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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Posts with category: Ordination Exams
July 13, 2012220th GA Wrap-Up
The 220th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) completed its work on Saturday morning, July 7. It will likely be remembered both for the things that happened at the Assembly and for actions the commissioners did not take. A full-wrap is available on the church website (click here), and all the details are on PC-Biz. As previously promised, here is an update on the business items highlighted in my previous blog.
Ordination Examinations: By unanimous consent the Assembly approved the suggestion from the Office of the General Assembly to incorporate a study of the standard …
- Posted at 2:56 p.m.
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June 27, 2012
220th GA Preview
The 220th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will convene in Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon, June 30. As always, there are many items that rate high on the attention of both members of our churches and our broader society. In this post I want to point out just a few business items that may not be covered by one’s local newspaper but will likely be of interest both to those preparing for ministry as teaching elders in the PC(USA) and those who work with them in their discernment and preparation.
Since anyone can follow along online as the …
- Posted at 3:01 p.m.
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May 31, 2012
A Next Step
The Presbyteries’ Cooperative Committee on Examinations for Candidates (PCC) is currently conducting its Annual Meeting. During its opening business session, the PCC considered a number of issues related to moving the exams to an online system. There have been many reasons why the PCC began this effort more than five years ago, but from the very beginning a primary one is that people now simply expect to have the advantages made possible by technological advancement.
At its meeting last year, the PCC took one step that was not directly related to online administration of the examinations themselves but that definitely …
- Posted at 10:38 p.m.
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April 16, 2012
A Digital Handbook for Digital Exams
This fall, the standard ordination examinations will have a whole new "look and feel" as all five areas will be administered online for the first time. So that everyone from inquirers and candidates, to their presbytery committees, to the proctors at the testing sites can prepare for the changes, we are releasing a new edition of the "Handbook on Standard Ordination Examinations in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)."
- Posted at 1:13 p.m.
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March 23, 2012
The End of an Era
Across the church this week those who wrote standard ordination examinations last January have been receiving their examination books and readers’ evaluations back from their proctors. What as been a twice-yearly ritual for more than four decades was being performed for the last time. When the “ords” are next taken in August of this year, they will be a paperless process.
The first steps toward online ordination exams were actually taken back in October 2009. On the first Friday of that month, a “pilot test” of Internet-based administration of the Bible Content Examination (BCE) was conducted. A total of 138 …
- Posted at 4:13 p.m.
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