The Exam

When does the GOE occur?

  • Every fall, the GBEC invites bishops and seminary deans to nominate Candidates (usually students in their last year of theological education). The GBEC offers the GOE once per year -- in January.

Where?

  • The GBEC administers the GOE at Episcopal seminaries and at other locations through private administrators appointed by bishops.

How long does it last?

  • The GOE consists of seven three-hour essay questions over five days. Candidates usually answer two questions per day with at least a half-day break usually in the middle.

How does the GBEC create the GOE?

  • The board produces a new GOE annually. All members of the GBEC participate in a year-long process of conceiving and formulating questions, based on the seven canonical areas and time constraints of the exam. Board members are divided into teams assigned to the various canonical areas; each team constructs questions designed to give Candidates plenty of opportunity to show their knowledge and understanding. The board approves ideas for questions; teams first work independently in small groups, then seek feedback from other question-writing teams, and finally get feedback from the entire GBEC. In preparing the questions, the board assumes that, at the time of taking the exam, Candidates will have finished two and a half years of seminary training or the equivalent. Candidates may want to look at Previous Exams.

What forms do the GOE answers take?

  • The GOE has varied and has asked for answers in the following forms: essays or short answers; or multiple-choice or true/false selections; or a combination of some of these. At present, it consists of seven essay questions, each principally representing one of the seven canonical areas. For each question, the GOE may allow for the use of open resources, limited resources, or no outside resources.

What does the GOE cover?


What do "Open Resources" and "Limited Resources" and "No External Resources" mean?

  • "Open Resources" questions aim to test how well the Candidate can think and write theologically about specific issues while having resource materials to confirm facts cited in answers. These questions allow the Candidate to use any resources at his or her disposal, such as books, class notes and electronic material. "Open Resources" questions should not pressure Candidates to produce perfect or voluminous answers, but rather to allow them to refresh their minds on facts and details. "Limited Resources" questions aim to find out what the Candidate has learned using specified limited resources, such as, for example, only the Book of Common Prayer, 1982 Hymnal and Bible. These questions might ask about the practice of liturgy or for the exegesis of Scripture. "No External Resources" questions are intended to discover how well the Candidate responds by using his or her own resources such as application and expression of learning and experience, intelligence and memory. These questions do not allow any outside resources. Regardless of allowed resources, the GOE will ask Candidates to cite all sources consulted whether or not directly quoted. The GBEC may check GOE answers with antiplagerism software and plagerism detection sites both to insure originality of work and adherence to any restrictions about using electronic or Internet resources. The GBEC always calls to the attention of a Candidate and his or her bishop and Commission on Ministry instances of the use of unattributed work (plagiarism) or unauthorized use of resources in answering Limited Resources or No External Resources questions.
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