The gospel according to Matthew ends with the words of our Savior which provide the marching orders for the Christian church, words often referred to as the Great Commission: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (28: 18-20).

When you think of ministries of the church that most directly seek to fulfill this commission, what comes to mind? Foreign missions? Home missions? Evangelistic efforts in your local church? Certainly these extension efforts do directly seek, in the grace of God, to fulfill the Great Commission and are mandatory for the Church in all ages.

Nevertheless, as surprising at it may be to some of you, when the founders of the Reformed Presbyterian Church on this continent were seeking to determine their first order of business the first emphasis was theological education. Before the church could send out ministers and ordained missionaries to preach the gospel, they needed to be educated. Thus, in 1810, the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary (RPTS) was founded with the goal of training ministers of the gospel who were thoroughly grounded in the Word of God and able to preach the excellencies of the gospel for which their fathers in the faith (in Scotland) had given their lives.

The mission of the Seminary, as currently stated in the catalog and other literature, “is to train pastors for the ministry of the gospel and to prepare other disciples of Christ for effective service in His kingdom.” A subpoint of the mission statement reads, “Our training emphasizes scholarship in biblical studies , systematic theology, and church history; the cultivation of personal and interpersonal skills; and the development of spiritual gifts—all with a vision for discipling the nations of the world.”

“All with a vision for discipling the nations of the world.”.. The goal of the Seminary is not merely to train men who can preach good sermons. The goal is not merely to train men who can build large churches. The goal is not merely to train men who are well versed in theology. The goal, ultimately, is the discipling of nations for the glory of God! It is this vision that our Lord has set before us at RPTS. and it is this vision that motivates us in our work.

The way in which we most obviously seek to fulfill our mission is to train pastors and other disciples of Christ for effective service in His kingdom, with the expectation that the Lord will then lead these men and women to all corners of His creation as faithful witnesses of the good news. It is very exciting to see Seminary alumni who serve the church of Christ in Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia, and South America—in addition to the North Ameri can continent. Some of these alumni are Americans serving as foreign missionaries in various countries, and others are natives of other lands who came to RPTS for their theological education and have returned home to serve the Lord there. On any given year at the Seminary one can find students from as many as 10 different countries.

One rather unique and very exciting aspect of our ministry to various cultures is the opportunity to teach African-Ameri can leaders in the Pittsburgh urban com munity. Approximately 25 percent of our student body. mostly part-time students, are African-American, and they bring wonderful diversity and a passion for the gospel to the Seminary community. Much of the black church is conservative in its theology, and this fact causes them to deeply appreciate the opportunity for theological education in a setting where the Bible is upheld as the authoritative and infallible Word of God.

Here is how the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, ministering through the Seminary and Geneva College, is addressing the educational needs in the local urban community. It is an exciting ministry of which I am sure many of you are unaware—or at least largely unaware—of the details. Three programs dovetail in such a way as to make it possible for students with a high school diploma or GED to receive a Christ-centered undergraduate college education and graduate level theological training without leaving the city of Pittsburgh.

The first of these programs for students with little or no college background is a two-year associate’s degree program offered by Geneva College through the Center for Urban Biblical Ministry (CUBM). The office of CUBM is located in the Seminary building, and the classes are taught here as well. More than 50 students attend night classes offered Monday through Friday evenings. Mrs. Karla Byrd, a former student of RPTS, is the executive director of CUBM, and she works closely with Geneva College and the Seminary in coordinating this program. The two main Bible professors for CUBM (both part-time) are graduates of the Seminary who are active in local black Baptist churches.

It is a joy to see our CUBM students arrive for class as I prepare to leave my office each evening. They obviously love the Lord and have sacrificed greatly in order to receive further training, Of course, they come with their own set of struggles, but it is wonderful to see them grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior.

For students who finish their associates degree program through CUBM, the next might he Geneva’s Degree Completion Program. This program takes less than two years to complete, with students only needing to be in class one night per week to proceed through the innovative course modules. Some of these modules meet at the Seminary, making it possible for a student to complete both the associate’s degree program and the bachelors degree program at the Seminary.

Then, of course, there is graduate study in theology available through the Seminary. This means that it is possible for a student to receive three degrees while attending classes in the same set ting, all under the oversight of the Re formed Presbyterian Church! Of course, this requires years of personal sacrifice on the part of students and is something that few will likely see through to the end, but it is a very real option for all students coming to us without a college education.

Another option available to some who are capable of doing graduate-level course work is to take classes at the Seminary even without a college degree. This is an option for those who have the gifts to do so. We have a number of “special students” who take classes at the Seminary even though they do not possess under graduate degrees. Their desire frequently is to take systematic theology courses and biblical studies courses, and often this desire is best met through the Seminary courses.

Rather remarkably, it is even possible for a few students to receive an M.Div. Degree from the Seminary without having a baccalaureate degree. Several years ago the accrediting association began encouraging all seminaries to allow up to 10 percent of their M.Div. students to be students without undergraduate degrees. This exception was made especially to encourage gifted, though formally un educated, church leaders (especially in the urban setting) to seek graduate theological training which potentially could result in an accredited degree even though they might be at an age and stage in life where it would be impossible to start their training at the undergraduate level.

Having said all this about the wonderful diversity of our student body, let me conclude by going back to another subpoint of our mission statement, “The founding purpose of the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary was to train pastors for the gospel ministry within the sponsoring denomination. This fundamental purpose remains unchanged as we enter the twenty-first century.” It is obvious to us that our fundamental purpose. our primary reason for being, is to train pastors for the ministry of the gospel within the Reformed Presbyterian Church. We delight in the diversity the Lord brings us. But our teaching must be from a confessional conviction that is both Reformed and Reformed Presbyterian, and our emphasis must be in training men who will serve in our own denomination.

Interestingly, the Lord has been pleased in recent years to supply ministers for the denomination through men who came to RPTS from other denominations but who left the Seminary convicted of the distinctive of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. These include Jon Maginn (Phoenix, Ariz., RPC), Derek Miller (Sterling, Kan., RPC), Jeff Stivason (Meadville. Pa., RPC), Joe Griffo (Topeka, Kan.. RPC), and C. J. Williams (Providence [Pittsburgh, Pa .] RPC). Current seminarian Steve Bradley will be joining that list upon his graduation, Lord willing. To the extent to which we teach the truth of’ God’s Word in the power of the Holy Spirit, this trend should continue in the future.

The mission of the Seminary is to train pastors for the ministry of the gospel and to prepare other disciples of Christ for effective service in His kingdom. May He he pleased to bless these efforts for the discipling of the nations of the world!