Julie’s News from Maryland

There have been so many people that have taken care of us this week, I don’t even know where to begin to thank everyone that have done so much for me and my classmates.

• My family - Rick and the kids have been so great - staying out of my way when I needed it, giving me lots of hugs and kisses when I needed that.  Rick was really flexible about being here or not being here as was necessary to care for me, the kids, and the dogs.
• The library staff - they worked on New Year’s Day to get the library ready to open the morning of the GOEs.  They were there and well prepared for anything that we might need - and I needed a fair amount of help from the library. I so appreciated their humor and hospitality in the midst of this.
• The seminary chaplain - she organized, kept track, arranged, and just did so much to make sure that everything was ready for us before and during the exams.  On top of that, she and her husband hosted dinner for the entire class and their families on Friday evening.
• A few spectacular members of the junior and middler class - This group of folks fed us all week.  They had wonderful breakfasts for us each morning: bagels, cream cheese, home made breads, muffins, and scones, fruit, coffee, and juice.  Everyone morning it was there waiting for us.  Then, at lunch, they had custom made sandwiches for each of us with our choice of side salad, cookie, chips, and drink.  It was unbelievable.  Each day we had a little order form to indicate what we wanted for lunch the next day, and everyday our little lunch was waiting for us.  I had no idea what a necessity that food would be.  I sort of figured that I’d be able to just make a little something for myself each day, but it turned out to be such a relief to have food waiting for me each day.  And, it turned out to be a great communal time for those of us that needed to decompress and talk about what we’d done that day.
• Our systematics professor and his wife - they hosted dinner for all of us the night before the exams.  It was great to get together as a class and greet one another as we all came back from the Christmas holiday.  We got to spend the evening as a community, all thinking about the same thing.
• The dean and his wife - hosting a Eucharist and a pizza dinner after we finished tonight.  One last gathering of the group to celebrate our accomplishments.
• Oodles of people praying for me and all of us.

So many people made it possible for us to finish these tests with ease. I’m so appreciative for the all the love and support that was shown to us.  Thank you thank you thank you to everyone!

I’m done!! I’m done. I’m done. I’m done. I did it. I finished. It’s all over. I can’t believe it. Almost three years of training has led up to these 4 days of testing and now it’s over. I feel like I was really well-prepared for all of the exams. There was nothing I wasn’t able to answer. I feel confident about all of my answers; they certainly weren’t masterpieces, but I hope they will be good enough.

This morning’s exam was Theory and Practice of Ministry and, as has been the custom, was the only portion of the exam that was completely closed book. This was the part of the exam that I was really looking forward to taking and I was quite pleased with the question and my answer. I wrote 3 complete coherent pages in an hour and a half. It was great. The question was:

Set 6: Theory and Practice of Ministry
No External Resources

The parents of a young woman who was murdered in the shootings at Virginia Tech in April, 2007, are still deep in mourning. She was their only child and was a gifted student. As their pastor you helped them plan the funeral and then were the officiant at the service. Now, much later, the parents are questioning you about God’s presence with them, most especially asking how God can allow such a tragedy. They are desperately trying to find answers in their time of grief.

In a three-page essay:

A. Identify and explain the major theological issues raised for you in this situation.

B. In light of these issues, what pastoral counsel would you offer to this couple and what other resources would you commend to them?

The afternoon’s test was Liturgy and Church Music. It could have gone either way for me, easy or totally out of my reach. I lucked out again and the question was totally doable. Not the easiest for me, especially coming from a parish that uses primarily contemporary music, but I’ve been in churches all my life and have been singing for a long time, so it wasn’t all that hard. I was able to put together a decent answer. And, best of all, the question didn’t really lend itself to an essay, it was more of a list of things - I actually used bullets (which I love!). I finished a little before the deadline and was glad to be done. The question was:

Set 7: Liturgy and Church Music
Limited Resources: Book versions of the following: Bible, Book of Common Prayer, EOW, Hymnal 1982, Lifter Every Voice and Sing II, Wonder love and Praise, Voices Found and their accompanist editions. No electronic resources.

As the rector in a parish with a strong music program you have decided to offer an after church adult forum organized around the question, “How are the hymns chosen for the Sunday service of Holy Eucharist?”

The congregation customarily uses Rite II, Eucharistic Prayer B, for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. The Sunday that you [propose as an example for this forum is Proper 19, Year C; the appointed texts for the day are: Exodus 32:1, 7-14; Psalm 51:1-18; 1Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 12:1-10. Your parish is also beginning its church school year on that Sunday.

In preparing the adult forum do the following, using three pages:

1) List the places in the BCP Eucharist, Rite II, in which hymns are allowed and describe the function of hymns in these places.

2) List the hymns that you would choose for this service and where they would be used in this liturgy.

3) Explain, in an annotated outline or essay, your reasons for choosing these hymns: include explanations for the specific ways these hymns communicate the theology of the readings, the collect of the day and the Eucharistic celebration; note the hymnal(s) used and your reasons for choosing these hymnal(s); show the specific ways in which the hymns that you have chosen convey or amplify the action of the liturgy.

I’m dead tired now. It’s amazing how hungry and tired I’ve gotten just sitting around writing essays for 4 days. It’s nice to have it done. Can’t wait to find out what the graders think. It’s really a toss up. Could go either way with any of them. We’ll just have to wait and see. I’ll let you know when I know.