a season that has witnessed the gracious and remarkable leadership of one man: Royce Helm.  I don't say that lightly, for it is right and proper to speak in the tone of the author of our reading: ‘Let us now sing the praises of famous men,’ not least because this is not praise for the sake of praise, it is ultimately about giving thanks to God for this season here at Southwell.  We give thanks to God because of Royce, and all that has flourished here because of his gifts and skills.  We entrust Royce and Rhona to God's care during this time of transition, as much as we continue to entrust the life of this school as we search for a new leader.   As our reading concludes: ‘the assembly declares their wisdom, and the congregation proclaims their praise.’

The book that our reading comes from stands in the tradition of Proverbs, which itself stands in a tradition of wisdom instruction that is best represented in Egyptian literature.  The notable departure in the book of Sirach is the role and place given to an acknowledgment of the broader history within which the individuals are praised, and the hint made that praise is due both for the things we see, and for the things we do not see; both are a measure of the debt of gratitude to individuals named and unnamed in our reading.  We might say then, that our debt of gratitude to Royce is both for what we know he has done, and for the many things and hours unseen that he has given in dedicated service to the life of this school.

The verses of our reading set the scene for the kind of people the author is going to praise: these reflect major categories of the Hebrew Scriptures: kings and rulers, prophets and sages.  Those who composed musical tunes (perhaps a nod to Royce’s own musical abilities?!).  Verse 6 talks about ‘rich men endowed with resources’ – now I know that balancing the finances of a school can be challenging, but take heart that in the Hebrew that lies behind the Greek text that we have today, the word ‘rich’ is more accurately translated as ‘stalwart’.  To be stalwart is to be loyal, reliable and hard-working.  Royce, that sums you up absolutely!  It is also a word that is best understood in the context of a team or an organisation, and nowhere is this more real than in the life of a school, and this takes on a particular character in the life of a school that has faith as its foundation.  Headship has been and is for Royce both a vocation and a ministry.  The school in its entirety is wholly implicated in what its leadership does and is.  Leadership exists to inspire and coax human hearts and minds into the fullness of life that is the Kingdom of God, asking in effect ‘Do you see what I see?’  Wisdom looks for what God intends for the good of his whole creation: it doesn’t always look to a utopian future but rather speaks into a reality that ebbs and flows.  It is no coincidence that, in the New Testament tradition, Christ is described in terms that echo this Wisdom tradition.  This is the kind of leadership praised in our reading today.

Which leads me to my final thought.  Royce, during your speech last year at Senior Prize-giving, you quoted from James Kerr’s book ‘Legacy,’ about another group of famous men – the All Blacks.   In his book, Kerr discusses briefly the well-known All Blacks’ saying: ‘Leave the jersey in a better place.’  Kerr writes: ‘understanding this responsibility creates a compelling sense of higher purpose.  It’s a good lesson for us all: if we play a bigger game, we play a more effective game.  Better people make better All Blacks – but they also make better doctors and lawyers, bankers and businessmen, fathers, brothers and friends.’  And to this I would add better school principals.

Royce, thanks be to God for your life and ministry in this place, and may God continue to bless you as you begin this new season of your career.

Amen.