Some Categories of Pastoral Care

Preparation of Servants

Preparation of Servants

Preparing servants is a vital matter in the Church Education Schools, because the more attention is given to preparing the servant, the more beneficial his service will be, and the stronger his spiritual impact on the students, as well as the soundness of his teaching. Thus, there will be no stumbling blocks in the service.

The success of preparing servants depends on three matters:

1. The personality of the one whom the Church is preparing for service.
2. The quality of the information and studies he receives, the practical training he practices, and the servant-preparation curriculum in the Church.
3. The quality of the teacher or supervisor of the servant-preparation classes, the rest of the lecturers, and their competence and influence.

In preparing servants, we present the following points:

From which group are servants prepared, and what are their qualifications?

The most suitable person is the one who has been raised in the Church Education Schools from his childhood, receiving spiritual teaching from his early years in the bosom of the Church, practicing her rites, and benefiting from the spirituality of her Sacraments, and who has grown until reaching the servant-preparation classes.

• Some branches choose people from among those who are consistent in attending the youth meeting in the church and participating in its activities, regardless of their childhood and how they spent it.
• Whether the person prepared for service is chosen by this way or that, he should be characterized by spirituality, good conduct, good reputation, and the approval of his father of confession regarding his work in the Church Education service.
• He should also be capable of teaching, leading, and managing the children in the class. His knowledge should assist him in teaching, and what he receives in the curriculum should activate what he previously knew.
• The preparation of the teacher should continue even after he begins his service. He should receive new lessons in the family (level) meeting related to the group he serves in Sunday School, as well as other lessons in the servants’ meeting, and he should attend the lessons delivered in the youth meeting in the church, in addition to his personal studies.
• A good teacher in Church Education should begin by sharing a class with an experienced teacher, so that he may train practically under the guidance of the older teacher while assisting him in teaching. He should not be given a class to teach on his own from the very beginning of his service…

2. Servant-preparation classes need teachers of depth, capable of forming and preparing servants.
It is better that they are not handled by a single teacher who imprints them with his own image and his particular style. Rather, it is best that they receive lessons from a group of teachers who alternate in preparing them or share the curriculum among themselves. A group of Sunday School branches in one city, or in one district of a large city, may cooperate to establish a joint servant-preparation class for all those branches in one spirit.

3. There is a need to establish a single curriculum for the servant-preparation classes,
one that includes the educational aspect, the necessary knowledge of pedagogy, sociology, psychology, and the stages of child development, along with the required religious sciences concerning the basic principles of theology, doctrine, and liturgy, and the essential information about Church history and the lives of the saints.

It should also include the spiritual preparation of the servant so that he may reach the level befitting a servant—being an example and dealing well with others, ensuring his consistency in confession, communion, praying the Agpeya, and reading the Holy Bible.

4. It is not enough merely to deliver the curriculum.
Its comprehension must be ensured. There is no objection to conducting an exam to give them a sense of the seriousness of the study.
There may also be practical preparation alongside the theoretical preparation.

Note:
In the servant-preparation classes, we cannot give them all the religious information they need. This will continue with them throughout their lives as they grow in knowledge. However, three things are necessary in this matter:

• A. To encourage them to read and study.
• B. To acquaint them with the correct references and sources of teaching.
• C. To warn them against common errors so that they do not adopt every idea they hear or read, but rather acquire the spirit of discernment toward all thoughts that come to their minds.

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