EDUCATION SUNDAY
A national day of prayer and celebration for everyone in the world of education



LONDON - As the new academic year got under way the churches here went about publishing the resources they had prepared for Education Sunday 2006.


For well over a hundred years there has been an annual recognition in England and Wales of this Special Sunday as a national day of prayer and celebration for everyone in the world of education.


Education Sunday this year fell on Feb 12. This year the ecumenical steering group responsible for devising the material has focused on the purpose of education for its theme: "Prizes that Last".


Mr Graham Russell, Methodist Secretary for Residential Schools and a member of the steering group, said: "Sport has been very much in the headlines recently with London's successful Olympic bid and the excitement over England's recapturing of the Ashes in cricket.


"Sometimes education seems like a sporting event. There are new targets to aim for, new rules, and new trophies to claim. But education is not just about being the best: it has wider purposes that need to be valued for their own sake - the development of individual potential and the pursuit of knowledge and truth.


"St Paul says we should not run aimlessly, but be like athletes - with a purpose: listening for God's word, which fits us for life and prepares us for the ultimate prize." - Methodist Church House, The Methodist Church in Britain.