MISS6000 SML Written Testimony – Due 11 February
Due: 11 February
Value: 15%
Type of assessment: individual
Length: 500 words
Rationale: A prepared testimony is a crucial resource for ministry in a wide variety of settings. This paper asks you to build upon the oral presentation in assessment 1 to present a written version of your testimony that you can draw upon in the practice of ministry.
Task description: Submit a concise (i.e. shorter and tighter) written version of your testimony from assessment 1. This written version should reflect alterations to the oral presentation based upon the feedback that you received. The written testimony will also be enriched by applying the insights from the key resources provided.
Format: Short Paper
Marking criteria for this task:
| Grade | High Distinction | Distinction | Credit | Pass | Conceded Pass | Fail |
| Criteria | Exceptional Performance | Excellent Performance | Good Performance | Adequate Performance | Inadequate Performance | Inadequate performance |
| Mark | 80-100 | 70-79 | 60-69 | 50-59 | 48-49 | 0-47 |
| Authentic and Personal | Deeply authentic and appropriately vulnerable; voice feels personal and lived. | Strong authenticity and personal voice; self-aware without being self-absorbed. | Honest personal story, though less reflective or nuanced. | Story present but more descriptive than reflective. | Shows minimal personal reflection; tends toward simple description of events rather than deeper meaning. | Not recognisable as a personal testimony, e.g.: purely autobiographical without faith content; unrelated reflective or motivational writing; fictional narrative; purely theological/catechetical explanation without personal witness |
| Narrative structure and clarity | Clear narrative arc with beginning–turning point–response/fruit. | Well-structured narrative with identifiable turning point. | Narrative generally makes sense but may lack a definable arc or clear turning moment. | Lacks clear turning point; feels episodic or list-like. | Demonstrates weak narrative structure (unclear encounter or turning point; episodic or generic storytelling). | No discernible narrative movement, encounter, conversion, or transformation. |
| Spiritual Depth and focus | Shows mature spiritual reflection and articulates the kerygma and God’s grace without clichés. | Spiritual insight present and articulated well | Spiritual elements are present but either assumed or lightly sketched. | Minimal spiritual framing; emphasis on self more than Christ/God’s initiative. | Displays very limited spiritual content (God/Christ/faith referenced lightly, implicitly, or inconsistently). | Spiritual or faith dimension is irrelevant, or entirely disconnected. |
| Impact | Connects faith journey to discipleship in a deeply real and credible way | Demonstrates integration of faith into life and relationships. | Some signs of spiritual growth and practical impact. | Limited sense of transformation or ongoing discipleship. | Contains little or no evidence of spiritual integration, discipleship, transformation, or ongoing journey. | Shows little or no reflective engagement and minimal effort to articulate meaning. |
| Craft and mechanics (Clarity, coherence, length, grammar) | Highly readable, evocative, and thoughtful; virtually no mechanical errors. | Clear prose and careful editing with minor mechanical issues at most. | Readable but occasionally clunky; minor structure or grammar lapses. | Mechanical/structure issues impede reading somewhat; significantly over or under word count. | Mechanical issues (grammar, clarity, structure, adherence to word count) significantly reduce quality, though the submission remains readable. |
Assessment Feedback: Feedback on this task will be available through both the Areté LMS and via email, usually within two weeks of the due date.