THE 2009 GENERAL ORDINATION EXAMINATION
The Canons of the Episcopal Church require that before ordination a candidate for Holy Orders must be examined and show proficiency in:
The Canons of the Episcopal Church require that before ordination a candidate for Holy Orders must be examined and show proficiency in:
1. The Holy Scriptures;
2. Church History, including the Ecumenical Movement;
3. Christian Theology, including Missionary Theology and Missiology;
4. Christian Ethics and Moral Theology;
5. Studies in Contemporary Society, including racial and minority groups;
6. Liturgics and Church Music;
7. Theory and Practice of Ministry.
(Title III, Canon 8, Section 5.g)
THE 2009 GOE WILL BE ADMINISTERED AS FOLLOWS:
Monday Jan, 5, 2009 - 9 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. Holy Scripture, Limited Resources
Monday Jan 5, 2009 - 1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Christian Theology, Open Resources
Tuesday Jan 6, 2009 – 9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Contemporary Society, Open Resources
Tuesday Jan 6, 2009 – 1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Liturgy & Church Music, Limited Resources
Wednesday Jan 7, 2009 No Exams
Thursday Jan 8, 2009 – 9 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Christian Ethics & Moral Theology, Open Resources
Thursday Jan 8, 2009 – 1:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m. Theory & Practice of Ministry, No External Resources
The Scripture exam will probably allow for a clean study bible and the Book of Common Prayer. The Liturgy and Church Music exam will probably allow the BCP, Enriching our Worship, the Hymnal and the various supplements to it. Theory and Practice of Ministry (the infamous "coffee Hour" question) is usually something strange - in recent years, there was a question about whether you'd anoint a dying dog of a grieving parishioner...
This exam is as much a test of physical endurance as anything else. The open resources exams are about knowing your books and which ones to reach for to answer which questions. GOEs are virtually impossible to study for - you organize your books and you pray and you try to get a good night's sleep.
Frankly, I'll be glad to have them done, since there is nothing between now and then that will prepare me any more for the exams than I already am. Come Holy Spirit, come!
Friday Jan 9, 2009 - 9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Church History, Open Resources
Friday Jan 9, 2009 - 9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Church History, Open Resources
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8 comments:
Holy. uh...Cow.
Good luck!
omg
I am SOOOO glad I'm Church of England ;-)
{thud!} <--------- (me fainting)
And I thought we Presbyterians had it bad! omg...!
We're getting the results of our exams on Monday! eeek... for the ones I fail I'll be retaking them in January. Kind of ruins one's Christmas vacation, doesn't it?
This does seem unreasonably heavy, but on the other hand I am SO GLAD that you are required to demonstrate some understanding of church music. It's very much neglected, generally; I was taught to sing by a dedicated laywoman, AFTER I was ordained...it was her gift and her ministry, but at seminary? Nada.
CR, I'm grateful that we did have good training in Church Music at Big Old Seminary, and that I already have a master's in music. I've served this year as TA for the Church Music Professor, and for that part of GOE's, at least, I do feel prepared! May it be so in the other sections as well.
it's on my calendar to be praying for you.
What's the word on anointing the dog, BTW?
I'm guessing no.
Re the dog: rubrically, it's not allowed, but pastorally, many would go ahead and do it...and that's the answer they were looking for, believe it or not!
The whole case was something like this: the elderly parishioner had recently lost his beloved wife, and now his only companion, his elderly dog, was dying. He calls the priest, asking for anointing.
The rubrics refer to "the person" to be anointed, and also speak of the blessing of this anointing in terms of forgiveness of sins and everlasting life, which wouldn't be the case for a dog, so in many ways it doesn't fit. But if the priest feels it would bring comfort to the elderly parishioner, anointing the parishioner AND the dog and using modified prayers to reflect the circumstances might well be the pastoral thing to do.
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