Module 07 — Liturgy, Daily Office, and the Sanctification of Time

Workload: Approximately 40 hours  |  Section: Sacraments and Liturgy

This module forms you into a person of ordered prayer who can lead public prayer reverently and assist at authorised liturgy. The Daily Office (also called the Divine Office or Liturgy of the Hours) is treated as a sustainable rule of prayer for bivocational, dispersed ministry — not an ideal reserved for full-time clergy or religious communities.

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• Explain the Daily Office / Divine Office / Liturgy of the Hours as the prayer of the Church.
• Lead Morning or Evening Prayer reverently.
• Understand the liturgical year, lectionary, collects, seasons, and feasts.
• Explain the deacon’s role at Mass or authorised liturgy.
• Create a sustainable personal Rule of Life.

Required and supporting resources

• Institute Morning, Evening and Night Prayer specimens — original course resource, with supplied CPDV readings.
• Institute teaching on the deacon at liturgy — required teaching for this module.
• Liturgical Practice Notes — the course preparation and review resource. Use local rites only within your actual authorisation.
• Yale: Foundations of Christian Worship — supplementary lectures, link only and not assessed. Third-party material remains subject to its published rights. Its comparative academic discussion does not set local worship rules.
• Institute guidance for your Personal Rule of Life — required preparation for the written task.
• The Care of Souls: Cultivating a Pastor’s Heart, Harold L. Senkbeil — supplementary, copyrighted reading, accessed by link only and not assessed. No purchase is required. Read its Lutheran account of pastoral office alongside the Institute’s teaching on distinct ministerial orders.

Scripture and StepBible work

• Psalm study: Psalm 23, Psalm 51, Psalm 63, Psalm 95, Psalm 130, or the appointed psalm.
• Study Gospel canticle language: the Magnificat, the Benedictus, the Nunc Dimittis.

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).

• Liturgical year and Daily Office knowledge check.
• Personal Rule of Life, approximately 1,000–1,500 words.
• Video or live demonstration: lead Morning Prayer or Evening Prayer, normally a 5–10 minute excerpt or the full Office as directed.
• Reflection: prayer as formation rather than performance.

Monthly cohort discussion

“How can a bivocational deacon remain rooted in prayer?”

To complete this module, you will need to:

• Knowledge check passed with at least 80%.
• Rule of Life submitted.
• Daily Office demonstration submitted or assessed live.
• Reflection submitted. Cohort participation confirmed by the tutor.