Section outline

  • Workload: Approximately 40 hours | Section: Scripture and Doctrine

    This module forms you in Christian moral theology, the Mission’s ecumenical commitments, and the pastoral art of teaching doctrine with clarity and charity. It is newly separated out of what was, in earlier drafts of this course, a single shared unit within Module 04 — surfacing material already grounded in the Mission’s Catechism and Ecclesiology, with no new doctrine introduced.

    By the end of this module, you will be able to:
    • Apply the Mission’s moral teaching — virtues, the Decalogue, conscience formation, human dignity — to diaconal ministry.
    • Articulate the Mission’s ecumenical commitments and the appropriate stance toward Christians of other traditions.
    • Teach doctrine pastorally, without arrogance or cruelty.
    • Recognise the difference between faithful doctrine and private invention.
    What this module covers

    This module carries three areas that belong together in pastoral formation: moral theology, ecumenism, and the pastoral communication of doctrine. Christian ethics is treated not as rule-keeping but as the shape of sanctified love, grounded in the Mission’s Catechism §7 (the virtues, the Decalogue, conscience, human dignity). The Mission’s ecumenical framework — the Dialogue / Association / Full Intercommunion ladder of Statutes §5, the Catechism §9, and the Lima Text material in Ecclesiology and Doctrine §22 — gives you the theological conviction and the practical posture for engaging Christians of other traditions and people of other faiths. Throughout, you are formed to hold doctrine and charity together: teaching clearly without becoming a gatekeeper, correcting gently without cruelty, and living the principle in essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.

    Required and supporting resources
    • AOCM Catechism — §7 (Faith and Christian Life: virtues, moral vision, Decalogue, conscience, human dignity).
    • AOCM Catechism — §9 (Unity and Dialogue: ecumenism, interfaith encounter).
    • AOCM Statutes and Governance Principles — §5 (Ecumenical Relationships and External Affiliations).
    • AOCM Ecclesiology and Doctrine — §22 (Ecumenical Theology and the Lima Text).
    • AOCM Ecclesiology and Doctrine — full document.
    • A Guide to Formation and Ministry.
    Scripture and StepBible work
    • Study key terms grounding the Mission’s moral and ecumenical teaching: love, neighbour, one body, reconcile.
    • Use StepBible to examine one passage that grounds the Mission’s moral teaching or ecumenical vision.
    • Prepare a short reflection connecting one Scripture passage to a pastoral teaching situation.
    Assessment and evidence

    All timed quizzes and knowledge checks in the LDM, including this module’s, draw 20 questions from a bank of 60, run on a 25-minute timer, and allow one retake (a maximum of two attempts).

    • Virtues, Decalogue, and conscience knowledge check.
    • Ecumenical framework reflection.
    • A 1,000-word teaching piece: Explaining Church doctrine pastorally to someone preparing for ministry.
    Monthly cohort discussion

    “How do we teach the faith without becoming gatekeepers?”

    To complete this module, you will need to:
    • Knowledge check completed.
    • Ecumenical framework reflection submitted.
    • Teaching piece submitted.
    • Discussion participation recorded.