The Lead

January 3-7 Episcopalians seeking ordination will be taking the General Ordination Exams. The Rev. Canon Susan Russell offered some advice for preparation with only a few days left to study. From Facebook:

Chaplain Susan's Free Gratis for Nothing GOE Advice:

[1] Time to stop studying. You already know everything you're going to learn.

[2] Spend the time between now and Jan 3 taking care of yourself -- body, mind and soul.

[3] Dig around on your bookshelf and find some of the voices who inspired you to respond to this call in the first place. Re-read them. Remind yourself why you're doing this. Why it matters. What an awesome privilege it is to be preparing to serve the Gospel and challenge the Church. (Mine were Verna Dozier, Madeline L'Engle, Fredrica Harris Thompsett and Thomas Merton.) and then finally

[4] Answer. The. Question. Pay attention to the context the examiners set and then give them what you've got. And all will be well. We'll be praying for you.

What is your advice?

Comments (9)

Make a list of the seven canonical areas. Check off each one as you believe you have covered it adequately in your answers.

Posted by Pamela Shier | December 30, 2012 9:44 AM

Re: #4 -- read the question over several times clear to the end - underline all the points - check that you have answered what is being asked not what you wish had been asked or you imagine it is asking.

Posted by Ann Fontaine | December 30, 2012 9:51 AM

Answer the question, the whole question and (most importantly) nothing but the question.

[Thanks for commenting Mark - please sign your name next time ~ed.]

Posted by Mark | December 30, 2012 2:02 PM

A small group of friends and I made the 4 days a retreat with the GOE as the work of the retreat. Seminary provided a Eucharist the night before and MP each morning. We added noonday prayer and met each evening to share the day and read compline together. We let families and community take care of everything else. We still came out brain dead but spirits intact for the experience.

Posted by Mary Slenski | December 30, 2012 5:24 PM

If being around others taking the exam raises anxiety, then stay away. I took it pre-internet, so had to go to the seminary in the morning to get the questions, then went home and didn't go back until time to turn them in. There were a couple of profs who delighted in raising everyone's anxiety. Staying away from them helped lower mine.

Posted by Tricia Templeton | December 30, 2012 5:47 PM

I will echo the "answer the question" advice and add: pay attention to the resources you are to use. Sometimes the Hymnal 1982 *is* in fact useful in answering a Church history question!
- Anne LeVeque

Posted by maleveque | December 30, 2012 9:11 PM

This is the advice I came up with after I took the GOEs, which I still think has a lot of validity. (I have no idea who put it online.) http://shell.cas.usf.edu/~thomasw/GOE%20tips.pdf

Julie Murdoch+

Posted by Julie | January 1, 2013 3:36 PM

I think this is pretty sound advice. One thing I did do that was helpful was to just thumb through all my books to remember what was in them (i.e. look at table of contents and pictures). Outside of that, the best advice I got was to look at the GOE's as a spiritual practice, relax and have fun with them. (They'll ordain you, either way)

Posted by Matthew Buterbaugh+ | January 2, 2013 8:21 AM

Brevity is the wit of soul.

Posted by David Fletcher | January 2, 2013 2:26 PM

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