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 Process
June 25, 2014GA Approves Preparation for Ministry Recommendations
Last week the 221st General Assembly received the report of its Special Committee to Review the Preparation for Ministry Process and the Standard Ordination Examinations and approved all twelve of its recommendations. In doing so, the Assembly referred to the presbyteries for their consideration and action constitutional amendments to G-2.0607 and 2.0610 that would facilitate implementation of the first ten recommendations.
On Sunday afternoon the special committee presented a summary of its report to a plenary session of the Assembly. You can view a video version of that report by clicking here (or go to YouTube and search for …
- Posted at 4:10 p.m.
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May 2, 2014
Registration Opens for First Quarterly Exams
The Presbyteries’ Cooperative Committee on Examinations for Candidates (PCC) has given final approval to the revision of policies and procedures needed to make quarterly administration of the senior ordination exams (Bible Exegesis, Church Polity, Theology, and Worship and Sacraments) a reality. With these approvals, registration is now open for the exams that will be given on July 25 and 26 (and the Bible Content Exam [BCE], which will be given on August 29, keeping with the “Friday before Labor Day” schedule begun in 2010).
There are a number of changes that are coming to both the registration process and the …
- Posted at 6:48 a.m.
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April 11, 2014
Readers and Quarterly Exams
The first round of quarterly exams will be offered July 25 and 26. This expanded opportunity for candidates obviously brings with it an expanded need for ordination exam readers. Notifications were sent to all CPM moderators and presbytery stated clerks this morning with information from the Presbyteries’ Cooperative Committee on Examinations for Candidates (PCC) about how the presbyteries will be asked to provide readers under the new schedule. Since interest about how this will work extends beyond just committee/commission moderators and stated clerks, I want to share some details of the plan.
- Quarterly exams mean that each presbytery will be …
- Posted at 4:37 p.m.
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March 27, 2014
Options 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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