A Chance to Serve (ACTS)

This honors level course is designed to train leaders for service both within and beyond the school community. It will challenge students to discover talents and develop skills to be used for a lifetime of service in church and civic communities. The meaning of ministry and service as well as a study of contemporary Christian leaders and the Church’s social teaching will be considered throughout the course. Skills of communication, leadership, and faith sharing will be developed. Leadership activities in the school and community, including talks to other classes and on retreats, social action projects, and liturgical planning will be included. Students participate in an outdoor adventure and recreation program course in June.

The second semester includes an exploration of ecumenism, studying the ways in which other systems of belief and practice differ from the Catholic faith and the manner in which the Catholic Church relates to non-Catholic Christians as well as to other religions of the world.

Building on the foundational truth that Jesus Christ established the Catholic Church and entrusted to her the fullness of God’s Revelation, the course is intended to help students recognize the ways in which important spiritual truths can also be found in non-Catholic Christian churches and ecclesial communities as well as in non-Christian religions. It is also intended to help students recognize the ways in which other systems of belief and practice differ from the Catholic faith. The richness of the Vatican II documents, the Decree on Ecumenism and the Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, will help guide the students in this course.

Prerequisite: Departmental approval and teacher interview required.