One of the first things I noticed when I walked into the Newington Chapel at Stanmore for the first time was the names around the walls. Anyone who’s been to the Chapel would have seen the 52 names on panels wrapping around the walls. These are names of theologians, philosophers, thinkers, scientists and artists. From the first moment, it struck me as a really interesting concept to have etched onto the walls of the spiritual building of the school.

As I settled into the school and got to know the history better I learnt that these names are a reference to our school motto In Fide Scientiam translated as To Faith Add Knowledge. The presence of these names in our Chapel is a physical embodiment of this phrase in our Chapel. Within the place of faith we are surrounded by these great bringers of knowledge, however, the more I reflect on these names I see it more than just a symbolic idea. What does it really mean to have people like Shakespeare, Galileo, Mozart, Bonhoeffer or Muhammad memorialised in our sacred space?

I think this is a very powerful embodiment of this very idea of to faith add knowledge and by having these names in our Chapel we are living it out. All of these names and the respective bodies of work that they represent have left an indelible mark on their societies and our world today. Our challenge as people of today is to continue to be inspired by them and their work and seek to explore what impact they might have on us today.

These names also speak to the attitude in which we should approach matters of faith and spirituality. Faith, I believe, should never be set in isolation to the world around us but rather should be deeply imbedded within it. Faith should seek to work with discoveries of science or expression of art rather than be held in opposition to it. When we live out this idea of to faith add knowledge we should be seeking to bring all these great expressions of knowledge into our understanding and expression of faith.

I continue to be inspired by the cloud of witnesses that we have in our Newington Chapel and the powerful impact that it is to have these great men and women memorialised in this space. Their names should serve to inspire all of us as we explore matters of faith and inspire us as we seek to express what it means to live out to faith add knowledge.

Pastor Richard La’Brooy