At Faith Christian School, traditions and ceremony play a critical role in reminding us what is most important in our lives and what is worth keeping.

Tradition & Ceremony

From far down the hallway those gathered in the Great Room begin to hear the distant sound of one of the most distinctive ceremonial instruments. Anticipation grows as the distant droning of the pipes grows closer, louder. Then comes a sharp increase in volume as the lone bagpiper enters the room and leads the entire student body to their prearranged seats. The eyes of parents, faculty, family members, and guests are centered on what will be the entrance of each JK - 12th-grade class following their class banner, each marking the year they will graduate. At the writing of this blog, the banner for our youngest students is the year 2036.

How very far that date appears from 2023, but as every parent will attest, it comes far too soon, and the sound of the bagpipe, which has been the sound of someone else’s child graduating, now becomes far more personal. Every student enters, assumes a prescribed seat, and now waits for the procession of the final class, the graduating class behind their much larger graduate’s banner, a banner with colors and symbols chosen during their junior year. The bagpipe plays until all seniors have entered, and their flag assumes, for the last time, its place on the stage.  

With the gradual departure of the bagpipe, the program begins, with anticipation for the final, emotional moment in the program. First, however, comes a prayer in Latin blessing all in attendance, the song “By Faith,” its chorus always catching attendees by surprise as all Lower School students enthusiastically, from the depths of their hearts, join in at the chorus: 

We will stand as children of the promise

We will fix our eyes on him our soul’s reward

Till the race is finished and the work is done

We’ll walk by faith and not by sight

Next is a welcome by the Head of School to this thoughtful event marking a last and formal farewell to our seniors who have occupied the front row seats of the auditorium for the entire year. They now rise and recite a call to see all things as God does and to live accordingly...wings of intention to carry them into their lives as adults. A formal charge to our soon-to-be graduates follows, given by a loved teacher, then prayers over the graduating class. Then, in one of the most moving portions of the program, the seniors leave their seats while inviting the juniors to take “their rightful place as leaders of the school,” as a new class moves to occupy the seats our graduates just vacated. A prayer by a kindergartener, a prayer for the “new” seniors by a fellow student, the singing of another hymn, and the presentation of roses from each kindergartener to each of their senior “buddies” who have partnered with them throughout the year. There is not a dry eye in the place, and that banner parents thought was so far away thirteen years earlier is now today’s graduate’s banner, transferred to the circle of the banners of all former graduating classes.

A bell rings once for each graduate, and in the distance, the bagpipe is heard once again, approaching to “collect” the seniors and usher them out of the assembly and into the world.

Ceremony and tradition move us. They move us because they remind us of the importance of the passing of time and serve as powerful reminders of what is most important in our lives: the people, the community, and the purpose of our time at Faith Christian School.

This is but one ceremony at FCS. The tradition of holding our Valedictio chapel on the last day of school is but only one of many that sustain, inspire, and anchor us. We celebrate beginnings and endings with ceremony and tradition, the marking of special occasions and accomplishments, each day’s start, weekly chapels, the completion of senior thesis, and many more. We believe in the power of remembering, celebrating, and repeating the good, true, and beautiful. These celebrations play a critical role in reminding us what is most important in our lives and what is worth keeping.

Peter Baur
Head of School