By Tim Cargal
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 time to fully unveil the new exam models.
The pages on the denominational website related to the exams (https://www.pcusa.org/exams) have been updated, and revisions to other resources (including the exams handbook) are in the works. In the meantime, here are the five most important things to know about the new exams and their scheduling:
- The senior ordination exams will now be given at the end of July, October, January, and April. The specific dates for the 2014-15 program year are available by clicking here.
- Registration deadlines will be the last day of the month preceding their administration, and so June 30, September 30, December 31, and March 31. The registration fee is being reduced to $50 per exam.
- Results will be available roughly two weeks after initial exams are given.Reading periods will begin the Monday following submission of the Exegesis exam (the first full weeks of August, November, February, and May), and results will be released the following Monday.
- All senior exam areas will now be totally “open book” and unproctored (as the Exegesis exam has been for a number of years). Candidates will still have only three hours to complete the exams in Theology, Polity, and Worship and Sacraments, but they can take them from anywhere they have Internet access using whatever resources are practical within the time constraints. As with the Exegesis exam, all resources used must be properly cited.
- There will be no “choose one” options for any of the senior ordination exams. Candidates will not be able to choose between an A or a B option in a section of the exams, and they will not be given a choice of Old Testament or New Testament passages on the Exegesis exam. This change is necessary to keep the work of the PCC in developing exams and training resources for readers manageable as the opportunities to take the exams are doubled.
There are, of course, details related to each of these changes that candidates will need to know (such as how start times will work for the Theology, Worship and Polity exams since there will not be a proctor). That information is on the updated webpages and is being integrated into updated editions of the exams handbook and other training materials.
Also, be aware that the offerings of the Bible Content Examination (BCE) remain unchanged. It will continue to be offered twice a year (as it has been since 2009), on the Friday before Labor Day and the first Friday of February.
This increased availability of the senior ordination examinations answers a significant concern of both candidates and presbyteries regarding those who may be delayed in the process by a need to repeat an examination area. It is made possible by the move of the exams to a totally online administrative process. I will be publicizing the release of other updated resources as they become available.
