The Schoolchurch: unique space for Children to shape the future
03 juni 2020The Schoolchurch: unique space for Children to shape the future
Europe embodies a rich culture of history, religion and politics. This culture can be read in retrospective in buildings, spread over the whole territory of Europe, such as churches and monasteries. Religious heritage often is described as something from the past, since Europe is still secularizing. In the Schoolchurch, religious heritage is not exclusively about the past. The medieval church and tower, with 16th century vault paintings is presented in close connection with brand new architecture and design, of the highest artistic level. Children are invited to learn about human beings as extremely imaginative creatures, in history as well as today. The unique, attractive and rich learning environment engages them to submerge into what people believed and found important throughout times, and today, and invites them to tell about their own believes, experiences and traditions. It's not our heritage we should foster and feed. It's our children, because they form the future. In the Schoolchurch we facilitate building a positive society, together. An urgent and beautifull task. (European Heritage story - Agmar van Rijn - 2020)
European Dimension
Europe has a history in which christianity has a major role. This Christian history is presented in our religious heritage everywhere in Europe. But ofcourse there's also the influence of islam, visible in mosks and art throughout Europe. The discourse on religion, culture and identity nowadays seems to be increasingly polarizing, and alieniation and hatred grows. Human rights however, are universal. A safe, democratic constitutional Europe must accommodate different voices and should always protect its citizens against the violence of oppressive dominance of ideology, which excludes and dehumanizes people. In the Schoolchurch, we reject a choice on which religious tradition is more important.
We present religious traditions, not with the aim of transferring faith, but as a form of culture, in the purpose of stimulating people to tell and share their own stories. In the Schoolchurch, all voices can be heard. Prejudice is not convicted but gently exposed and discussed, to learn and understand eachother better. Europe is changing rapidly, and the world as a whole is transforming swiftly. More now than ever, we should strongly emphasize that everyone matters, every voice is valuable, and we should work every day on a positive European society.