GOEFlix: Binge-Crusting

Hello Crustyland:  we have all barely recovered from the Feast of the Holy Name, which can only mean one thing...it's General Ordination Examinations time!

Since 2011, this blog has hosted a recap and dissection of the General Ordination Exams.  We'll continue to do so, but there will be some changes this year.

Most importantly, Crusty will not be posting any questions or commentary while the exam is going

Hey  Crusty's still cool.

on.  Increasing numbers of people take the GOE outside of the three-day window this first week of January.  Posting the questions has the potential to compromise the integrity of the examination for people who are taking it on a different schedule the Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday of this week.

Crusty knows this is disappointing for those for whom this blog has been a part of GOE week.  Keep in mind the reason COD stated blogging the GOEs:  he personally found his GOE experience to be one of the most isolating, depressing, and disempowering experiences in the church (though to be sure it is not the for all folks, and COD did take his GOEs over twenty years ago), and vowed that if he had the chance, some day he would try to make it less so for others.  Crusty's sorry not to be able to provide the kind of live blogging opportunity this week for the many folks who do take the exam within the three-day timeframe, but the integrity of the exam process is important.

In addition, Crusty will again be having a substitute blogger, The Dread Pirate Crusty (if you don't know this reference, COD weeps for you).  COD was elected to the General Board of Examining

Chaplains in 2015, and is now part of the team that writes and evaluates the GOE.  Crusty is committed to working with the GBEC on continuing to make the exam more fair, open, and transparent.  COD thinks great progress has been made -- for instance, exam takers now receive the same assessment rubric/outline that readers do -- and looks forward to continuing to improve the exam.  But it's an inherent conflict of interest.  While bringing back the Dread Pirate Crusty, COD must note he is only hosting the commentary on this site; he is not providing the questions or assisting or contributing to DPC's commentary in any way.

When the all-clear has been given from the GBEC that all test takers have finished, be prepared for a Netflix-like dump of an entire week's worth of commentary on which to binge-Crust.

To the test takers:  remember, there's no way to study for this.  You know everything you need to know.  The questions are all open source.  Stay calm, outline the questions, remember to look at the rubric as well as the questions, and answer exactly as they are asked.