Section outline

  • Workload: Approximately 40 hours  |  Section: Diaconal Ministry in Practice

    This module prepares you for the realistic ministry context of the Mission: small communities, house churches, online-first mission, local service, inclusion, hospitality, and slow, responsible growth. This is the normative early-church and house-church model, not a compromise or a temporary arrangement — the deacon here is a servant of a gathered community, not a curate in a cathedral.

    By the end of this module, you will be able to:
    • Explain the theology of smallness and local mission in the early Church and house-church pattern.
    • Plan a small group or house church with realistic rhythm and pastoral purpose.
    • Practise inclusion as ethos, not mere tolerance.
    • Understand the Mission’s ecumenical framework and apply it in local ministry relationships.
    • Articulate the theology of mission as proclamation and presence appropriate to a dispersed context.
    • Design a six-month local mission plan with accountability and sustainability.
    What this module covers

    Candidates in dispersed ministry contexts will encounter Christians of other traditions. The Mission’s ecumenical framework provides the pastoral approach: the three levels of relationship in Statutes §5 — dialogue, association, and full intercommunion — are living descriptions of how trust develops honestly, not bureaucratic stages. The Lima Text’s convergence on Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry (Ecclesiology and Doctrine §22) gives you theological language for ecumenical conversation, and practical formation in explaining what the Mission can and cannot share with a given community — without either false intimacy or unnecessary hostility — and in engaging in joint service such as chaplaincy, community outreach, or prayer vigils where genuine common ground exists.

    Required and supporting resources
    • AOCM Catechism — §4.9 (The Church in Mission).
    • AOCM Statutes and Governance Principles — §5 (Ecumenical Relationships and External Affiliations).
    • AOCM Ecclesiology and Doctrine — §22 (Ecumenical Theology and the Lima Text).
    • A Guide to Formation and Ministry — §6.7 (The Minister and the Wider World).
    • AOCM teaching on small groups, house churches, and local mission.
    • House to House (Larry Kreider) — optional further reading on house church.
    • What Every Small Group Leader Should Know (Larry Kreider) — optional further reading on small group leadership.
    • Starting Small (Ben Reed) — optional further reading on small groups.
    • You Lost Me (David Kinnaman) — optional further reading on pastoral response to disengagement.
    Scripture and StepBible work
    • Study Acts 2:42–47; Romans 16:1–16; Philemon 1–2; 1 Corinthians 14:26 — the house-church pattern in the New Testament.
    • Examine John 17:20–23 as the theological basis for ecumenism.
    • Use StepBible to prepare a short biblical reflection on mission as presence and service.
    Assessment and evidence

    Where this module’s assessment includes a timed quiz element, it follows the LDM-wide format: 20 questions drawn from a bank of 60, a 25-minute timer, and one retake (a maximum of two attempts).

    • Course-material response on the theology of smallness and the house-church model.
    • Six-month small group, house church, or local mission plan.
    • Short reflection: how the Mission’s ecumenical framework shapes local ministry relationships.
    • Inclusion explanation: how to welcome the person who feels unwelcome.
    Monthly cohort discussion

    “What does responsible church planting look like in a small independent sacramental mission?”

    To complete this module, you will need to:
    • Course-material response submitted.
    • Six-month plan submitted.
    • Ecumenism reflection submitted.
    • Inclusion explanation submitted.