Faith & Worship: Useful Links

I am in the fortunate position of being retired and so have had plenty of time to dedicate to my studies. However, this is also unfortunate as I will not be able to give very many years of service as some of you will. Towards the end of my studies I discovered that it was a good idea to look at the assignment first and then go through the unit with the questions in mind. This will not suit everyone but may help some. When tackling the assignments you need to know what is in the Tutors notes. This is quite legitimate and you will find in the notes that your tutor is encouraged to give you a photo copy of the notes on each question. I give a link to the Methodist website where you can find a copy of the Tutor's Handbook to download. I found it helpful to copy and paste the notes for each unit to a file so that it was easier to access. These notes give vital information on what is being looked for in each question and how much you are expected to write. You will also find important advice on what is meant by "knowledge, understanding, evaluation and application." If you have been out of education a long time, as I have these will be extremely important if you are to answer the questions properly.

May the God, who called you to preach, be with you each step of the way along the pathway to admission as a local preacher. May each difficulty be something which strengthens you in your call. May you be blessed as you consider other people's opinions and sometimes change your own and sometimes be strengthened in your beliefs, although others do not agree with you. May you always carefully weigh up the evidence presented to you, sometimes agreeing and sometimes bringing your own evidence forward. You need to be someone who can present an argument but always graciously to listen to the other side. You need to consider the needs of your congregation and put those before your own pet theories. Sometimes the road will be difficult. It is often hard to take even constructive criticism. Always spend time with God considering your calling. May you be blessed. Amen

The Grid is much more useful if you have it on your computer. You can get more information on it this way. Get the Grid here. from my Dropbox. Of course you may be able to make the Grid yourself on your computer.

Many people have difficulties with exegesis. Some tutors don't properly prepare their students, I don't know why. If you look at the grid in Unit 2 it takes you through the things that need to be covered in exegesis. You also need to look at the tutors notes as even more detail is given there. Also there are examples of exegesis given on the sheet, How to submit a section of Faith and Worship. This can be found in the link below
Basically you want to pull out as much meaning as you can from the passage and link it to other scriptures. To find links, pick out the prominent words and using a concordance find other places where these words are used. Show what connects these passages. For instance you may have prophecy which is fulfilled in Jesus. It is very important to relate the passage to everyday life now and see what it can tell the people of today.
It is stated that your tutor does not have to mark the exegesis. This does not mean that he cannot help you prepare it and give you an idea as to whether it is likely to pass or not. You have a right to expect your tutor to help you with exegesis in general

Exegesis 1. Mark 3:34 - 35
Exegesis 2. 1 John 1:8 - 9

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You can get to Section B via the link below. You will find out why I have done this when you go to Section B and take a look.

Do not choose your news item until you have studied the scripture passages and decided what they say about human nature. If you do you may have endless trouble, as I did getting everything to fit. However evaluation can also mean saying that the scripture does not have something to say about a particular point you have made or even contradicts it. If you show you have really thought things through you will get the marks.

For this read Wesley's full sermon or read the summary on page 38 of Unit 18. I have also put a link above to the sermons on the internet. Also below the book in modern English of his sermons is advertized with other books. This is called Sermons on Several Occasions. When reading Sermon 35 , in this,Christian Perfection, try comparing it with Sermon 15 The Great Privilege of God's children. I found it easier to understand 35 when comparing with 15.They are given these numbers in the modern English book, they have different numbers on the internet.

Exegesis 1. Psalm 51: 16 - 17
Exegesis 2. Acts 2: 42

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First of all you must realise this is not just your failure, your tutor cannot have prepared you properly, unless you have been resistant to his advice. Remember this is not the end of things for you. Just pick yourself up and take advice on what to do to improve things. If your tutor knows his job he will have marked your assignments efficiently and those should then pass. May be your problem was with the exegesis. This is where most failures come. Insist that your tutor helps you with exegesis. I failed my exegesis on Section D. that was a blow, but I resubmitted and am now an accredited local preacher. It is a heavy blow when it happens but you can survive. Do not give up.

Exegesis 1. Isaiah 45: 5 - 6
Exegesis 2: John 12: 23 - 24

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Well no. This is the end of the initial training but you will be forever adding to your knowledge and allowing God to deepen your spiritual life so that you can be an asset to your circuit and teach the people of God the ways of our God. Here are a few more pointers for this final bit of the beginning.

At the moment I am a little in the dark as I have not had my interview. When I have had it I will come back here and speak from experience. but for now I will tell you what I expect. It will be somewhat like the first interview and you will be encouraged to talk about your faith and particularly of areas in which you feel you have developed. Perhaps your prayer life has been more disciplined, or even more spontaneous. Perhaps some area where you were experiencing difficulty has resolved itself. For instance I have been fellowshipping with other christians, not Methodists who do not believe that women should be preachers. This has meant I have looked into the Biblical arguments they bring up and balanced them against others. I have come out of the experience confirmed in my call, but it was not an easy experience. I'm sure this is the sort of thing the interviewer would like to hear.
Also in the interview the sermons of Wesley will be discussed. I have shown links previously on this page where you can obtain these sermons. Unit 18 also gives them in summary. So far I have been led to believe that I will only have to discuss one or two which I will be told about before hand. I have read all twelve of the given sermons in the modern day English version. It is good to balance them out by reading all twelve. If you are reading online you will have to use the titles as they are differently numbered online from the modern English version in book form. The purpose here is to show that you know Wesley's theology and show where you agree with him and where you have reservations. You cannot hope to slavishly agree with everything. I don't suppose I am the only one who has problems with his doctrine of Christian Perfection, but at least I can agree it is a worthy goal for our lives.

First remember this is only 10 minutes long. This will probably be the hardest thing about it. The other hard thing is the scope of topic open to you. This will be presented in a Preachers' meeting and will have to be fitted in during other business. You may want to show-off your skills with powerpoint or use some other visual aid. Undoubtedly your subject will be the most important thing. Maybe some social issue close to your heart will fit the bill. Whatever you choose make sure you know what Conference has had to say about it in the past few years. You do not need to always agree with this but you do need to know what has been said. Hopefully usually you will agree with Conference. With only 10 minutes to use you will need to write your material and then precis it and put it in order, give it an attention-getting beginning and close with an ending which will leave the listeners with something to think about. That's quite a tall order, but you can do it, after all your training has taught you something.

I hope you will find this lens helpful. . I hope to be able to update all the units as and when I find helpful material.

The opinions expressed in this article are my own and not necessarily those of the Methodist Church