1. St. Athanasius Pre-Servant Program “Serve the Lord with gladness” Psalm 100:2 “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15

2. Mission Statement To equip individuals to serve the body of Christ, in love, through the Grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

3. The How… Didactics Classroom lessons with guest speakers Take home tests and written assignments Student presentations Spiritual Sacraments Spiritual Retreats Behavior Service Community Service Church Service – website, cleaning, retreats, kids activities Family service

4. Areas of Focus Service – Types of service, spirituality of the servant, how to serve Church History - Church Fathers, Councils Bible Study - Old and New Testament Orthodox Tradition - Liturgy, prayers, calendar Theology and Dogma – what we believe and why Comparative Theology - Why Orthodoxy? Church Perspectives on modern issues (Evolution, birth control, death penalty, stem cell, dating,…..)

5. Faculty Father John Bishara Raymond Girgis Samy Faltas George Makar Mina Makar Guest speakers

6. Requirements for acceptance into the program Regular meeting with a Father of Confession Father of Confession must recommend you for participation in the program Demonstrate consistent attendance in the Liturgy and Sunday School Demonstrate behavior inside and outside the Church that is a positive example for other youth AND adults, that is consistent with the behavior of a Servant.

7. Detailed curriculum - Service Topic 1 Learning from Christ the True Servant The Good Shepherd The Blessings of Service 2 Serving is an immense responsibility Our call to serve demands a life of fullness The commitment to serve 3 Service Requires a Passionate Heart/Spirituality of the servant Service Requires Prayer/an Open Bible/Fasting… Service is Discipleship 4 The Unacceptable service The Acceptable service (seriousness in the service) 5 Types of Services/Different Ways of Serving

8. Detailed curriculum - History Topic 1Timeline of Christian Church History: The Apostolic Age Patrology – Anti-Nicene, Nicene, Post-Nicene Fathers Introduction to the Church Councils The Great Schism The Protestant Reformation 2Monasticism 3Martyrdom 41 st Ecumenical Council of Nicea – Divinity of Christ 52 nd Ecumenical Council of Constantinople – Divinity of the Holy spirit/Humanity of Christ 63 rd Ecumenical Council of Ephesus 7Council of Chalcedon

9. Detailed curriculum – Bible Study Topic 1Introduction to the Bible 2Why we believe the Bible? 3Introduction and overview of the Deutero-Canonical Books 4Introduction to the Book of Genesis 5The Major Prophets 6The Minor Prophets 7Psalms 8A comparison of the Four Gospels 9The Gospel of St. John 10The Holy Spirit and the Book of Acts 11Pauline Epistles 12The Epistle of St. James 13Catholic Epistles 14(Revelation – will be covered in Theology section)

10. Detailed curriculum – Theology and Dogma Topic 1 The Holy Trinity-Trinity in one and One in Trinity 11Orthodox view of the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos 2 God the Father12Intercession of Saints 3 God the Son13The Church Tradition 4 God the Holy Spirit14Faith vs Works 5 Incarnation of the Son15Predestination 6 Salvation/Redemption16Moses Laws between the two Testaments 7 Baptism and Chrismation17Angels 8 Repentance and Confession18Judgment at end of days/Revelation 9 Eucharist 10 Anointing the Sick/Holy Matrimony/Priesthood

11. Detailed curriculum – Comparative Theology & Social issues Topic 1 Coptic Orthodoxy – What do I believe & defend 12Evolution /Atheism Science and Christianity – conflict? 2 Why must there only be one correct religion? 13Homosexuality 3 Catholicism vs Orthodoxy14Orthodox Bioethics – I – Life (birth control, artificial insemination, stem cell research, abortion) 4 Protestantism vs Orthodoxy15Orthodox Bioethics – II End of life (capital punishment, euthanasia, assisted suicide). 5 Islam16Modern attacks on Christianity/The Davinci code 6 Judaism17Persecution 7 Seventh Day Adventists, Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses 18Atheism 8 Humanism19Religion and Politics 9 Paganism, Buddism, The New Age movement – same old movement 10 Absolute truth/Moral Relativism 11 Does Evil really exist?

12. Curriculum references Southern diocese servant prep curriculum http://www.suscopts.org/servantsprep/ St. Mina Holmdel Servant Prep curriculum http://saintmina- holmdel.org/new/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=31&Itemid=97http://saintmina- holmdel.org/new/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=31&Itemid=97 St. Mark Chicago Servant Prep curriculum http://www.copticservant.com/ Various other topic specific references will be used: Coptic language; Pope Shenouda books, Father Tadros Malaty, Social issues references

13. Requirements for graduation Attendance of at least 80% of all lectures and makeup of all mandatory missed lectures. Completion of program activities including projects, presentations, exams as well as service activities. Ongoing performance of the activities needed for acceptance into the program.

14. What if I do not want to be a servant in the Church? Our hope is that everyone who is able to be a servant will choose to enroll in the Pre-servant program. If you are not yet ready to be a servant, we strongly encourage you to attend as many of the activities and lectures as you can attend, for your own spiritual benefit and learning.