The four Anglican Foundations courses are specially designed to work with your current life and ministry. Instead of traditional “lectures” on the course topics, the courses include audio and video recordings from instructors—diverse C4SO clergy and leaders sharing examples of how the topics connected for them personally in their ministry context.

Participants in a course are considered a “cohort,” and each cohort is subdivided into small groups of approximately four people with a facilitator. Facilitators are mature leaders gifted in small group facilitation and demonstrated integrated life in C4SO’s missional expression of Anglicanism. Small groups meet five times during each course to build relationships, while discussing the themes and topics participants are learning. Small groups allow participants space to reflect on ministry implications for their own unique context. Moreover, participants have access to a group chat space (like WhatsApp) to connect more deeply with those in their larger cohort.

Note: Because the Anglican Foundations Program is a key component of the Diocesan Process in the Path of Discernment to Holy Orders, small group leaders may share with the Bishops and/or Canon for Ordinations relevant observations they make of participants regarding character, competency and calling. These observations will help C4SO provide opportunities for continued growth and development.

Course assignments are generally in the form of letters or writings, with a reflective (rather than academic) focus on discerning the participant’s depth of engagement and personal relation to C4SO’s culture.

Before participants begin any of the four courses, the instructor provides a “Guided Syllabus” that contains:

• Learning objectives
• Curated reading list (500-800 pages) including books, articles, blog posts and essays to lay a foundation of essential knowledge
• Week-by-week list of assignments, including a link / QR code to recorded content from the teacher
• Links / QR codes to all supporting media
• A folder with all non-book readings as PDFs to print or read online