The Rev’d Dr Hugh Kempster joined Melbourne Grammar School this year as Senior Chaplain. He is well known to the School community, having spent 2022 in the role when the Rev’d Hans Christiansen took long-service leave.
Hugh brings with him five years of experience as Senior Chaplain at Geelong Grammar School and almost 10 years as Vicar at St Peter’s Eastern Hill, Melbourne. Prior to this Hugh served as a Curate and Vicar in parish ministries in Auckland, New Zealand.
A place to be still
“In many ways, a school is like a parish,” says Hugh. “First and foremost, it is a community and I see myself as one of the spiritual leaders of the Melbourne Grammar community enabling the celebration of Anglicanism in our chapels and more widely across the campuses.”
“The Chapel of St Peter is very much the heart of the South Yarra campus,” Hugh explains. “Every day there is there is some sort of activity within the chapel, whether it be quiet prayer, the regular gatherings of each House to hear the scriptures and to reflect on them, the grand choral Eucharist every Friday, or students just coming in between classes and lighting a candle.”
A recent Year 12 service, where students give the sermon, provided a poignant moment for Hugh. “One of the Year 12 students spoke about his journey through the chapel. He wasn’t a person of faith, but he said he came into Chapel and initially wondered, ‘what is all this about? Why do I have to go to Chapel?’.”
“He then said that over time, he came to see that the chapel is a place of welcome, a place to be still,” says Hugh. “A place in the busyness of school life, where he could just be. That was a gem for me, because that’s what I hope all students in one way or another will get from their chapel experience.”
Inclusivity is a key focus
“My role is also strongly pastoral,” he says. “Whether providing a shoulder to cry on for someone who is struggling in some way, or just being a friendly face in the Quad, I would like students, staff, parents and Old Melburnians to see me as someone who they can trust and who offers a ‘safe place’ for them to speak.”
Hugh says that inclusivity is strong within Anglicanism: “This is something I hold very dearly so I am pleased there is a very strong focus on that here at Melbourne Grammar.”
“Ultimately I hope students will see their school as an example of Christianity that is truly inclusive, that practices what it preaches, and that is a place of welcome throughout their lives,” Hugh says.
