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Chaplaincy & Student Wellbeing

Meet our wellbeing team

Our team of chaplains and our College counsellor work alongside the Deans of Wellbeing to provide students with holistic, Christ-centred care within their learning environment.

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Mrs Hayley Mourdant | Chaplain
In office: Monday, Tuesday, Friday

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Mr Timothy Ballantyne | Chaplain
In office: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

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Mrs Ruth Crawford | Counsellor
In office: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

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Chaplaincy

Both of our chaplains are ordained Ministers within Acts Global Churches. They each hold current Working With Children’s Checks in accordance with SCEA staff policy. Our chaplains work to support student wellbeing through:

  • Participating in College events such as student training, camps, club activities, prayer meetings, services, and parent programs.
 
  • Provide Pastoral care and support for students, staff and parents of the ECC community within a Christian framework.
 
  • Provide support in areas such as student mental health, engagement, attendance and connectedness and refer onto other professional agencies as needed.
 
  • Assist students to explore their worldview and beliefs through education and conversation.
 
  • Network with support services, other agencies, and organisations in the local community to provide a broad range of support services to the ECC student community.

Counselling at ECC

Mrs Ruth Crawford is a registered counsellor with PACFA and ACA providing counselling services and personal support to ECC students, families, and staff.  

As a counsellor, she works with students to help them achieve the most beneficial outcomes and realise their potential. Counselling services also help provide professional support with mental health and emotional concerns, learning difficulties and behavioural issues.  This includes the provision of individual and group therapy, planning and implementation of interventions as requested for students, and working closely alongside those in key roles of pastoral care and other teaching staff to ensure the positive wellbeing of students.

Mrs Crawford can also provide support and guidance in navigating referral pathways and liaising with outside agencies as needed.

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Chaplain's Corner: June

Chaplain’s Corner is a monthly devotional written by our College chaplains, published here and in our newsletter. Read this month’s edition below.

WORDS: Timothy Ballantyne

Winter is here! In Western Australia, our farmers eagerly await the rains as many of them have spent significant amounts of money to put in their crop. The hope, of course, is for rain to come to help produce a good harvest. This is vital to the wider economy of the state, and the nation, so winter becomes a pivotal time in the calendar.

Jesus in his earthly ministry would often use metaphors and analogies from farming to help people understand a spiritual truth. All of us can understand the concept of sowing and reaping in a natural sense and Jesus would use these ideas in parables to explain a spiritual concept that might be complex.

As we know at a school, a great teacher takes a complex topic and makes it easy to understand. Jesus did this masterfully. In the Gospel of Matthew chapter 13, the author records a parable from Jesus talking about a farmer sowing seed. The parable contains 4 different soil situations the seed falls into. Jesus likens the seed to the good news about himself. The good news is the message of his death and resurrection for the saving power of people’s sins. The four soil types represent four different responses by people to the message. Will they believe it and accept it or will they reject it.

  • The Path: Hard ground where birds immediately eat the seed; represents closed-minded people who quickly lose the message.

  • Rocky Ground: Shallow soil where plants sprout quickly but wither in the heat because they have no deep roots; represents those who fall away from Jesus as soon as life gets difficult.

  • Thorny Ground: Weeds choke out the young plants; represents people who hear the good news but allow the worries of life and the desire for wealth to distract them.
  • Good Soil: The seeds take root and yield an incredible harvest (up to 100 times what was planted); represents receptive people who hear the message, understand it, and produce a fruitful life.

A powerful question to ask ourselves: “Which one am I?”

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