The idea of formal seminary education
dies hard. We have trained so many generations of ministers in
this fashion that we can scarcely credit any other way of doing
it. We also hear, from time to time, of churches which take pride
in having an uneducated ministry, and we want nothing to do with
that sort of know-nothingism. So we easily slip into the fallacy
of thinking that the only alternative to formal, professional
seminary training for the ministry is that of informal and
unprofessional lack of preparation. Because we do not want our
pastors to be poorly educated, we routinely ship them off to a
seminary. If a young man expresses a desire for the ministry,
then, for all practical purposes, his future plans are set for
him. He begins the search to find a seminary that will equip him
in finding a pastorate, and then off he goes.
Whenever a false dilemma is presented
to us, and this is one of them, we must be careful to avoid being
rushed into choosing. Is the only choice really between no
education on the one hand, and graduate school education on the
other? Of course the ministry should be thoroughly educated, as
Dabney effectively argued, but this should not be confused with
attending a graduate school.
This paper constitutes a concrete
outline for the establishment of a particular kind of ministerial
training under the authority of the elders of Christ Church in
Moscow, Idaho. Because it is a particular proposal, specific
names, procedures, curricula, etc. will be mentioned and discussed
throughout. At the same time, the principles involved are equally
applicable in many different church situations. For this reason,
the rationale for various proposals will be discussed and defended
in greater detail than they perhaps would be in another setting.
In this way, the elders of other churches may be able to take
advantage of some of the principles addressed here, but with
methods more suited to their particular situation.
Some of the positions taken here,
either directly or by implication, may strike some as
unnecessarily rigid or perhaps even severe. This is not the
intention at all. It is freely admitted that various seminaries in
the course of their histories have served the cause of Christ ably
and well, and that many graduates of seminaries have been among
the church’s brightest lights. Princeton had a glorious history,
for example. But we are not evaluating the system of seminary
training on the basis of such individual achievements. We should
rather evaluate our system of ministerial training on the basis of
the biblical case that can be made for it, and on the basis of its
tendencies and fruit when considered overall. Princeton did have a
glorious history, but where is she now? The evangelical church
today is in a miserable and wretched condition, and it must be
asserted that our process of seminary education has been one of
the central culprits. An unbiblical system, however
well-intentioned, will not bear biblical fruit over the course of
generations.
The fact remains that, for the most
part, seminary education in the United States has become the realm
of parachurch organizations (this is even generally true of
denominational seminaries as well), governed more by the rules of
the academy and various secular accrediting agencies than by the
rules of the church, which someone once said was the pillar and
ground of the truth. No one disputes that parachurch organizations
have done good, and in some instances, have done much good. But
Christ is the head of the church, and He did not leave the
evangelization and discipleship of the world to freewheeling
parachurch ministries. The fact that good has been done is a
testimony to the goodness and mercy of God, and not a basis for us
to continue with a system of ministerial education for the church
which is not conducted within the church, or effectively overseen
by the church.
A system of ordination has developed
where seminaries provide the rigorous “graduate school” education,
while the local churches are supposed to determine a candidate’s
fitness for ministry. The elders of a local church, for their
part, assume that if a student made it through an approved
seminary, he must be a fit candidate. The result is that many have
found their way into ministry because they have shown a great
aptitude for graduate level study and test-taking. The point here
is not whose fault this is, but rather to show just one of many
ways in which the system we have adopted has set us up for a fall.
Human nature being what it is, we may continue to expect much more
of the same kind of thing if we continue on the same course. The
disease has so far progressed that we now tend to assume that
graduate school honors are the qualifications we should look for
in a ministerial candidate. Paul’s requirements for a godly
ministry are set aside, and we think that it is all right to do
this because the man whose marriage and family is a stretcher case
(and got that way while he was working his guts out in seminary)
nevertheless has professional certification. He has the right
papers on the wall, embossed and signed. This is nothing less than
the capitulation of the evangelical church to the bureaucratic
mind. Nothing good can come of it, and the sooner we find the way
of repentance, the better.
The pastoral epistles have that name
for a reason. Because Christians are accustomed to treat the
entire Bible as a book of inspirational quotes, we sometimes miss
specific instructions which are addressed to particular officers.
The Bible is the covenant document of the church, and many of the
requirements do not have direct application to individuals.
For example, in the famous passage
about the inspiration of the Word of God, Paul says that the Bible
builds up the “man of God” so that he may be complete, “equipped
for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:17). This is not addressed to every
Christian (although it may be extended to them by analogy). It is
addressed to the man of God, the minister-one who is responsible
before the Lord for the spiritual well-being of others. This one
needs to be able to rebuke, admonish, exhort, etc.
In 2 Timothy, Paul also teaches us how
the leadership of the church is to reproduce itself. He says:
You therefore, my son, be strong in
the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have
heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men
who will be able to teach others also (2 Tim. 2:1-2).
This is not a requirement that every
Christian should disciple others in such a way that they are able
in turn to disciple others. When this does happen in an informal
way, we are all grateful for it. The Bible does encourage this
sort of instruction-for example, the older women are told to teach
and instruct the younger women (Tit. 2:3-5). This does not mean
that the older women are officers in the church, but rather that a
general pattern of teaching and encouragement is to pervade the
church, with the more mature leading and instructing the less
mature. This happens naturally in the home, and in any community.
But this informal work explains only a part of the apostolic
instruction to the church.
The charge to Timothy here refers to
the duty of church leadership to reproduce itself. What Timothy
had heard from the apostle Paul, he was to pass on to faithful
men. These faithful men in turn were to teach and instruct others.
This clearly occurs within the context of the work of the church.
This is how Paul trained Timothy in evangelistic and pastoral
work, and he here tells Timothy to go and do the same.
In a similar way, the Great Commission
was given to the apostles, but in a way which ensures the
commission is self-perpetuating. Christ told the apostles to teach
obedience to everything which Christ had commanded (Matt.
28:18-20). This would of course include His last command, that the
nations be discipled. This means that the apostles who received
the initial commission were to pass it on to the next generation,
and the next generation was to do the same. But this commission is
given to the church, not to every individual Christian. This means
that the leadership of the church is to receive the commission,
and the leadership of the church is to pass on the commission.
Our generation is so individualistic
that we tend to interpret everything in private terms. The notion
that God may have given the government of the church a set of
instructions for the preparation and training of future leaders,
their qualifications, their duties, etc. is entirely foreign to
us. But this is one foreign notion which we must learn to make our
own; we must come to speak the language of Scripture again.
As we return to a more biblical
pattern of training future elders and ministers, we do not expect
a transformation overnight. The current system has a tremendous
amount of inertia behind it. As we present an alternative to
seminary education, we do not expect seminaries or seminarians to
go away-and we are very happy to cooperate with those seminaries
which remain faithful to the Word of God. In presenting what we
believe to be a more biblical approach, we do not want to
inculcate a perfectionistic attitude which demands everything be
reformed immediately. This only ensures that nothing substantive
will ever change.
Nevertheless, a local church which
takes its mission of evangelism and discipleship seriously should
be able to fully train leaders for service in the local church.
Any calling which is incapable of reproducing itself is
incompetent in that calling.
This training is for her own leaders
in the years to come. A thriving church can easily assume that
they “have it covered” because their current elders are doing a
fine job, and their current pastor preaches well and looks
healthy. Everyone has trouble imagining what the church will look
like in fifty years when none of the current leaders are alive. No
one even thinks about it. But Charles deGaulle put it well when he
said that the graveyards are full of indispensable men. That day
will come whether we want it to or not. A church which does not
think of establishing continuity with the future generations of
that same church is, in principle, a church populated by short
term and anti-covenantal thinkers.
When a pastor retires or dies, the
usual tendency is to scramble, form a pastoral search committee
and . . . you know the rest of the drill. An outsider, someone who
is not in touch with the local and organic life of that particular
congregation is called, and he steps into the pastorate. His paper
qualifications were impressive, and his pulpit delivery while he
was “candidating” was good, but the fact remains that churches
which get a pastor this way are basically getting a mail-order
bride.
It is a truism that if you don’t name
it, someone else will. The intentions can be great, and the plans
well laid, but if nothing is done, then people are going to call
what you are doing a seminary. This makes it necessary to be
somewhat aggressive in calling it something else, and to insist
upon calling it that—perhaps to the point of being thought
belligerent.
With this in mind we call this course
of training a ministerial hall. Graduates of this hall do not
receive a professional degree, or anything that sounds like a
professional degree. The bureaucratic system which governs the
granting of all such degrees is well—entrenched, and any attempt
to compete with them while using their terminology is not likely
to be blessed. A ministerial hall avoids the assumptions that
govern the running of graduate schools. As a hall for study, there
is no pretence of “professionalism.”
At the same time, the phrase
ministerial hall does indicate a rigorous preparation for the
ministry. An informal, casual, and undefined system of education
simply will not do. If an apprentice for the ministry were simply
to hang around the leadership of a church for several years, he
would no doubt learn many valuable things, but mostly he would
simply learn “how things are done around here.”
Those prospective ministers who
graduate from this hall will receive a letter of commendation,
stating that they have performed their work ably and well, and
that the instructors and elders overseeing the training of this
man have learned enough about him to be able to say he is
qualified for the Christian ministry, in his character, history,
and gifts.
Our ministerial hall will be called Greyfriars'
Hall. The Greyfriars church in Scotland was the place
where the Solemn League and Covenant was first subscribed, and is
a name that is important to everyone who loves the work of
reformation.
Because Greyfriars' Hall is a ministry
of Christ Church our Statement of Faith will be the same as that
of Christ Church. For a fuller expression of our faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ please see our Web site (www.christkirk.com).
This statement of faith represents the
doctrinal understanding of the eldership of Christ Church and the
instructors at Greyfriars' Hall. It is our intention that the
teaching of Greyfriars' Hall reflect this understanding as well.
As reformational evangelicals, Greyfriars'
Hall seeks to display our unity in truth with other
faithful believers, not only in the present, but also with the
historic Christian church throughout the centuries. Although not
included here, we are in essential agreement with the historic
confessions of the Reformation, including the Synod of Dordt, the
Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism (together known as the
Three Forms of Unity), the Westminster Confession of Faith of
1646, and the London Baptist Confession of 1689.
THE TRIUNE MAJESTY The Triune God is
the one uncreated Creator of all things that exist; between the
Creator and His creation is a fundamental divide. This one God is
eternally existent in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
His Majesty is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient, and
limited by nothing other than His own nature and character. He is
holy, righteous, good, stern, loving, and full of mercy.
REVELATION The sixty-six books of the
Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, inerrant in all they
affirm. The Word has divine authority in everything it addresses,
and it addresses everything. In no way should the Scriptures be
brought to the judgment seat of human reason; rather, we must
rationally and submissively study the Word granted to us.
CREATION In the beginning, God created
the material universe from nothing. He spoke, and by the Word of
His power, it was. Our science on the nature and time of this
event must be determined in full submission to the Word of God.
SIN Our first father Adam was our
federal head and representative. He was created innocent, but
through his rebellion against the express Word of God, plunged
himself and his entire posterity, represented in him, into the
hopelessness of death in sin. This sin is lawlessness—an attempt
to live apart from the Law and Word of God. Since that first great
apostasy, no descendant of Adam has escaped from the death of
lawlessness apart from efficacious grace.
THE INCARNATE CHRIST The Lord Jesus
Christ is, according to the flesh, a descendant of David, and sits
on David’s throne. He is, at the same time, God enfleshed. He is
one individual with two natures—fully man and fully God. As a man,
He is our elder brother and High Priest before God, representing
us to God the Father. As God, He is the visible image of the
invisible Father, representing God to us.
SALVATION Because all sons of Adam are
spiritually dead, they are consequently incapable of saving
themselves. But out of His sovereign mercy, God the Father elected
a countless number to eternal salvation, leaving the remainder to
their sinful desires. When the time was right, the Lord Jesus
Christ died on the cross and was raised to life as an efficacious
redemption for the elect. Thus He secured the salvation of His
church, for which He laid down His life. And at the point of each
individual’s conversion, the Holy Spirit brings resurrecting
grace, effectually calling him by His power, with the result of
repentance and faith.
LAW The grace of God in the gospel
does not set aside the law of God; rather, it establishes it. To
the one who believes, the law of God is precious, and through
faith the law is established. The law stands as God’s testimony of
His own righteous character; as such, it cannot be altered by
anything other than God’s express Word. Consequently, we receive
the entire Bible, Old and New Testaments, as fully containing the
will of God for us. To all who do not believe, the law of God
condemns them in self- righteousness.
COVENANT When God is pleased to bless
the proclamation of His gospel, the result will always be a
visible collection of saints bound in covenant to Him. They will
be characterized through their assembly around the preached Word,
their faithful administration of baptism and the Lord’s Supper,
and their orderly and disciplined government according to the Word
of God.
WITNESS As believers present the
gospel to those who remain in rebellious unbelief, there must be
no halfway compromise with that unbelief. The ground and
precondition for all creaturely ventures is the Word of God, which
necessarily includes our teaching, apologetics, and evangelism.
Every thought is to be made captive to the Lord Christ, and every
tongue is to glorify the Father.
ESCHATOLOGY As the gospel of Christ is
proclaimed throughout the world, the result will be the gradual
transformation and salvation of the world. Prior to Christ’s
return, the earth will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord as
the waters cover the sea, and the whole earth will be full of His
glory.
Greyfriars' Hall meets for classes in
the Anselm House (which also houses the offices of Christ Church
and Canon Press) at 205 E. 5th
Street in Moscow, Idaho.
Greyfriars' Hall is located about 3
blocks from New Saint Andrews College. A classical and Christian
liberal arts college, NSA has a student body of 120 students. We
are also one mile from the University of Idaho, a public
land-grant university with a student body of 13,000, and libraries
that hold over 2 million items. The College is eight miles from
Washington State University, a public land-grant university with
18,000 students and library holdings of nearly four million items.
These colleges and universities create
a stimulating setting for Greyfriars' Hall’s rigorous training in
the Christian worldview and culture. There are adherents and
practitioners of numerous philosophies and religions, as well as
Christians from a variety of backgrounds.
Moscow is a thriving and diverse
community of 20,000 located in the northern part of the state,
about 90 miles southeast of Spokane, Washington. It is situated in
the Palouse region, known for its wave-like rolling hills and its
farming. Moscow and nearby Pullman, Washington, are rural
agricultural communities that possess a cosmopolitan culture drawn
by their respective universities. The local symphony performs just
minutes from vast, quiet fields of wheat.
A number of strong evangelical
churches are located in the Moscow area. Moscow is also home to
Logos School, a renowned classical and Christian school (K–12),
and has an active community of Christian homeschoolers. Greyfriars'
Hall students enjoy the support, fellowship, and hospitality of
Christian families and churches in the area.
