http://opc.org/os.html Ministerial Training en-us Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:01:01 EST Copyright 2007-2012 Orthodox Presbyterian Church Orthodox Presbyterian Church http://opc.org/os.html?issue_id=72 From the Editor One of the most important tasks performed by our presbyteries is their oversight of the preparation of men for the ministry of the gospel. From taking men under care, through licensing them to preach, to the goal of ordaining them, presbyteries take action under the guidance of their committees on candidates and credentials. In the local church the session seeks to recognize and encourage gifted men to pursue this calling. At a denominational level the general assembly has charged the Committee on Christian Education, under whose over sight this journal functions, with the task of facilitating this important work through its Subcommittee on Ministerial Training. This subcommittee oversees programs such as the Ministerial Training Institute of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (MTIOPC), providing training supplementary to seminary to candidates and ministers; summer and year-long internships; the Timothy Conference to challenge young Orthodox Presbyterian men in their late high school and early college years, aged sixteen to twenty-one years, to consider the gospel ministry as God's calling for their life; and the OP Summer Institute to give a taste of ministry in the OPC to men in late college and early seminary through an intensive time of reflection and conversation. Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST http://opc.org/os.html?issue_id=72 http://opc.org/os.html?article_id=291 When I think back on my brashness as a young theologian, I shudder; and whenever that same brashness rears its ugly head today, I shudder still; but age and Christian experience have at least taught me to recognize this monster within. Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST http://opc.org/os.html?article_id=291 http://opc.org/os.html?article_id=292 Welcome to the inaugural Candidates and Credentials Conference![1] In such company, I am conscious that much, if not all, of what I have to say will not be new to you, but I hope that it will be a helpful reminder. Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST http://opc.org/os.html?article_id=292 http://opc.org/os.html?article_id=294 Taking a ministerial licensure or ordination exam must be an act of piety. Laying hold of this thought is the best means of approaching an exam without fearing the men who shall examine you. In many respects, preparing for licensure and ordination can be one of the best means to prepare for the pastorate. If we would be bondservants of Jesus Christ, then we must not seek to please men (Gal. 1:10). Being examined for the ministry is the first act among many in the ministry where a man must wrestle between speaking his conscience as it is informed by the Word of God, and seeking to tell others what he thinks they desire to hear. How you approach your exams will often indicate how you will approach your ministry. You must prayerfully seek to conduct yourself in your exam in a manner that is worthy of the office that you are seeking to enter. This means that you must be prepared to confess your faith in Christ and your desire to obey him with humility, submission, and sincerity, yet with boldness. Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST http://opc.org/os.html?article_id=294 http://opc.org/os.html?article_id=295 Miss Betsey: A Memoir of Marriage, by Eugene Genovese. Wilmington, DE: Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2009, 144 pages, $25.00. Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST http://opc.org/os.html?article_id=295 http://opc.org/os.html?article_id=293 O no, IPcm not questing terrestrial nirvana—just a simple stroll down this alpine dirt road.The gravel, stirred by tire treads, evokes a childhoodmemory of the excitement of road building—the aroma of progress and the risk of travel. Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST http://opc.org/os.html?article_id=293