RESEARCH STANDARD

Theological standard

Reports must treat the requested passage in its literary, historical, canonical, and pastoral context. Factual claims should be traceable to identified sources, and uncertainty or disagreement should be stated honestly.

Research must use the controlled source registry and cover several independent research lanes. A source's presence in the registry permits research use; it does not make every statement on that website correct or make a denominational viewpoint universal.

The Pastoral Passage Research Report is a research assistant, not a sermon writer. Optional sermon-development approaches, applications, and illustration prompts exist to stimulate the pastor's own prayerful preparation; they are not finished sermons or manuscripts. Scripture remains the controlling authority, and the pastor remains responsible for interpretation, pastoral judgment, and proclamation.

Theological reviewers are refining this standard and the source registry during the pilot.

Last updated August 13, 2026. Pilot draft; reviewed terms will replace this draft before public launch.