Theological Examining Committee

Even St. Columba underwent ordination exams!

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Theological Examining Committee is responsible:

• To examine and present to Presbytery Teaching Elders seeking transfer into the TVP;
• To examine and present to Presbytery prospective candidates coming under care and to oversee their preparation for the Gospel Ministry through periodic communication and annual reports to Presbytery;
• To examine candidates for licensure and ordination, or to dismiss them, at their request, to the care of another Presbytery.

             (Standing Rules of TVP, chapter 5-2.3.D)

Meeting With The Committee

The committee meets once a quarter normally on the first Monday in the month immediately prior the presbytery's stated meeting. Therefore, the committee meets March, June, September, December. Always contact the committee chairman to confirm the date and place. YOU MUST GET PERMISSION FROM THE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN BEFORE COMING TO THE COMMITTEE MEETING. You must have permission from the committee before going to the floor of presbytery.

Contact the committee chairman two months before the committee meeting (two months before presbytery) in order to make sure you have enough time to complete all forms and exams. Paperwork needs to be mailed or emailed to the committee chair thirty days before the committee meeting.

If you need to take exams (licensure and ordination) please know that most candidates need to spend one to six months working through the study guides for each set of exams. In addition, paperwork for ordination can take longer than other paperwork.

Unfortunately, we only meet at Shoney's! TEACHING ELDER TRANSFERS

Teaching Elders in the PCA seeking transfer into TVP are required to follow BCO 20-9 and 20-10.

Teaching Elders not in the PCA seeking transfer into TVP are required to follow BCO 13-6.

All Teaching Elders seeking transfer to TVP should contact the Chairman, TE Travis Hutchinson,  on revtrav (at) gmail (dot) com. You will need to provide proof of good standing in your current presbytery, complete both a Candidate Information Form and a TVP-format Views Statement.


  It's OK--Jesus is a churchman too! CANDIDATES FOR THE GOSPEL MINISTRY

To become a Candidate for the Gospel Ministry, an applicant must follow BCO 18, which requires membership in a local TVP church for at least six months before being recommended to Presbytery.

In addition to appearing before the Theological Examining Committee, applicants for Candidacy must also appear before TVP to give their testimony, their call to the ministry, and answer any questions the Elders put to them.

Those interested in becoming Candidates should contact the Chairman, TE Travis Hutchinson. You will need to provide a completed Candidate Information Form, proof of membership for six months in a PCA congregation and your session must submit a Session Recommendation Form.



You didn't graduate from here, unless you're dead! CANDIDATES FOR LICENSURE & ORDINATION

No matter what the seminary background of a candidate, the Theological Examining Committee is eager to work with you in assessing and rounding out your preparation for the Gospel Ministry.

Our goal is to present you before TVP as a man ready and approved to gain the respect and confidence of Presbytery as one suitable for Gospel Ministry.  The ultimate objects of our concern are the souls of men and the glory of God!

Our guides for what is expected from candidates for licensure and ordination are provided by the PCA Book of Church Order chapters 18-22, which specify particular areas of examination.  For ordination, a candidate must also complete educational requirements which meet "the Assembly's approved curriculum" (BCO 21-4), carefully defined in the PCA's Uniform Curriculum (see Minutes of the Sixth General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America, June 19-23, 1978, pages 86-87 & 214-217).

The Theological Examination Committee of the Tennessee Valley Presbytery has study guides available for both licensure and ordination.

***Tennessee Valley Presbytery does examine on original languages.*** Candidates for the Gospel ministry are assigned a passage of Scripture which they must exegete from the original languages. A screening exam is administered by your proctor to demonstrate a basic proficiency in Hebrew and Greek. They are examined on the original languages orally in committee. The passages with which they must be proficient in the committee exam are the chapters from which their exegetical papers are drawn.

***You may request the assigned passage for the exegesis paper while still in seminary and write your paper for seminary in such a was as conforms to our standards. You may not turn in a seminary exegesis paper which does not meet our standards or that is on a different passage of Scripture.

***The RTS Orlando "Electronic Hebrew" Course will NOT adequately prepare you for TVP exams. You must take a regular course of Hebrew and Greek which involves translating from the original languages, not simply working with a computer program.

With all this in mind, it is wisest for a man to make contact with the Theological Examining Committee as early as possible and not to presume that he will be recommended to the floor of Presbytery for examination after only one meeting with the Committee.

Those interested in Licensure and/or Ordination should contact the Chairman, TE Travis Hutchinson, at revtrav (at) gmail (dot) com.