Reader

This document sets out the seminary learning plans for all Ordinands coming into The Catholic Church of Saint Stephen’s International. We have spent many hours putting together what we think is one of the best and most comprehensive plans to create the best clergy ever. We operate a minor orders structure so everyone who enters the church as an ordinand will work up in the following structure:

1. Seminarian
2. Ordinand
3. Reader
4. Subdiaconate
5. Diaconate
6. Priesthood
7. Bishop

You can reach ordination to the priesthood within two to three years maximum depending on how dedicated you are to your studies. however, we are NOT asking you give up everything else that you do in your life to study. We are expecting you to work at your studies though because we have time and patience invested in you…. 

God’s Blessings be with you.

Here at Saint Stephen’s, we have decided to go along the lines of essay-based learning as it’s the based style of doing things, but don’t worry we aren’t going to make you write seventy-five-thousand-word essays or anything like that. The maximum will be around 7,000 and the time limit in which you have to complete it will be generous.

Students of the seminary with an additional learning need such as dyslexia or other needs can present their essays to the seminary teachers via Microsoft Teams, and they will still be accepted in the same faith as a written submission would be.

There will be some practical on the job training as well which you will be asked to do this via Microsoft Teams with your tutor such as ‘Can you set up an altar for mass’ especially when you in training to become an altar server and delivering mass later down the line in the other orders.

Majority of your learning will be online based learning we will create an online training centre on our website where you can submit each essay and element of your coursework.

There are NO RIGHT or WRONG answers to the essay questions it’s down to whether you have understood the actual question and whether you have done your research properly. So please make sure that you do your research otherwise you WILL be asked to do it again.

Oh, and DO NOT copy and paste off the internet. 

If you cite information or quotes of the internet, please reference which site you got the information from so it can be checked. 

We have put the questions after the orders, and some of them are coming in more than one order, because you will develop during time and we want to follow your path

Each Essay Should be around 3,000 words in length unless specified; however, you can present this as a video presentation on MS Teams with the agreement of your tutor