It was one of the steps that confirmed for me that I should follow a pastoral call,” said 22-year-old Sam DeSocio of his experience as a high school student participating in the inaugural year of the Theological Foundations for Youth (TFY) program at the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary (RPTS) in the summer of 1998. He began his training for the pastorate as a master of divinity student at RPTS this fall.

Sam, of Middletown, N.Y., attended the former Grace Fellowship RPC there. He had already received counsel to consider being a pastor, and TFY helped him in making the decision. “It gave me a glimpse into what I would expect to do,” he said.

The Theological Foundations for Youth summer program was created through a Lilly Endowment grant designed to help seminaries and churches raise up the next generation of pastors and church leaders. TFY was created to encourage RP youth to connect with their church leaders through service, to join like-minded peers in exploring further insights into God’s Word through seminary training, and to become active members in Christ’s Church. Nine high school students attended the first year. More than 20 youth from across the country now come to Pittsburgh, Pa., each summer to participate in the burgeoning seminary program.

In addition to the enthusiastic feedback from youth who go through the program each year, TFY has begun to bear long-term fruit. Along with DeSocio, Jesse O’Brien of Oswego, N.Y., who participated in TFY in 1999, is now taking classes at RPTS.

“TFY is great preparation for becoming an elder or deacon,” O’Brien said. “It gives you a better grasp on the doctrinal stances of Reformed theology, such as predestination, and builds on the foundation of what we learn at church.”

O’Brien, an award-winning student at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh (graduating next May), continues his TFY experience of growing in the faith by taking adjunct seminary classes while living on the RPTS campus during college. He says both TFY and RPTS have helped him develop his personal devotions. He finds he still goes back to the books he was assigned to study during TFY.

Among the required reading are The Scottish Covenanters, Christianity and Liberalism, Augustine’s Confessions, and Anselm’s Cur Deus Homo. Students spend the first and third weeks living on the seminary campus studying subjects such as the regulative principle of worship, psalmody and a cappella singing, keeping the Sabbath, introduction to New Testament theology, Medieval church history, modern church history, introduction to covenant theology, Christian philosophy of history, introduction to missions, and infant baptism.

“Doing these readings and studies helped instill confidence that I could do the work that seminary would require,” said DeSocio.

Shadowing pastors for week two of the three-week TFY program is also a unique experience for the students. They observe pastoral leadership in evangelism, vacation Bible school, and the day-to-day life of the church. The program offers a hands-on learning experience that makes a great impact, especially on their view of evangelism.

“One thing we really want them to experience is reaching out to the lost,” said Associate Pastor Martin Blocki of the North Hills (Pittsburgh, Pa.) RPC, who has been involved as a TFY pastor the last few years. “When we tell the kids they will pair up with church leaders to do door-to-door evangelism, they are usually petrified at first. But the most consistent response we get in letters and e-mails from students afterward is that the evangelism experience was the most significant part of TFY for them, as it helped them see it is possible to talk to somebody about their faith, and that they can actually do it.”

The youth also tour local university campuses, conducting evangelically minded worldview interviews. Later they evaluate the worldview responses and the evangelism and testimony opportunities that arose.

“The evangelism experience helped build my compassion for unbelievers,” said DeSocio.

O’Brien concurs: “It was an eye-opener to be thinking about theology and putting it into practice with evangelism outreach on college campuses.”

TFY does more than instill sound theology in study and practice. It also develops relationships—especially when the group study, devotions, and discussions are accompanied by fun (picnics, downtown Fourth of July fireworks, a pancake party, an ice cream social, and a fireless campfire) and games (the infamous “Sardines,” a climbing wall, an Irish dance, and a talent night).

“The experience helped me appreciate the closeness of the RP Church,” said O’Brien. “I became more connected with the denomination by making good friends from different parts of the country, and so have my siblings who later went through the program.”

DeSocio agrees: “The relationships that develop are unique as we live and learn together. It expanded my view of the denomination as I got to know people outside the Atlantic Presbytery, and I’ve stayed close with friends I went through the program with. I got to hook up with two friends I met at TFY while we all later studied at Geneva College, and I am still in touch with TFY friends seven years after we went through the program.”

Sam majored in communications as an undergraduate at Geneva College, and wondered if he shouldn’t be an artist after graduation. He credits TFY for keeping the pastorate on his radar: “It was pivotal in keeping seminary in my head throughout college.” And, while he did consider other seminaries, he cites the time getting to know President O’Neill and the professors personally as playing a great role in his choosing to study at RPTS.

RPTS needs to raise more endowment funds for the TFY program beyond the initial Lilly Endowment startup funds so it can continue for generations of RP youth to come, so it has included TFY in its bicentennial development campaign, From Strength to Strength.

“The TFY program is proving to be an important part of fostering growth in our denomination by mentoring our young people,” said RPTS president Dr. Jerry O’Neill.