For Students and Their Pastors

For Foundations Students

Don’t be intimidated by the curriculum. The goal is not to force you into a canned training program. Instead, use the outlined curriculum as a guide to review with your local church leaders. Approach it as a long-term course of study rather than a race to completion. Your life responsibilities and circumstances will change, and adjustments may be needed. You’re not earning a degree; you are preparing yourself to entrust the faith to your children and your children’s children.

For Ministry Students

Be intimidated by the curriculum. Pastoral ministry is hard. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Bivocational ministry has been my experience, and I promise you that you can become overloaded if you’re not careful.

Take the curriculum seriously. Consider James’ words in James 3:1: “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” In his Lectures to My Students, Charles Spurgeon gives this advice:

“The word of God must be unto us as fire in our bones, otherwise, if we undertake the ministry, we shall be unhappy in it, shall be unable to bear the self-denials incident to it, and shall be of little service to those among whom we minister. I speak of self-denials, and well I may; for the true pastor’s work is full of them, and without a love to his calling he will soon succumb, and either leave the drudgery, or move on in discontent, burdened with a monotony as tiresome as that of a blind horse in a mill.”

I’m not trying to talk you out of the ministry. But I am telling you that it is not something to enter into on a whim. The Introduction to Ministry requirements are intended to make you think seriously about the time, sacrifice, and commitment pastoral ministry will require.

The goal is not for you to earn a degree, so there is much greater flexibility on your part and your pastors’ part as you prioritize both the educational content and your personal timeline. If God intends for you to be a pastor, trust Him to provide what you need to fulfill that calling faithfully. May the Lord guide you in the path He would have you take!

For Pastors

Regarding the Foundations Path: I understand few people in your churches will initially take interest. It is often difficult to get people to show up to Sunday School, let alone expect them to take on a training program that will consume hundreds of hours of study over multiple years. But I also understand that they need to take their theological education and that of their families more seriously. You get a few hours a week with them. During the rest of the week, the world is catechizing them in another gospel: a God-hating, man-loving gospel.

If nothing else, this curriculum may serve as a core guide to what we should be teaching in our churches. I hate fluff. We are in a spiritual battle, and it is my opinion that preparing our folks ought to look less like how to have your best life now and more like how to engage the enemy in warfare. If the materials I’ve prepared on this website will bring a greater seriousness to our role as entrusters of the faith, I will be highly encouraged!

Regarding the Ministry Path: Paul instructed Timothy to commit what he had been taught to faithful men so that they would be able to teach others also. That doesn’t mean that pastors can’t use a formal seminary tool to that end. It does, however, mean that the primary responsibility for ensuring future generations at your church are instructed by knowledgeable men lies with you. It is a parent’s – not a school’s – responsibility to see to their child’s education. And it is a pastor’s – not a seminary’s – responsibility to see to their sheep’s education.

The training path I have provided was compiled after researching Master of Divinity programs at several conservative Reformed and Reformed Baptist seminaries. I considered the topics they felt important and the books they required or recommended in their syllabi. That’s not to say that every course and every book is a carbon copy of those programs. But what I found was that a large majority of the topics covered across the seminaries were consistent. And in many cases, the texts I recommend are used at multiple seminaries. The rest comes from my own experience in ministry – what I have added or expanded is the result of practical experience shepherding sheep over the past 18 years.

Regard what I’ve put together as a guide – a starter list to get you and your fellow elders discussing how best to raise up men to lead your church in the future. Your own experiences may tell you to reduce or increase emphasis on a particular topic. You may have a favorite text from your own seminary training to replace what I have suggested here. You may look at the list and decide I’m nuts. But if I have convinced you to provide structured training for the men of your church, I am fine with your faulty opinion of me.

You may not opt to introduce a stand-alone seminary training in your church but rely upon local or national seminaries to train your men. If so, this guide will help you discern whether the seminary you’ve chosen is covering all the bases in their curriculum or whether you need to supplement their training with some in-house custom training. Either way, you need to heed the instruction of Paul to Timothy.