On June 24, the bicentennial of the Lord’s faithfulness to the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary (RPTS) was celebrated at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, Pa. Fittingly, recollections of the RPTS story were displayed in settings of Pittsburgh history. It is in Pittsburgh that the seminary has been based since 1856—and from 1924 at its current Penn Avenue address.

Throughout the memorable day of celebration, as well as following the buffet supper, guests enjoyed stepping back in time as they perused RPTS memorabilia and listened to “living vignettes” (re-enactors in period attire and decor) describe the challenges to faith and God’s faithfulness during their respective eras.

Depicting life in the early days of the seminary, Rev. James Faris, current pastor of the Southfield, Mich., RPC, assumed the role of his great-great grandfather by the same name. The 19th Century Rev. Faris (a great-great grandson of a Covenanter martyr whose faithful witness had touched the heart of James Renwick) talked of the need for increased learning and language refinement among the emigrating Scots-Irish; expressed concern over the intemperate use of alcohol; and urged the necessity of abolishing slavery. Having first come from Ulster to South Carolina, Faris recounted the Covenanter petition to that state to allow liberation of those held in bondage. The petition was denied. With slaveholding not permitted within the Reformed Presbyterian communion, Covenanter migration to Indiana began. Faris himself became pastor of the RP church in Bloomington, Ind. Exemplifying the RP abhorrence of slavery, former teacher Faris had purchased, with the equivalent of a year’s salary, the freedom of a South Carolina African. Pastor Faris also fondly honored his wife as a worthy helpmate in the ministry, commending her memorization of the Westminster Larger Catechism. Covenanter life-purpose was clearly and persuasively expressed through the life of James Faris as voiced through his descendant: to glorify God in every manner in all of life. Memories from the second century of RPTS included RPs advancing the truth of Christ’s crown sovereignty in and over every dimension of life; a renewed emphasis to sing skillfully with the publication of a new psalter in 1911; and the blessing of the five Willsons to the seminary, the latter three laboring in the 20th Century. Also, Rev. Melville Carson was portrayed by his great grandson, Chris Carson.

RPTS today was presented by Adam Niess, a master of divinity student who has just completed his first year of study. Highlighted in this vignette were the growth of the RPTS student body, both in numbers and diversity; course and degree enrichment, for example, biblical counseling; and campus enhancements, such as the new Willson Center.

At 7:30, the evening program began with psalms sung by Geneva College’s group New Song. RPTS President Jerry O’Neill welcomed the large gathering, remarking the large response necessitated capping the number of attendees at 600. Dr. O’Neill expressed hearty appreciation for all those who had labored long and well in the planning and execution of the historic commemoration, with particular recognition to Mrs. Rebecca Phillips, Mrs. Susan Myrick, and Mrs. Kim Backensto.

Thoughts were then turned from the last two centuries to our God’s eternality as Dr. Wayne Spear offered the invocation: “From everlasting to everlasting, You are God; the same yesterday, today and forever; the truth of Your Word is firmly fixed; and Your mercy endures forever.”

President of the RPTS Board of Trustees, Dr. Richard Holdeman, recalled particular evidences of the Lord’s faithfulness to the seminary—beginning with the foresight given its founders at a time when only four other seminaries existed in the young United States. Since those early days, Holdeman went on to say, the Lord has demonstrated the transcendence of His Word as the gospel is being carried from RPTS to peoples across the globe, and the seminary is the most racially diverse institution of its kind in the United States. “Only through the singular blessing of God,” declared Holdeman, “could a seminary held by a denomination so small in numbers be kept faithful to the biblical doctrines of the Reformation over these past 200 years as winds of many doctrines have swept across the world.”

Dr. Derek Thomas, pastor, author, and professor of systematic and practical theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Miss., outlined the role of Reformed seminaries in the life of the 21st Century church. He began by contrasting the formation of a little seminary in Pennsylvania with two other 1810 time-markers in the European sphere of Western culture: “Für Elise” was composed by Beethoven; Josephine was divorced by Napoleon.

The 1810 planting of RPTS and other seminaries in those days, Dr. Thomas remarked, was not unlike the New Testament pattern of propagating the faith once received: committing the truth to faithful men who would in turn teach others. And while seminaries have expanded from the more individual tutelage of former days, we must bear in mind that seminaries do not make pastors, but rather confirm to the service of Christ and His church those called to the ministry and develop the gifts that the Holy Spirit has entrusted in those lives.

Today’s Reformed seminaries, Dr. Thomas said, will be committed to the inerrancy of the Scriptures; to the best of biblical theology (which is how B. B. Warfield defined Calvinism); to the teaching of the original languages of the Scriptures; to the training of theological ministry that will contour individual lives and congregations in confession and perspective; to the five solas of the Reformation—all and always with the grace of God in the gospel the heart of the matter. Reformed seminaries will be instrumental in refining the Church by restoring and upholding the centrality of preaching and prayer. Importantly, Reformed seminaries will send forth ministers that know not only the parts of God’s Word, but the whole of its parts—its “meta-narrative”—whose author is the Lord. As Reformed seminaries hold fast to the scriptural form of sound words, so will those contours be formed in every facet of life to the glory of God.

The Faithful Servant Award was presented to Dr. Bruce Cameron Stewart, former RPTS president. The seminary’s increase during Dr. Stewart’s tenure—in degrees offered, in accreditation, in student diversity and enrollment, in facilities, in alumni now serving on six continents—were all recalled with fond gratitude. In turn, Dr. Stewart expressed his appreciation to many for the blessing and privilege of serving the seminary. He gave thanks: “above all to God my Savior,” then to those who had served with him—his beloved wife of 61 years, Roselyn, now with the Lord; his family (many of whom were present); and his seminary colleagues whom he recalled by name.

The Center for Urban Biblical Ministry (CUBM) Choir joined in celebrating the Lord’s goodness as they sang Psalm 72E, ending their joyful rendition with resounding hallelujahs. Contributions of the five Willsons to RPTS were also gratefully acknowledged by Dr. O’Neill as he asked descendants of these shepherd-scholars to stand to receive appreciation from the evening’s gathering.

Reflecting upon God’s faithfulness, Dr. Sinclair Ferguson, minister, author, and professor of systematic theology at the recently founded Redeemer Theological Seminary in Dallas, closed the evening. Dr. Ferguson contrasted the lapse into liberalism that occurs with most seminaries after two generations (or 80 years) with the Lord’s gracious keeping of RPTS. And because it has been the Lord’s faithful superintendence over all the labors of men and women in the seminary through the years, all the glory for the faithfulness is the Lord’s.

No more clearly in the Scriptures than in the second letter to the Corinthians, Dr. Ferguson told the audience, we can hear the apostle’s heart describe the ministry and God’s faithfulness. In 2 Corinthians 4:7-15, Paul testifies of God’s faithful preservation in every type of trial. Ultimately, as is seen in verse 15 of the passage, the sufferings of God’s ministers are shown to forward the work of the gospel—that abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

“Covenanters know that suffering is the raw material out of which the Lord brings forth glory to His own name,” Ferguson reminded. “It is the means through which God glorified His Son; it is the apostolic perspective. If life is to be brought forth among the members, then death must work in the preachers.”

Through the preaching, the effectual holding forth the Word of Life, concluded Dr. Ferguson, the chief end of a theological seminary—that to which it is dedicated and for which it is designed—is fulfilled: Thanksgiving overflows to the glory of God. It is, after all, what heaven is all about.

Looking forward, President O’Neill pointed to the trustworthiness of our God. “As we rejoice with gratitude for the Lord’s faithfulness to the seminary in its first 200 years, we are at once humbled and given confidence to press forward into the future for Christ’s crown and covenant. Though we cannot presume, we believe as we hold faithful to the Lord and His Word—in direction as a board, in instruction, in His ways—that our all-powerful, all-wise, most merciful God will continue to bless RPTS for His name’s sake.”

“Your unfailing faithfulness extends to the skies….Be exalted, O God!” (Ps. 57:10-11).

—Bethany A. O. Hardwig is marketing specialist for the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, Pa.