As my way of rebelling against preparing for the upcoming onslaught of finals and papers, I have instead been spending my evenings attending prep sessions for..... ordination exams!
Since I'm not actually taking the ords for another year, one might surmise that this is indicative of some type of masochistic sickness on my part. Fortunately, I have the results of my psych exam to rebut this contention. :-)
In reality, I just thought it might be a good idea to find out what to expect from the ords further in advance, with an eye toward slanting some of my regular studies in that direction. The information provided has been quite interesting so far, and will hopefully give me a head start in preparation.
For any who might be interested, the sessions are being taped, and so should be available in the library for perusal. I don't know if the handouts will also be available in the library, but I'm sure copies can also be found for those who want them.
The quick and dirty summary goes like this:
Both the Theology and the Worship ords make use of the Book of Confessions. Even though a portion of both of these tests are open book, to be successful, you must be familiar with the confessions, the theology contained within them, how they link to the the Book of Order, and how to go about using the reference materials found within.
You need to be familiar with the Book of Order, especially with regards to Worship and Polity. Memorization is not required in most cases, but the tests will ask for answers to be supported by the Book of Order, so familiarity with the rules and guidelines therein are needed. Again, linking theology and the Confessions to the Book of Order is most beneficial.
So, in the next year or so, make sure that both the Book of Confessions and the Book of Order are on your regular study and reading lists. I will probably try to start regularly referencing them for papers when feasible in an effort to get to know them and practice using them better.
Also, in the category of avoidable errors, by far the number one error on exams is not following the directions properly. The classes emphasize this over and over. It seems so simple to do, and yet time and again, people mess it up.
So..there it is. Now I guess I should go and try to pass my classes THIS semester!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
do they ask questions about the bible? scripture? meaningful interpretations? probably not...
Depends on your frame of reference.
Among the required responses in many of the test sections, are direction to use as a resource one (1) of the following: scripture, classical theology, contemporary theology. As far as I know, this is the primary instance where use of scripture is specifically mentioned.
However, it's a bit more complicated than that. The Confessions of the church are based on scripture, and much of the Book of Order directly references scripture or the Confessions. Classical and contemporary theology, at least the kind we study, will also be grounded in scripture.
So, while the Ords, outside of the Bible Content Exam, don't mandate Biblical knowledge, they make very heavy use of it at an interpretive level through the Confessions and Order of the church. Which, I would imagine, is one of the goals of the exams, to test the readiness of aspiring pastors to interpret and apply scripture within the tradition of the Presbyterian church.
Post a Comment