Knightly News

As a ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana, the Episcopal School of Baton Rouge is part of the larger ministry of the Episcopal Church. The Episcopal Church makes up one branch of the Anglican Communion, a global community which spreads across more than 165 countries. Thus, as individuals in the Episcopal School of Baton Rouge community, we are all working within a global movement striving toward a better future for all people. 

The Episcopal Church has a longstanding relationship with the United Nations (UN) dating back to the support of its creation. According to church archives, “The Episcopal Church has strongly supported the United Nations since before its inception, advocating for its creation in the 1940s, promoting its human rights, environmental, disarmament and peace-keeping initiatives from 1948 forward.”1 The promotion of human rights and peace is at the core of Episcopal Identity through the sacrament of Holy Baptism. All Episcopal schools are created as places that “are upheld by the basic principles of the Baptismal Covenant with these ideals expressed through school worship, community life, religious formation and study, and social justice.”2 At the heart of every Episcopal school’s existence is the commitment to “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.”3 With this principle at our foundation, the Episcopal School of Baton Rouge joins with people across the globe each September to participate in the UN’s International Day of Peace. 4

This year the UN invited the world to consider ways to foster peace with the 2023 theme Actions for Peace: Our Ambition for the #GlobalGoals. Archbishop in the Anglican Communion, The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu once said, “Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” In accepting the invitation to Actions for Peace, the Episcopal School of Baton Rouge joined people around the world in the personal commitments to how each of us can “do our little bit of good where we are.”

Students were invited to engage the theme Actions for Peace as a weeklong focus during September. Through chapel, morning meetings, and advisories, our community considered the ways in which each of us as individuals contribute to the peace and wellbeing of the whole. During advisory (MS, US) and religion classes (LS) students engaged with their peers in learning and discussion. Each person wrote their personal commitment to an action for peace which was given to the community during an all-school Episcopal Morning Prayer service held on September 21, the International Day of Peace. All members of the school were invited to place their personal commitment to peace into the school’s baptismal font. The baptismal font serves as a physical reminder of our school’s commitment to uphold the tenets of the Baptismal Covenant, including the promise to “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.”5 All of the papers were collected for display on campus as a physical reminder of our communal and individual commitments to Actions for Peace.

Almighty God, guide the nations of the world into the way of justice and truth, and establish among them that peace which is the fruit of righteousness, that they may become the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.6

 1 https://www.episcopalchurch.org/ministries/global-partnerships/episcopal-church-united-nations/history/
 2 https://www.episcopalschools.org/about-episcopal-schools/principal-qualities/
3  https://www.episcopalchurch.org/what-we-believe/baptismal-covenant/
4 https://www.un.org/en/observances/international-day-peace
5  https://www.episcopalchurch.org/what-we-believe/baptismal-covenant/
6 Prayer for Peace Among the Nations, Book of Common Prayer, p. 816 https://www.bcponline.org/

Casey Duncan serves as the Assistant Chaplain for Episcopal School of Baton Rouge. She previously served as the Episcopal Upper School religion teacher and a long-term Lower School religion substitute teacher. Duncan earned a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University and a Master of Theological Studies with an emphasis in New Testament Studies from the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. She is pursuing a Doctor of Ministry with an emphasis in ministry of educational leadership from the Virginia Theological Seminary. Before joining Episcopal, Duncan was the Program Coordinator and Lay Head of Congregation for the University of Texas Episcopal Campus Ministry. At the time, the UT campus ministry was the largest Episcopal college ministry in the country. Duncan worked with a student vestry, preached sermons, led worship services, offered pastoral care and much more. She is an active community volunteer serving as a Manna Giver with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and an adult Christian education teacher and volunteer with St. James Episcopal Church. While in Texas, she was a member of the College Ministry Advisory Board, the University of Texas Interfaith Council and a Safeguarding God’s Children and Safeguarding God’s People trainer. Duncan is a proud mother to Carolena and Nils. 

The Episcopal School of Baton Rouge 2024-2025 application is now available! ​For more information on the application process, to schedule a tour, or learn more about the private school, contact us at [email protected] or 225-755-2685.