A) Target Group

Church service leaders, including priests, church council members, service sector secretaries and their assistants, and individuals nominated for leadership responsibilities within the church. This course focuses on the church as a training unit, where each church is represented by a group of participants who form a nucleus for learning, application, and development.

The Institute grants a Certificate of Participation to trainees who complete all 5 days, presented personally by His Holiness Pope Tawadros II at the ceremony organized by the Institute every two years.

B) Study Conditions and Application Dates

Enrollment in the basic training course depends on the following:

* A direct request from the diocesan bishop or priests.
* Participation of church members (the priest, service sector secretaries, the church council president, council member representing servants, council member representing youth, and council member representing women), with an average total of 25 participants per course.
* Trainees are informed of the open program dates.

Each training course includes an average of three or four churches, each represented by about five to seven members (the priest, service sector secretaries, church council president, council member representing servants, youth, and women), with a total average of 25 participants per course.

Courses for the remaining churches in the diocese are organized and implemented in coordination with the Institute’s administration. Trainees are required to attend the full number of training hours and to carry out a graduation project within the framework of the strategic plan for developing church service, under the supervision and follow-up of His Grace the Bishop.

C) Main Training Course Topics

The training covers 35 instructional hours and includes two main modules:

Module One: “Church Administration” (21 hours) covering the following topics:
Challenges facing the church in its modern service and how to develop it; the meaning of church administration; how to serve the church as a successful institution; the identity of the Coptic Church — its formation, development, and revival; church members as the Body of Christ; how roles and responsibilities are integrated in the Orthodox concept; teamwork as one body; planning for the church’s future services; the church’s various resources and how to mobilize, develop, and manage them scientifically; and how to secure and manage financial resources wisely.

Module Two: “Wise Stewardship of Service (Church Governance)” (14 hours) includes the following topics:
Principles of good governance; roles and responsibilities of service structures (clergy synod, church council, service secretariat, social service, church projects, etc.) and how they work together as integrated and harmonious units; how to achieve effectiveness (fruitfulness) and efficiency (optimal use of resources) in service; effective communication methods within the church and with the local community; and how transparency and accountability support the church’s living testimony as an embassy of heaven on earth.

Course Evaluation

Each training session, as well as the entire course, is evaluated using detailed forms designed to review trainers’ performance, trainee benefit, and recommendations for improvement.

Trainees are also evaluated based on attending at least 80% of the course and completing a collective graduation project representing their church. Participants receive a “Certificate of Participation in a Training Course.”