Prep 4 Min
About this blog
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.”
Recent posts
- Clarification of Evaluation Standards for the Standard Ordination Exams
- BCE Preparation Resource Released
- PCC Responds to September 2016 BCE
- PCC Letter on BCE Preparation
- Bible Content Exam Results
Categories
- Ordination Process (34)
- Ordination Exams (30)
- Ministry Context (16)
- Ordained Ministry (8)
- Bible study (2)
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Archives
Posts with category: Ordination Exams
March 27, 2014Options among Questions on the Ords
In my previous post I addressed a number of changes that the Presbyteries’ Cooperative Committee on Examinations for Candidates (PCC) is introducing this summer as it begins offering the senior ordination exams quarterly. The change that has drawn the most attention—both in response to the blog and as I have made visits to a number of presbyteries and seminaries over the past few weeks—has been the PCC’s decision to eliminate the opportunity to choose between an “A or B” option in a section of the exams and between Old Testament or New Testament passages on the Exegesis exam.
As I …
- Posted at 1:17 p.m.
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March 19, 2014
Quarterly Senior Ordination Exams to begin in July
In May of 2013, the Presbyteries’ Cooperative Committee on Examinations for Candidates (PCC) announced its plan to move to quarterly administration of the “senior” ordination examinations beginning in the second half of 2014. They also announced at that time that there were some changes to the Bible Exegesis, Church Polity, Theological Competence, and Worship and Sacraments exams that would be necessary to accommodate the more frequent offerings. In order to avoid any confusion regarding the 2013-14 program year exams, they held off announcing those related changes. Now that the results of the Spring 2014 exams have been released, it is …
- Posted at 4:20 p.m.
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July 19, 2013
Exam Resources Updates
In just over month we will enter the second year of fully online ordination examinations. We have learned a lot in this first year, both about how candidates and readers prepare themselves for the online exam process and how they use the system. In response to feedback we have received we have continued to make changes and additions both to our resources and the online exam programming. Today we are formally releasing two updated resources incorporating these changes.
In the examinations section of the Preparation for Ministry portion of the denominational website (http://www.pcusa.org/exams) we have added a new …
- Posted at 3:48 p.m.
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May 23, 2013
Revised Plan for Expanding Exam Opportunities
Today the Presbyteries’ Cooperative Committee on Examinations for Candidates (PCC) announced modifications to its plan for increasing the opportunities provided to candidates for ministry in the Presbyterian Church (USA) to take the standard ordination examinations. I have provided the full text of the PCC's announcement below, but first let me highlight the following points:
- There will be NO changes in the administration of the exams for August 2013 and January 2014. The online exam process for taking exams will be exactly as it was for the past year.
- The plan announced in 2011 for moving toward "flexible" exam dates has …
- Posted at 5:34 p.m.
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March 29, 2013
Gathering Odds and Ends
It is proverbially said that the oft-eventful weather patterns marking the transition from winter to spring cause the month of March “to come in like an lion, and go out like a lamb.” While it remains to be seen how quickly things will settle in the grass like a lamb, it is certainly the case that this month has been a roaring lion of activity in the area of preparation for ministry. So, this blog post shares some odds and ends about recent and upcoming developments.
Office of the General Assembly Reorganization. On March 6, the OGA staff was realigned …
- Posted at 8:31 a.m.
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