Greyfriars' Hall requires approximately 15,000 pages of reading per year. Finding the required texts is the responsibility of the individual students.

Some of the books are available for checking out through the libraries of the various instructors and the other local libraries. But owning the various books is preferable due to the importance having a good pastoral library.

There will be approximately three years of study with four colloquia a year for the first two years, followed by a third year of recitation and various pastoral duties to be determined by the session of elders of Christ Church (at least one of those years will also include a course on Biblical Hebrew).

An individual who performs well academically may be dropped from the course of study at any time by the elders of Christ Church if it becomes apparent that he is in other ways unfit for the work of the ministry.

If in the course of the student’s work it becomes apparent that he has already mastered some of the material to be covered, the pastor or elder overseeing his work has the authority to modify his studies accordingly.

The elders may, in certain exceptional situations, authorize individuals who are ministering in churches outside Moscow to work with Greyfriars' Hall.

The three Ministerial Training years are called Alpha, Beta, and Gamma years. The Alpha and Beta years simply rotate; so every other year the Alpha Year is taught and every other year the Beta year is taught. During the Gamma Year reading, pastoral duties, various projects and a year long recitation are required.

First year students will be expected to attend classes and do all the reading.

All first year work must be completed before the beginning of the second year or the students will not be allowed to begin their second year.

During the second year students will attend classes, do all the related reading, preach 4 times, and they will be required to turn in a rough draft of a philosophy of ministry paper (at least 30 pages). Students will also attend elders meetings, do visitation with elders (both membership visits and pastoral visits as available).

All second year work must be completed before the beginning of the third year or the students will not be allowed to begin their third year.

Third year students will do their reading for the Gamma year, preach 10 times, write 6 papers (pastoral papers with the popular audience in mind), finish their philosophy of ministry papers, attend recitations, and complete various other pastoral duties as indicated by the needs of the elders of Christ Church.

All students are required to take at least one year of Biblical Hebrew.

All work must be completed before a letter of graduation will be awarded.

BIBLICAL GREEK
Mike Lawyer

A course for beginners in Greek, including grammatical study of New Testament Greek and practice in reading. In particular, this course will focus upon the Greek verbal system, and explore the forms and use of the various Tenses and Moods in the Greek N.T. In addition, the student will learn the forms and functions of the Greek participles and infinitives. The student will also be exposed to the variety of reference works available to the student of Koine Greek. Through memorization, translation, and reading of the Greek N.T. this course will provide the exegetical skills to equip the student to better serve our Lord Jesus Christ. Prescribed for students without knowledge of Greek.

This course is offered each year to those students whose Greek is weak or who need to take Greek as part of their entrance requirements into Greyfriars' Hall. It consists of 2 hours of lecture and 1 hour of recitation each week.

• The Elements of New Testament Greek, J.W. Wenham
• Lexical Aides for Students of the New Testament Greek, Bruce Metzger
• Majority Text of the Greek New Testament

BEGINNING HEBREW
Benjamin Merkle

This course works through basic grammar and vocabulary. The goals of the course are to instill in the students (1) a repertoire of the most commonly used words in the Old Testament, (2) an ability to recognize all the morphology in the Old Testament, (3) an inceptive ability to translate biblical Hebrew, and (4) a love for this biblical language.

This class is taught in conjunction with the Beta Year and consists of 2 hours of lecture each week and 1 hour of recitation.

Texts for the year are:

• Hebrew Grammar by Russell Fuller

• Biblia Hebraica Stutgartensia 

• Hebrew Memcards by George Kong

INTERMEDIATE HEBREW
Benjamin Merkle

This course reemphasizes the basics of Hebrew morphology and grammar, and introduces some of the more common elements of Hebrew syntax through a sturdy dose of Hebrew composition. In addition to weekly Hebrew composition, students will also translate through a book of the Pentateuch and then move on to some of the poetic books. The course instills in the students a strengthened understanding of the morphology and vocabulary of Beginning Hebrew, an understanding of intermediate Hebrew syntax, an ability to exegete the Old Testament in the original language, and a heightened love for the language.

This class is taught in conjunction with the Alpha Year and consists of 2 hours of lecture each week and 1 hour of recitation.

Texts for the year are:

• Hebrew Composition by Russell Fuller 

• Biblia Hebraica Stutgartensia

The Alpha year consists of 2 colloquia, completion of the required reading list, and attendance at a disputatio each week:

THINKING BIBLICALLY
Douglas Wilson

A common assumption is that biblical theology results whenever we work through books of the Bible contextually. The purpose in doing this is to put ourselves in submission to the Word of God as He gave it to us. It is a good practice, but is not an automatic protection. The problem is that we have a different broader context of thinking than did, say, the Ephesians. When we are up close to the text, we can bring in countless modern assumptions which we cannot see. If we step back to do systematics, we can be governed by those same assumptions. We need a broader context in which we may study particular books, but that broader context must come from the Bible, and not from what we think we know.

If we want to learn to think in biblical categories, our method should be to imitate those who were the masters in thinking in biblical categories. This means we must imitate the Lord and His apostles. We are Christians after all.

This means looking at New Testament quotations of, and commentary on, Old Testament passages. In this course we will be considering many different subjects, but the “subject” tying everything together is the endeavor of learning to think with a biblical mindset.

This colloquium consists of two hours every other week of lecture and accompanying readings.

BIBLE GRAMMAR & HERMENEUTICS
Mike Lawyer/Douglas Wilson

The Bible grammar part of this class seeks to give the student a rudimentary knowledge of the contents of the Bible. The student will memorize the books of the Bible, main themes, primary characters, key verses, and the outline of each book.

The Hermeneutics part of this class will include an in depth study of the history of the church with regard to the interpretation of Scripture. It will include elements and principle of Biblical exegesis, homiletics, rhetoric, and applied thinking and logic. Included in this course will be preaching practice (video if possible) and selected readings.

Alpha Year Reading List

The Beta year consists of 2 colloquia, completion of the required reading list, and attendance at a disputatio each week:

BIBLICAL SHEPHERDING
Mike Lawyer

There is no lack of ordained men in America, and yet, there is a sore lack of functioning shepherds. There are many reasons for this, but one of the primary causes is simply a misunderstanding of the minister.

By means of an in-depth study of the Sermon on the Mount this course covers the practical aspects of the pastoral ministry, but it does it with the Biblical understanding that as pastors of the flock of God we are required to speak and act as men who speak and act with the authority of Jesus Christ.

SYSTEMATICS
Douglas Wilson

Using the documents of the Westminster Confession of Faith Mr. Wilson leads the students through a study of the main tenants of Biblical and historic theology. The course strives to teach the man of God to read the Bible in the light of the historical church while at the same time continuing to mature as men of God, led by the Spirit of God.

Beta Year Reading List

• English Bible

• Romans, in Greek 10X

• John, in Greek 10X

• Genesis 1-11, in Hebrew, 3X

• Ruth, in Hebrew, 3X

• John Calvin, Genesis

• Morris, John

• Haldane, Romans

• Henry, A Method for Prayer

• A. A. Hodge,  The Confession of Faith

• Reformed Confessions Harmonized

• Baxter, The Reformed Pastor

• Ryle, Holiness

• Lewis, The Four Loves

• Wilson , Reforming Marriage

• Wilson , Standing on the Promises

• Wilson , Her Hand in Marriage

• Wilson, Federal Husband

• Wilson , Fruit of Her Hands

• Wilson , Praise Her in the Gates

• Wilson , Fidelity

• Wilson, Future Men

• Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, selections

• Vincent, Shorter Catechism Explained from Scripture

• Adams , Christian Counselors’ Manual,

• Adams , How to Help People Change

• Adams , Handbook of Church Discipline

• Adams , Marriage Divorce, and Remarriage

• Letham, Holy Trinity

• Tyndale, Obedience of a Christian Man

• Calvin, Necessity of Reforming the Church

• Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion

• Owen, Death of Death

• Bridges, The Discipline of Grace

• Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines of the Christian Life

• Welch, Blame it on the Brain?

• Piper, Desiring God

• Adams , From Forgiven to Forgiving

• Zinsser, On Writing Well

Gamma Year Reading List