The Rev. Timothy Cargal, Ph.D., serves as Assistant Stated Clerk for Preparation for Ministry in Mid Council Ministries of the Office of the General Assembly.
“... the Land that I Will Show You” is the blog of the Office of Preparation for Ministry of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). This blog is designed to serve as a resource for those discerning and preparing for a call to the ministry of Word and Sacrament as ordained teaching elders of the church. It will also provide a place for reflecting on and dialoging about the changing context of pastoral ministry in the early 21st century.
For quick announcements about changes or developments in the preparation process, dates related to exams or other key events, discussion boards, surveys, etc., you can follow us on Facebook at “Preparing for Presbyterian Ministry.”
The new Advisory Handbook on Preparation for Ministry in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has now been released. It is a thorough revision of the previous edition in light of changes to the Book of Order in July of this year. In previous posts I have discussed the approach that was taken in the development of the new Advisory Handbook (see “More Flexible, Less Regulatory,” and “More Advisory, Less Handbook”). In this post I will provide information on how to access it and review what it makes available.
The Advisory Handbook is being made available in two …
At the Fall Polity conference last week, I led a workshop entitled “COMs and CPMs since nFOG.” The workshop was structured as a “top ten” list of changes and held in conjunction with the release of new advisory handbooks for COMs and CPMs by the Office of Vocation. I’ll have more to say about the new Advisory Handbook on Preparing for Ministry in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in my next post (but you can download it now by clicking here). In this post I want to share my suggestions for the “top five” changes in the preparation for ministry …