Elder Candidate Training began last night at IDC and we always start our officer training in the same way: a surprise “Bible & Theology Exam.” Some might call it cruelty, others might call it prudent, but I call it “lively spirituality.”

The pop test is an entertaining and interesting way to start the period of assessment and instruction. We don’t take up the tests and grade them. When each candidate is finished we come back together and walk through the questions. The exercise is simply meant to encourage the officer candidate in his knowledge of God’s word. Some men will take the test and find it challenging. To a man, these brothers have responded with something like, “The test has shown me how much I need to grow.” Others have taken the test and done extremely well. We want those brothers to be encouraged to keep up their good work in His word.

Take Them & Use Them

Here are the two tests we use with some explanation of each:

Exam for Elders. Our elder training is a long affair of about eight months. Intentional conversation at training meetings and our theological questionnaire give us a great sense of the candidate’s theological aptitude by the end of training. This exam lets us tease out the amount of precision the candidate currently has regarding God’s word.

Exam for Deacons. Our deacon training is not nearly as long or exhaustive as what we do with elder candidates. This exam is thus broader in nature than the elder one, testing out the candidate’s understanding of biblical and theological basics. I put this together a few years ago for incoming pastoral interns at Providence Church. While the elder exam is in multiple choice format this one is in more of a short answer structure.

Feel free to download, adapt, or trash these exams for your purposes. If you want another option check out Kevin DeYoung’s “100 Bible Knowledge Questions.”