Covenant Magazine - [Summer 2006]

The Magazine of Covenant Theological Seminary

Covenant

Vol. 21, No. 2

Summer 2006

FROM THE PRESIDENT

summer 2006 We get glimpses of God’s glory through the following articles: FEATURES

This year, Covenant Theological Seminary celebrates 50 years of God’s faithfulness to our mission of training pastors and ministry leaders for His Church. Throughout this half-century, the Seminary has remained firmly committed to the foundational principles laid down by our fathers in the faith at the time of the Reformation: w Scripture as the sole authority for life and doctrine (sola Scriptura) w Faith as the sole instrument of our union with Christ (sola fide) wG race as the sole ground of our justification before God (sola gratia) In recent years, we have come to an even greater appreciation of the grace emphasis of our forefathers. For it is by the grace of God that, from humble beginnings, a small school founded by an obscure Presbyterian denomination in 1956 has since grown into the leading seminary for pastoral training in one of the fastest-growing denominations in the country. It is also by God’s grace that we can look ahead to how He will use Covenant Seminary during an era when Christianity itself is expanding more rapidly than at any other time in history.

This is a heritage and a mission for which we are extremely grateful to God. It is also a heritage which we rightly celebrate in this special issue of Covenant. You’ll find here, for example, reprints of works by some of the significant figures in the Covenant Seminary story—Dr. Robert G. Rayburn, the first president of the Seminary, and Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer, namesake and inspiration for our own Francis A. Schaeffer Institute. You’ll also find a discussion of the third of our seven core values—our foundation of grace—and how it has shaped, and will continue to shape, our work in pastoral training. In addition, you’ll find in this issue a variety of other interesting, edifying, and, we hope, fun surprises.

While we praise God for this important milestone in the life of the Seminary, we also want to focus our eyes on the road ahead and on the mission to which our Lord, by His grace, is calling us in the next exciting phase of our history. We’ll share a bit of that vision with you in this issue as well.

So, as we look both backward and forward, we thank the Lord for His faithfulness, and we pray that He will continue to bless this institution and the many people associated with it: our faculty, staff, and board members; our donors and supporters; and especially our students— past, present, and future—whom He has used, is using, or will use to bring the joy of His Gospel of grace to a world in need of reformation and transformation—all for His glory.

2 Presidents on Preaching In its half-century of existence, Covenant Seminary has maintained strong convictions about preaching. Founding President, Robert Rayburn, and current President, Bryan Chapell, have both penned passionate words on this subject.

7 Memorable Moments Countless people and events have had major influences on the Seminary. The few shared here provide fun and moving insight about Covenant Seminary over the years.

14 Who are the Heroes?

Former Covenant Seminary President Paul Kooistra knows that it’s not just the big names we remember who God used to shape and direct this institution.

18 A Shared Passion for Truth Francis Schaeffer, a former adjunct faculty member, left a legacy of compassion and commitment to the truth that continues to influence the seminary community.

CONTENTS

16

CORE VALUE

Grace

24 alumni profile

Dr. William Barker

Bryan Chapell, President

29

alumni news

30

Seminary news

B AC K FLAP

B AC K

COVENANT | Summer 2006

COVER

Speaking Schedules

capital campaign update

COVENANT COMMUNITY glimpses of god’s glory

www.covenantseminary.edu

Presidents on Preaching The leaders of Covenant Seminary have always felt strongly about God’s call to faithful preaching.

The Place of Preaching

healing. He never ignored the physical needs of those who came to Him for help. But He did not [primarily] come to heal

By Dr. ROBERT G. RAYBURN the sick, to open the eyes of the blind, or to give soundness to the limbs of crippled men. He came to save the lost. His own This article is an excerpt from Koinonia: The Organ of the Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Roorkee, U-P, India, vol. 4, no. 2 (April 1978 ), pages 1-3. Dr. Rayburn words were: “The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that placed a high priority for his students on excellence in Scriptural preaching. His publications, teaching, and example reflected his experiences in the pastorate which was lost” (Luke 19:10). That which He considered priand military chaplaincy. He served Covenant Theological Seminary as founding mary is clearly evident when the four men brought their sick President and Professor of Practical Theology from 1956 to 1977. friend to Jesus and let him down through the Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, in his recent book roof of the house. The Lord was preaching called Preachers and Preaching, states in the there; He was undoubtedly preaching about opening paragraph his conviction that “the saving faith in Him. When He saw the faith most urgent need in the Christian Church of the four men, His first words to the paratoday is true preaching; and as it is the lytic were, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” This greatest and most urgent need in the Church was the matter of first importance. Then, it is obviously the greatest need in the world however, when questioned by the scribes also.” He then goes on to say that the about His power to forgive, He said, “That ye primary task of the Church, and of every may know that the Son of Man has authority Christian minister is the preaching of the on earth to forgive sins…” He said to the parWord of God. alytic, “I tell you, get up, take your mat, and I would like to go a step beyond go home,” and the man was healed. Salvation Dr. Lloyd-Jones’s statement and say that— Although Dr. Rayburn wrote this was first; healing was second. article in 1978, his words of truth not only for the Christian minister, but also Not only, however, do we learn of the still resonate today. for every individual Christian—the preachprimacy of preaching from our Lord. It is ing (proclamation) of the Word of God itself evident in the lives of the apostles and also in the practice of is, next to his worship, his primary task. the early Church. As soon as the apostles were filled with the We live in a day when evangelicals are placing more Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, they began not to heal the and more stress on the social implications of the Gospel. sick nor to aid the poor but to preach the Gospel of salvation.

One cannot read the Scriptures without agreeing that those Peter’s great sermon on that occasion is preserved for us in part. implications are there. But such implications do not give us It must be pointed out that as soon as people began coming the direction for our primary emphasis. to Christ and being converted by the thousands, the authorities Our Lord Himself has given us the great example and patdid everything they could to stop these men from preaching. tern for our lives. He was deeply concerned with the physical There was not a word of complaint about the miracles of and material needs of men. He performed many miracles of COVENANT | Summer 2006

“If you are concerned to please God in your preaching, you will be careful to make your preaching pre-eminently evangelistic.”

healing they had performed. They were forbidden to preach! eternal life, and then it should appeal to them to trust God and obey Him. Many who read these words will never be “Speak no more henceforth in His name” (Acts 4:18; 5:40). called of God to be professional preachers. However, if you are In Acts 8 we read that there was a great persecution. This a true believer and are obedient to Christ, you will have a great came, of course, because of their preaching! Then they were all scattered, except the apostles, and “they that were scattered desire to obey Him with respect to preaching the Gospel, and you will take steps to perfect your knowledge of and ability to abroad went everywhere preaching the Word.” This was not declare the Gospel. the apostles; it was the company of believers. They were not preaching in a formal way from a pulpit as If you are concerned to please God in your preaching, you will be careful to make your preaching pre-eminently evangelistic. our pastors do today. Theirs was the kind of preaching which every earnest Christian By this I mean that you will be continually is responsible to carry on. presenting a Savior to sinful men. No ordained We speak a great deal about witnessing minister has a nobler function than this. Jesus today. We usually mean giving our own came to save sinners, to preach the Gospel personal testimony concerning the Lord’s to the poor. To be evangelical, one does not need to be traditional, but he must be informed work in our hearts. This is important, but something more than this is before us in and intelligent.

Remember that the Gospel is not a nice Acts 8. The believers were telling the good message for some men. It is an absolute necesnews of salvation through Christ. Every one of us must be equipped to convey sity for all men! Why? Because of human sin, Robert G. Rayburn served as founding President of Covenant Seminary for more clearly and forcefully the message from sorrow, and suffering, not because of social than 20 years.

God which we call the Gospel. inequalities and the frustrations and failures of It is not enough for us just to study [individual texts of] the human relationships. That which is behind all social problems Bible and learn what [their] message is. To understand [the Bible of every age is sin. The message that we preach then must be a in] its fullness requires a lifetime of study. But the very heart of message which offers salvation from sin. We do not need to prove the message is the divine program of redemption, of salvation that there is sin in the world. Conscience, experience, and history prove that well enough. What is necessary, however, is from sin through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. To preach this message clearly, simply, appealingly, accurately, and convincing men who want to deny it that their own sinfulness faithfully is the responsibility of every believer, and we all should is so severe that their only hope is receiving the salvation God has provided through the shed blood of His Son. make sure we are prepared for this high task. True preaching ought not only to instruct the hearers in Biblical truth[s], but it In trying to convince men of their sin, it is not wisest to pick also should bring men and women face to face with their own out sins such as drunkenness, dishonesty, and adultery to get men need in the light of the realities of sin, guilt, salvation, and to see their personal sinfulness. Emphasizing such sins may leave

www.covenantseminary.edu

some without any sense of guilt. What we must show men is the secrecy, the subtlety of sin—its ability to appear attractive and harmless. Our Lord’s most severe words were not addressed to the drunkards or to the adulterers but to people who were respected for their outward morality and religiousness while their hearts were unclean. To be more concerned with personal success, prosperity, and pleasure than bringing glory to God, that is sin! To harbor in our hearts attitudes of antagonism and animosity for others and a willingness to see them lose out if we can gain by their loss, this is evil! Anything which is contrary to the holy character of God is sin.

Of course, if we are to be truly evangelical we must be able, having aroused men to a consciousness of sin, to make clear and winsome the nature of salvation by showing them the love of God the Father and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because man is a helpless, hopeless sinner, salvation—if it is a true and adequate salvation—must make him right with God. If he sees himself in his sin, he must also see how completely God has provided the remedy for his sin through the blood of His Son. If you are going to be faithful to your task of preaching the Gospel, a few worn clichés will never serve adequately to present to dying men the wonders of God’s great salvation. May you give yourself wholeheartedly to the task of being prepared to preach with power.

clockwise from above , left

Robert Rayburn in 1965; Dr. Bryan Chapell; Robert Rayburn took Covenant Seminary students with him on a trip to India, where he lectured at Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

COVENANT | Summer 2006

Christ-Centered Preaching

by Dr. Bryan Chapell This is adapted from the second edition of Bryan Chapell’s book Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon. Dr. Chapell has served as President of Covenant Seminary since 1994. He began teaching at Covenant Seminary in 1984 after 10 years in pastoral ministry. Before becoming President, he served for 7 years as Vice President for Academics and Dean of Faculty.

The necessity of grace in balanced preaching inevitably points both preacher and parishioner to the work of Christ as the only proper center of a sermon. Christ-centered preaching is not merely evangelistic, nor is it confined to a few Gospel accounts. It perceives the whole of Scripture as revelatory of God’s redemptive plan and sees every passage within this context—a pattern Jesus himself introduced (Luke 24:27). Discovering the redemptive context of every text allows us to use the entire Bible to discern the grace we need to preach and to live so as to lead others to closer fellowship with the Lord. Without a redemptive focus, we may believe we have exegeted Scripture when in fact we have simply translated its parts and parsed its pieces without reference to the role they have in God’s eternal plan. Grace keeps our character true to God, our messages true to Scripture, and our efforts true to Christ’s will. Reliance on this grace results in sermons that are empowered

by God (despite our knowledge of our sin and inadequacy), for He alone is responsible for the holiness and truth that fuel preaching’s spiritual force.

Consciousness of God’s enablement should encourage all preachers (including beginning preachers) to throw themselves wholeheartedly into their calling. Consistently preaching the necessity and the proper motivation for holiness is one of the most difficult tasks that preachers face in every generation.1 Successful (i.e., Biblical) Christ-centered preaching bears the marks of grace-motivated obedience—insisting on the contemporary application of Biblical mandates while grounding the source of Christian behavior in appreciation of God’s glory and provision.

The historic Heidelberg Catechism asks one of the most honest questions in all theological discourse about the nature of obedience: “Since we are redeemed from our sin and its consequences by grace through Christ without any merit of our own, why must we do good works?” A paraphrase is simply, “If salvation is because of grace, why be good?” The answer is: “So that with our whole life we may show ourselves grateful to God for His

goodness and that He may be glorified through us.” 2 We offer service to God not to gain His affection but in loving thankfulness for His affection.

Ultimately, the issue all preachers must confront is what they believe to be the relationship between people’s conduct and God’s acceptance. Are we holy for God’s acceptance, or are we holy because of God’s acceptance? Guilt for sin drives us to the cross, but love for God that is the fruit of His grace should propel us from it.3 Understanding this proper source of our faithfulness challenges preachers to recognize the danger of sermons that do not contextualize their instructions with redemptive truth. When explanation of God’s full provision and unfailing love does not accompany exhortations for corrected behavior and right conduct, then spiritual damage inevitably occurs.

to the world—as a license to sin or belittle God’s law—ignores the Bible’s perspective that grace compels the heart renewed by the Spirit to want and to do what God wants. Grace alone motivates us to deny ourselves and enables us to live for God (Titus 2:11-12). Mercy acts as a lens for perceiving the fullness of the glory of God that prompts greater love for Him—and hence, greater zeal for His purposes.4 Sermons of this sort not only empower God’s people for His purposes but also make preaching itself the sustaining joy and glory God intends it to be for the proclaimer of His Word. The joy of the Lord is strength for both the dispenser and the recipient of God’s truth (Neh. 8:10).

With Christ-centered preaching that demonstrates the hope God provides in all Scripture, we maintain the joy that strengthens all expository preaching.

Because many view their obedience as the dues that maintain their membership Employing the Means of Grace in the Kingdom, preaching grace as the We are saved by grace alone. motive of Christian conduct and service We are sanctified by grace alone. has risks. Many preachers think that the We are secured by grace alone. goal of good preaching is to bludgeon Preaching that is faithful to these people with their guilt, just as many Biblical truths never prods believers parishioners believe it is their duty to I write this book with deep appreciation toward holiness with the threat of divine for those whose contributions to my own take it. Both parties are habituated to thought and life have been significant. retribution, for to do so would make our feel relief only after one has felt bad Thanks are especially owed to Robert works rather than His grace the foundaG. Rayburn, my homiletics professor, who enough long enough to gain grace. settled for nothing less than excellence tion of our relationship with God. The Instruction to preach the message of while consistently teaching that God’s glory has to be the sole focus of the guilt of our past, present, and future sin grace should not deter us from mention preaching task, and to John Sanderson, was placed upon Christ in His sacrifice of sin’s Biblical consequences. Instead, we Professor of Biblical Theology, who opened my eyes to the necessity of a on the cross (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 10:10-12; should present Biblical identification of Christ focus in all faithful exposition.

1 Pet. 3:18). We may properly feel remorse – from the Acknowledgments to sin’s consequences as the gracious revelaChrist-Centered Preaching for the sin we commit, but this subjective tion of a loving Father who wishes for us guilt that we feel and that grieves the Holy neither to experience the consequences Spirit does not annul the finished work of Christ, which of our rebellion nor to face the discipline He must dispense in removes all objective guilt from our account. order to turn us from even more serious harm. If God did not love, He would not warn. Preaching corrective discipline in the The Motives of Change context of divine love should keep us from characterizing the Faithful preaching surfaces guilt to break and drive believers to wrath of God toward His people as punitive damage and true repentance. Yet, for that repentance to be genuine and should enable listeners to understand the occasional need for fruitful, it must yearn for and be convinced of the power and God’s severe mercy. An illustration tells of a mother who took magnitude of God’s kindness (Rom. 2:4). That is why the aposan ailing son to the doctor. The doctor determined that the tle Paul, who identified love as his greatest motivation in minboy needed a shot. The mother quickly tried to calm the boy’s istry (2 Cor. 5:14), urges us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices fear of pain by saying, “Don’t worry, Johnny, it won’t hurt.” The “in view of God’s mercy” (Rom. 12:1). Grace defined according

www.covenantseminary.edu

doctor could not go along with the empty promise. Instead, he said to the boy, “Son, I may hurt you, but I will not harm you.”

God speaks to us similarly in His Word. It is not wrong to preach that sin has consequences or that God’s discipline hurts (Heb. 12:11). It would actually be ungracious to pretend or to preach otherwise and thus not provide the warning that Scripture so lovingly offers. What is unloving and ungracious is to preach that God disciplines out of vengeance, divine retribution, or the desire to harm us because we have crossed Him. The full penalty that our sins deserved God put on His Son so that we would not have to suffer for the guilt of our sin. Now His discipline (even if it hurts) is not intended to harm us but to help us by turning us from the sin whose consequences would cause even greater pain (1 Cor. 10:11; Heb. 12:7-10).

ever stronger for God’s purposes. This is how Scripture has always motivated and empowered obedience. Even Moses preceded the Ten Commandments with a recounting of God’s deliverance, not only so that the Israelites would not believe that their salvation had been by their hands but also so that their hearts would turn toward God.6 Awareness of the power of proclaiming the goodness of God not only helps govern the priorities of preaching but also brings the joy to preaching that will make it a sustaining privilege for a lifetime of ministry. No precise formula should instruct preachers how to maintain a Christ-centered perspective regarding the application of Biblical truth.7 However, when people walk away from a message understanding that grace both motivates and enables them to serve God, futile human striving and vain self-vaunting vanish. As a consequence, preachers should make God’s redemptive work the content, the motive, and the power behind all Biblical exposition. The goal of such Christ-centered preaching is not to equip preachers to develop or debate some novel interpretive science. The goal is to encourage preachers to see and proclaim the relationship God establishes with His people and reveals in all Scripture so that they may glorify and enjoy Him forever. Only when people look beyond themselves for spiritual health do they find their sole hope and source of power to do what God requires. Preaching the message of God’s deliverance that beacons in all Scripture turns God’s people away from self and to God as the provider of their present healing and eternal hope. This is the bottom line of Christ-centered preaching: When a sermon is done, do people look to themselves or to God for their security? Only when they know to look to God alone has a sermon been truly beneficial and Biblical.

“...preachers should make God’s redemptive work the content, the motive, and the power behind all Biblical exposition.”

Scripture’s universal pattern of exposing human inadequacy and divine provision indicates that God does not simply expect exceptional diligence in His disciplines to enable us to partake of the power of His grace (2 Cor. 12:9). As redemptive sermons lead people to understand the lack of their own ability to be or to do what God requires, preachers naturally lead listeners to a confession of their need for God. In classic theological terms, this means that every imperative of Scripture rests on the indicative of our relationship with God, and the order is not reversible (Acts 16:14-16; Col. 3:1-5; 1 John 5:l-5).5 We do what God requires (the imperatives) because we are His people (the indicative relationship His grace alone establishes). We do not become His people by obeying His imperatives. We see ourselves as beloved, beautiful, and precious to Him through faith in His redeeming love for us.

Thus, preaching that assures God’s people that their relationship with Him is secure by virtue of God’s provision nourishes the faith that becomes the motivation and enablement of true holiness. God’s people serve God out of love for Him and with confidence of His provision. If preaching purposefully or unintentionally implies that a relationship with God rests on works, then it reverses the Biblical order of grace and works, thereby undermining the faith foundations that provide the power of obedience. Preaching that stimulates ever greater love for God drives the affections of the world from the heart so that it beats

COVENANT | Summer 2006

1. C f. Rom. 6:1; Gal. 3:21-22, 5:13-26.

2. H eidelberg Catechism, q. 86.

3. U ltimately, the Spirit leads us to understand that our guilt, too, is graciously revealed to us so that our Savior might relieve us of its misery and consequences.

4. F or book-length treatments of this subject, see Bryan Chapell, Holiness

by Grace: Delighting in the Joy That Is Our Strength (Wheaton: Crossway, 2001); Walter Marshall, The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification (Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage, 1999); and Rose Marie Miller, From Fear to Freedom: Living as Sons and Daughters of God (Wheaton: Harold Shaw, 1994).

5. H . Ridderbos, Paul: An Outline of His Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975), 253.

6. Kenneth J. Howell, “How to Preach Christ from the Old Testament,” Presbyterian Journal 16 (January 1985), 9.

7. D aniel M. Doriani, Putting the Truth to Work: The Theory and Practice of Biblical Application (Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2001), 264-67,294-304.

MemorableMoments at Coven ant Seminary

A dinner discussion in 1957

logical Covenant Theo unding faculty fo y’s ar in m Se

The first graduates of Covenant Seminary

Covenant Seminary’s first board members

www.covenantseminary.edu

Mission Minded Robert Case (MDiv’73)

In l968, my wife, Kathy, and I spent our first wedding anniversary with Francis and Edith Schaeffer at L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland. We were with Campus Crusade for Christ in Europe at the time. In l969, I was working as a radio news announcer in Seattle and wrote Dr. Schaeffer to ask him where I should go to seminary. In his reply, he recommended two seminaries. I wrote to both. One sent me a form letter; the other, Covenant, sent me something quite different. Dean of Students John Buswell handwrote a note encouraging me

to apply. That was the first indication that Covenant Seminary was a different kind of school.

I joined about 40 new students in the fall of 1970. The Seminary was not yet accredited, but the intellectual firepower in upperclassmen such as Jerram Barrs, Jack McNeill, and Egon Middelmann set a standard of excellence that lasted my time at seminary. I missed the great J. Oliver Buswell, Jr., by several months, but I was able to sit under the “little Buswell”—David Jones—for my entire time in St. Louis.

Dr. Jones was a part of the stable of stellar scholars such as Elmer Smick, Laird Harris, Robert Reymond, Wilber Wallis, and—the new one—George Knight III. Later, Will Barker and Barton Payne joined in my education. All these theologians were led by that astonishing leader of men, Robert G. Rayburn—still, after all these years, one of my heroes.

I was admitted to Covenant Seminary on probation because I had squandered my years as an undergraduate.

Never intending to enter the pastorate, I was a blank slate on which Covenant could imprint its worldview. As a new Christian convert in college, I was thrilled by the stories of the great missionary pioneers. I was blessed to witness a school started and sustained by men of courage and self-sacrifice, who gave up secure positions and reputations to found an upstart seminary in the Midwest. To this day, these early Covenant men inspire me. I met Covenant Seminary board member Max Belz then, and almost 30 years later his son

would hire me to begin a journalism school.

As the years since 1973 recede into the past, I find myself still indebted to Covenant for the education I received. As a young man, Covenant took me in, educated me, and gave me

and my family an ecclesiastical home. For the last 30-plus years, as my life has taken twists and turns, the plumb line of my thinking has consistently been what I learned at seminary.

For 20 years, I raised my family in a city without a sound church, and year after year I called upon my theological training at Covenant to sustain my family and me.

My daughters have long since graduated from Covenant College, become members of the PCA, and continue to integrate their theology with their life experiences—a further bequest of my Covenant Seminary education.

To put a finer point on my obligation to Covenant Theological Seminary—it is a permanent obligation.

Francis and Edith Schaeffer’s chalet Will Barker (left), second President of Covenant Seminary, and Mark Belz left

below , left

COVENANT | Summer 2006

Doctrine Affirmed By a Flame James Breckenridge (BD’68)

e seminary classIn 1967 or so, Bob Fiol and I wer ace was not funcmates. I remember that the furn located downstairs tioning in the dorm, which was the furnace, stuck his below the library. Bob opened d with a boom and head in, and the furnace reignite never forget the singed off his eyebrows. I will t moment, we all stunned look on his face. At tha ! were happy for eternal security

above and left

The need for student apartments arose in the late 1980s. The first apartment building was dedicated in January 1991.

Covenant Seminary class of 1978 left

Through the Eyes of an Englishman John Barrs (MDiv’77)

My first impressions at seminary were about the culture. I had moved more than 4,000 miles, and yet I was made more welcome than if I had moved to the next college 30 miles down the road from where I had been teaching in England. The love, care, and respect for the individual that I invariably met from a wonderful group of people soon made an overwhelmingly beautiful experience which I treasure. Mind you, viewing the English Reformation from an American perspective is a real eye-opener!

I think what I am struggling to say is that trying to find memo-

rable seminary moments becomes drowned in three wonderful years of memorable minutes, hours, and days. Not that is was all easy or straightforward—man is created to work in the sweat of his brow, and we were worked! Barton Payne expected us to read three hours for each hour he lectured. I read very fast, but I told him I was limiting myself to 75 pages for each hour lectured; I was reading more than anyone else! He asked me how long it was taking me, and when I replied that I read about a page a minute, he promptly docked me a quarter grade point!

www.covenantseminary.edu

True Empathy

A letter from Francis Schaeffer to Robert Rayburn, March 1981

w s di re ct ly to ha ve th e ne w as so go od It 5. ch ar M y th at r yo ur le tt er of us co m pl et el Th an k yo u fo e Lo rd he al s th ss le

un at th ib ili ty of re oc yo u an d I kn ow fa ce th e po ss co ur se , bo th ay s m us t al so w al fro m yo u. Of e w er ith w nc es tio n of ca ha nd in ha nd fa ce d th e qu ry m uc h go es on ce w e ha ve su re pr ay er ve am I d an e, t he al us ic in e Lo rd do es no m od er n m ed lle d ev en if th cu rre nc e. W ith ro nt co g g in e th in g be in g” by m ee tin ss ib ili ty of th t th e w ho le th ea “b ly al it, th er e is a po re ill we w m 63 ot he r th of us th at ill bo th di e fro I ho pe fo r bo , m ay be w e w se co m pl et el y.. . ca e th t no w e ha ve , if th at is e an d th at is e ai r. Ho w ev er on e ad va nt ag s ha ay th e Lo rd in th w is th co nc ep tio n ci de nt . Li vi ng er yb od y fro m au to m ob ile ac is tru e fo r ev t th in gs or an ha w of ity cu s th e re al in to sh ar p fo rm al w or ld . ha d br ou gh t l in th is ab no aI ar e al l m or ta th e ly m ph om e w at th is at an d be rid of on w ar d an d th w av e a w an d d ul ce co I sin s if , ar se , of co ur se an d- a- ha lf ye In m y ow n ca e w ho le tw oth er ov

ck ba e. in g e th an ne ga tiv n ca se , in lo ok s be en po sit iv Ye t in m y ow m or e th at ha w ou ld do it. en be s rha e de un om a, th er e co nc ep t of I ha ve ly m ph of so m e va gu I ha ve kn ow n ju st th in ki ng t no m pl ex of am I co l d to ta m an y le ve ls an Ra th er, in th e Th at is tru e on tru e as w el l. is at th s es ga tiv e. gh I gu sit iv e th an ne le be tt er, th ou er e is m or e po th at th st an di ng pe op d ce in ed , I am co nv l de te rm in ism at ha s ha pp en of th eo lo gi ca ev er yt hi ng th ai ns t an y fo rm ag am y gl gl y co nI in cr ea sin al so in cr ea sin th at th ou gh sio ns , ye t I am lu de I am so gl ad to in s ca la to r fo r ro an d ch oi ce al on g on an es op le in to a ze it w er e, ca rri ed w hi ch tu rn s pe as , en be ve h fe el an d I ha an d I ve ry m uc fa ct th at Ed ith w ith al l th is, r de sc io us of th e on w d le ft in aw e an e ba tt le s th at ou r liv es . I am al th , bu t in th th e en tir et y of is m at te r of he th in st ju t at io n, no is st ill in op er th e es ca la to r rre nt (M ar ch) er y sid e.

Li fe ” in th e cu “T he Du st of be se t us on ev le tic ar y m no t u ha ve re ad e ar tic le w as I w on de r if yo id ea s th er e. Th e th of

e m , so w ou ld en jo y ge r Ch ris tia ns ty. I th in k yo u le s of th e yo un gg ru st e th w iss ue of Et er ni I sa d ye t bu t as ki ng , as on ou r fa ce an st ra ct th in ki ng pl as tic sm ile a ve bo rn ou t of ab ha to t e w as so as no ba la nc e of lif n of it. ... w ha t th e re al th an a ne ga tio it w as co st ly rt ab le w he n n of lif e ra th er io at m fir af th e el ec tri c po on ha ve an er tt le e t th r pl un ki ng ou y ow n, Th an k yo u fo al on g w ith m

e an d to yo u rn Ve La to ve lo r he se nd s to yo u. Ed ith

De ar Bo b:

In th e La m b, ef fe r Fr an cis A. Sc ha

COVENANT | Summer 2006

10

Saved By the Be ll

Will Barker (BD ’60)

venant of the Co A portion a 1980 rc ci y facult Seminar y

During my studen t days (1957-1960) , some seminary the basements of classes were held faculty homes, fiv in e of which were beginning of on on campus. Toward e semester, when the professors were no tions of classes, t yet used to new we attended an lo ca apologetics class Allan Killen in taught by Profes the basement cl so r R. assroom in Presid home. After abou ent Robert G. R t half an hour of ayburn’s th e 50 -m in ute period, the bu Rayburn’s dryer in the adjoining zz er on Mrs. room went off re head, Dr. Killen peatedly. Cocking said, “Oh, that m his ust mark the en informing him ot d of the hour.” W herwise—and w ith out ith stifled smiles out of class to en on our faces—we joy an unexpect filed ed recess.

A collection of Covenant Seminary catalogs

left to right

1962, 1964, 1973, 1975, 1985, 1991, 2002

A Rose Among Them Nancy Potter (MAGTS’96, MDiv’99)

in the late When I started attending Covenant Seminary classes. The 1980s, only a handful of women attended nted, but the environment was formal and very male-orie was gender Seminary’s mission to train servants of God married woman a blind, and people willingly embraced me— d classes on a limwith young children who could only atten who did not child ited basis. As a stay-at-home mom with a attend class three separate easily from me, I knew I could not a sitter each days a week while leaving my daughter with plea and graciously time. Dr. Robert Reymond listened to my matic theology syste allowed me to bring my two-year-old to a a flavor of crayons class one day each week, where she added sphere of men. and Cheerios to the somberly suited atmo concepts of theolDr. Reymond said, “She may absorb more .” ogy than we could imagine by sitting in class led by A few years later, I sat in a discussion class an present. wom Dr. Robert Yarbrough—once again the only ng to seminary.

He asked us what we hoped to gain by comi involved with sters Many of the men planned to become mini

11

le. I said I had no church planting or pastoring of God’s peop to learn God’s lofty goals but that I came to seminary just ming a better wife Word and know that I am saved, thus beco anything else, and mother for my family. Before I could add there.” right Dr. Yarbrough said, “That is worthy enough and affirmaThese are but a few of the instances of love of use my gender, tion of me as a person of God, no less beca my days at that I repeatedly encountered throughout usly since my Covenant Seminary. It has grown tremendo ding classes are first days, and the numbers of women atten er—than the equal—and in some courses or majors great re may be more numbers of men. The dress and atmosphe tered. Although informal as well, but one factor remains unal God’s Word, the primary mission is to train ministers of God and provides Covenant Seminary presents the Word of that everyone Biblical training to all people, understanding place in life God is a “minister” of God in whatever role or Glory be to God. gives them, no matter their gender or race.

www.covenantseminary.edu

Faculty Humor

Dr. Will Barker (BD’60), Covenant Seminary President from 1977 to 1984 Spring break was about to end, and professors were due to return for a faculty meeting one day before the students and the resuming of classes.

Construction of the original library building was under way (it must have been about the spring of 1975), and the weather was warming up. Registrar Bob Thomas, Director of Admissions Bob Vasholz, Secretary Barb Moginot, and I (as Dean of Faculty) met for lunch and noticed that the faculty meeting would fall on April 1. As an elaborate joke, we prepared an announcement of a massive shifting of classrooms to faculty homes, large closets, unusual spaces—all very inconvenient—on the basis that with windows open, the construction noise would make teaching practically impossible in the normal locations. This written notice was distributed without comment at the beginning of the faculty meeting and produced a variety of responses from bafflement to consternation. The faculty meeting business proceeded while one professor marched out to warn his wife that a class would be held in their home early on the morrow and several others expressed dismay. Eventually Bob Reymond nudged Laird Harris to point out the line at the bottom that said in Hebrew characters “April Fool,” and everybody began to have a good laugh.

Laird Harris The current administration building was a donation from St. John’s Hospital (just down the street) in the early 1960s.

Originally it held dorm rooms and classrooms.

right

Edwards Hall

COVENANT | Summer 2006

12

The classic style of the new library adds timeless charm to the Seminary campus. above The original library

top

Third President Paul Kooistra served during the era when God blessed Covenant Seminary with significant enrollment growth.

Dr. Paul Kooistra

Covenant Seminary President from 1985 to 1994 Minnesota native Paul Kooistra became Covenant Seminary’s third president in 1985. He brought to the Seminary experience in pastoral ministry and education along with the belief that “a seminary education is successful only if, at its end, the student knows Jesus Christ more intimately than at its beginning.”

Dr. Kooistra communicated his vision for the Seminary in this way (from the 1990 Covenant Theological Seminary catalog): “More than ever, we at Covenant realize that God has placed us at an important threshold, not simply for the new decade, but also for the challenges of the approaching century. As our denomination grows toward doubling the number of its churches and missionaries, and as we assist many other denominations training men and women with an emphasis on the authority of Scripture, we move confidently ahead in His power. …Our priorities are encouraging and modeling intimacy with God, leading people with Christlike gentleness, and boldly moving forward upon the authority of God’s Word to reach people with Christ’s Gospel.

Most of all, we want to serve you, be your seminary, and minister

13

to you with all heart, soul, mind, and strength— which God supplies through His grace. We are here for you, and our prayers are with you.”

Dr. Phil Douglass, Associate Professor of Practical Theology who was recruited by Dr. Kooistra to lead Covenant Seminary’s churchplanting emphasis, reflects on Paul Kooistra’s leadership saying, “Dr. Kooistra was a King David. He was the ideal president for that era at Covenant Seminary.”

Paul Kooistra left the Seminary in 1994 to become the Coordinator for Mission to the World. His legacy included an emphasis that Covenant Seminary must be faithful to the teaching of the Bible and “hold tenaciously to [its] understanding of what it

means to be Reformed in a warm and winsome way,” he wrote.

“Simply put, faith which is not expressed in love is not Biblical faith and therefore is not Reformed.”

Dr. Kooistra remains devoted to communicating the truths of the Word of God in this manner. One way he does this today is through writing devotionals. To read one of his devotionals, see “Who Are the Heroes?” on pages 14-15.

www.covenantseminary.edu

On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers...

2 Corinthians 1:10b-11a, (niv)

As I stepped off the plane onto a lush tropical island in the South Pacific Ocean, every cannibal cartoon I’d ever seen flashed through my mind. “Lord, you’ve promised to be with me,” I prayed under my breath. “I’m counting on you to keep that promise.”

electricity, treated water, cafeterias, or any modern conveniences.

What you do find is a group of students hungry for God’s Word and a burning desire to strengthen their church against threats of liberalism, cults, and new waves of ancient superstitions that are making an inroad into their culture. Hence, the leaders were seeking help from PCA missionaries.

Historically, the church in Vanuatu has been a strong church. Amazingly, it is a Presbyterian church—birthed in the Nineteenth century by Scottish Presbyterian missionary John Paton.

When John and his young wife (who died in childbirth the following year) first set foot on the island of Tanna in 1858, they were acutely aware that the natives they hoped to evangelize might have other notions. (Missionaries who had preceded them were consumed before sunset on the day of their arrival.) Thirty Years with South Sea Cannibals, one of John’s memoirs that recounts a string of adventures, would rival any of today’s best sellers. It was “the power of the great invisible God, the only Hearer and Answerer of prayer,” he wrote, which protected John through the years he worked and witnessed before there was even

It was August of 2005, and God had granted me the extraordinary privilege of teaching a course on Christ-centered preaching to a group of eager young Bible school students— my Christian brothers who also happen to be descendants of converted cannibals.

The school, located on the island of Espiritua Santo in the republic of Vanuatu (formerly known as the New Hebrides), occupies a few concrete block buildings. The students come from villages with primitive huts and small gardens. Here you find no COVENANT | Summer 2006

14

one convert. Regarding one narrow escape in a small canoe, he Some of the greatest lessons I’ve ever learned came from wrote, “Had I been a stranger to Jesus and to prayer my reason those prayer times. In the late 1980s, Mark Pett, our youngest would have given way, but my comfort and joy sprang out of these board member, arrived and said, “I have incurable cancer. Won’t words: ‘I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Lo, I am with you pray for me?” He wasn’t talking about a few simple sentences thee always!’ Pleading these promises, I followed my guide.” either. As he knelt in our midst, man after man poured out his heart before the Lord, and we were assured of God’s presence as Over time, “His Spirit, like leaven, was at work.” Before John’s never before. Though Mark’s life was short, his legacy continues death, hundreds of islanders on Tanna and neighboring Aniwa to impact many lives—my life among them. had professed Christ and been baptized. A new lifestyle supplanted old hostilities. “Thefts, quarrels, crimes, were settled now, Prior to that event, we had wavered over the most elemental not by club law but by fine or bonds or lash as agreed upon by the question: business first, or prayer first? Afterward, it was unmistakable—prayer is our business. chiefs and their people. Everything was rapidly and surely becoming ‘new’ under the influence of the leaven of Jesus. Industry As we prayed, God listened and answered. We prayed for stuincreased. Huts and plantations were safe. Heathen worship was dents, and God increased enrollment. We prayed for new faculty gradually extinguished; and though no one was members, men with pastoral experience who were both humble compelled to come to church, every person in and academically strong. He answered far above our expectaAniwa, without exception, became, before tions. Often finances were so tight that it was only on the long, an avowed worshiper of Jehovah.” last day of the fiscal year that He provided sufficient It is no surprise that John Paton is concontributions to enable us to remain in the black, yet sidered a national hero. But it should come He sent the needed funds every time. In 1989, we as no surprise to grace-based Presbyterians pleaded with Him to extend the life of our friend and that there was a hero behind the hero. James colleague David Calhoun who had been struck with Paton, John Paton’s father, was a peasant cancer. Today, 17 years later, Dr. Calhoun still ministers with incredible humility and love to the entire stocking-maker in the village of Torthorwald in Scotland. Prevented from attending theological seminary constituency. school by poor health and meager finances, James Who are the real heroes of Covenant poured his life into prayer—and Seminary? We can each recite a list of names into bringing up a Godly family of among the founders—men of prayer, every one of them. But there are scores of others as 11 children. Three times a day, he knelt with his family around the well, known only to God. Wives, parents, table in their humble cottage and elderly men and women, faculty, students— men and women who faithfully approached raised his voice to the One who “holds the key to unlock every the God whose “ears are open unto their cry.”

–Alfred Lord Tennyson heart that He has created,” pleadLet us never discount their work. Let us never fail ing with the great God of heaven and earth to “bring in countto give thanks to God for them. Let us never assume that the less heathen and polish them as jewels for [His] crown.” With work of a seminary—or any Christian ministry—can be done such a heritage, young John set out to fulfill the ministry his without faithful, intentional, diligent prayer. father dreamed of. While John labored 7,000 miles away, his Alfred Lord Tennyson was right when he said, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.” His words echo father labored before the throne of grace. And the God who hears in heaven was at work on earth. the apostle Paul who wrote to his friends, “For I know that I believe it is appropriate at any milestone event, in a person’s through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus life or that of an institution, to stop and remember the invisible Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverheroes—those whom only God sees and whose prayers are stored ance” (Phil. 1:19). up in heaven. I believe it would be impossible to underestimate Prayer does not merely empower our business. Prayer the importance of prayer in the history of Covenant Seminary— is our business! from its founding to the present—and, Lord willing, into the future. Among my fondest memories of the years I spent as President are seasons of prayer with the Board of Trustees. Here Dr. PAUL KOOISTRA were a group of men whose hearts were knit together as we came Paul Kooistra was President of Covenant Theological Seminary from 1984 to 1994.

He currently serves as Coordinator of Mission to the World, the mission-sending agency as beggars to God’s throne for personal concerns as well as ones of the Presbyterian Church in America. He is the author of several devotional booklets, available at www.mtw.org. for the Seminary.

More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.

15

www.covenantseminary.edu

core value #3 Grace Foundation: We believe that the foundation for all that we do must be the Gospel of grace—our absolute confidence in God’s acceptance provided through His redemptive work as the supreme motivation and enablement for love and holiness.

Grace

Foundation

Seven core values amplify and clarify how Covenant Theological Seminary understands its purpose. In the third installment of our series on these core values, President and Professor of Practical Theology Dr. Bryan Chapell, discusses the Seminary’s foundation of grace and how it is, in many ways, central to every aspect of the life and mission of Covenant Seminary.

The current program of Covenant Seminary primarily derives from three historical distinctives and one contemporary development.

The historical distinctives are: faithfulness to Scripture, commitment to a covenantal view of our Reformed heritage, and a priority on pastoral training. A renewed focus on the grace that is at the heart of Reformed theology and is the Bible’s central message is the still-developing contemporary distinctive.

A grace (i.e., Christ-centered, or redemptive) focus has risen from our historic distinctives as we have sought to address unhealthy responses made by the contemporary Church to the erosion of Biblical orthodoxy and the rise of cultural secularism.

Alarm over the encroachments of secularism, while understandable, has led some too quickly to equate Biblical spirituality with legalistic observance of Christian disciplines, cultural conservatism, or creedal compulsion. At the same time, concerns to boost

COVENANT | Summer 2006

16

the Gospel’s impact have too often led to an unreflective promotion of worldly satisfaction or success as evidence of God’s blessing (demonstrated in churches promoting themselves through consumer strategies indistinguishable from secular appeals).

As contrary as these legalistic and consumer approaches to faith may seem, they actually spring from the same source—the error of attempting to establish one’s standing before God on the basis of human achievement or acceptance.

We believe the corrective for such deviations from Biblical values is not new standards, but rather a return to the heart center of our historic faith—the message of sola gratia (grace alone). By reminding ourselves and others that grace alone is the source and sustenance of our salvation, we turn the heart to Christ for initial justification, continued sanctification, and ultimate glorification.

Self-serving and performance-driven spiritualities die when we preach the Gospel to ourselves each day. Such practice reminds us that we daily live and move and have our being only by the mercy of God and the provision of His Son. Knowing Jesus Christ personally—not merely academically—is the highest calling of every minister. This makes Christ’s provision the central message of Scripture and the central truth of our lives that must continually humble us even as it eternally secures us. We will have failed in our ministry if our students do not know Jesus better when they leave this seminary than when they entered.

The more we learn to see that all Scripture is Christ-centered, the more we will apply the Bible to our lives as the Savior intended. After His resurrection, on the road to Emmaus, Jesus

revealed how all the Scriptures speak of Him (Luke 24:27). He did not mean that all texts mention Him, but rather that all of Scripture is designed to bring His person and work into sharper focus—revealing the grace God’s people always need to glorify and enjoy Him. Similarly, the apostle Paul said that everything that was written aforetime was written to give us hope, and that he devoted his own ministry to knowing nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified (Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 2:2). The Savior’s and the apostles’ teaching were far more than repetitious rehearsals of what happened on Calvary. Even the Biblical words from Colossians 1:18 chosen for the crest of Covenant Seminary by our founders reflect this: “In All Things Christ Preeminent.” More and more, we are discovering the wisdom and glory of these words.

God’s provision of saving, sustaining, and glorifying grace is the golden thread uniting all Christian Scripture and enabling all Christian faithfulness.

Consistent adulation of the mercy of God most fully revealed in Christ motivates love for Him and His service. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15). This means all works honoring God—including our personal sanctification, our love for neighbors and enemies, our zeal for world mission, our free offer of the Gospel, our warnings of judgment, our promises of eternity, our mercy toward the poor and oppressed, our stewardship of God’s world, our battles against Satan, our prayer for God’s blessing, and our work toward Christ’s coming—all find proper motivation and enablement in love for Christ. The wonder and joy of these truths for those preparing for church leadership comes with the understanding that God is not calling them to ministries of guiltmanipulation, arm twisting, or doctrinal haranguing.

As Christ’s ministers emphasize grace, they are not compromising holiness, but rather promoting the power of the Gospel for all endeavors that are truly Christian. Though the world may interpret grace as the license to do as one pleases, the Bible reminds us that grace teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions because it binds the human heart to the heart of the Savior (Titus 2:11–12). Of course, the secular and rebellious will use grace to excuse sin, but the principles of grace revealed in all Scripture are the fuel of personal holiness and spiritual revival for those led by the Spirit.

Already we have seen many students experience a liferenewing understanding of the Gospel (and we ourselves have

been renewed) through a Christ-centered view of Scripture and life. This renewal comes when those who have long lived as though their justification is based on their sanctification (by making the indicatives of our union with Christ conditional on the satisfactory performance of His imperatives) understand that they are eternally held solely by the grace of God. Resting on God’s grace alone causes all of our and our students’ perspectives and relationships to change. We learn to see ourselves as He sees us in Christ. We learn to treat others as He has treated us through Christ. As a consequence, the joy that is our strength floods into our lives to drive us to greater levels of Christian humility, love, and commitment. Thus, presenting the doctrines of grace in a warm and winsome way is not the converse of holy boldness; rather, courageous compassion is the compulsion of humbled and grateful hearts that have bowed before the wonders of God’s sovereign mercy and now yearn to extend the blessings of His everlasting covenant to all He loves from every tribe, language, people group, and nation. As the kindness of God has led to repentance and renewal among us, we are committed to a manner and ministry that reflects His grace (cf. Rom. 2:4; 1 Pet. 3:15).

Our dream is that the personal revivals we see on campus would be a germinating force for greater revivals in our churches, our country, and the whole world. We must be on guard not to grow so to prize the beauty of the grace message that God has brought to us (or our particular expression of it) that the Gospel becomes a jewel that we admire and adore for the joy it brings us rather than for the hope it offers the world. We pray that the precious truths of grace that God has allowed us to embrace will spark Gospel proclamation rather than personal pride or institutional protectionism.

Finite creatures cannot make spiritual revival happen. The Spirit blows where He wills. However, if the Lord should choose to deepen and expand the spiritual awakening on our campus, then we should count ourselves doubly blessed as those chosen both to know grace and to share in the joys of its propagation.

DR. bryan chapell The material presented here is excerpted and adapted from President Bryan Chapell’s essay “Here We Stand: Rooted in Grace for Reformation and Transformation,” in All for Jesus: Essays Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Covenant Theological Seminary (Christian Focus Publications, 2006).

17

www.covenantseminary.edu

Covenant Seminary

& Schaeffer Francis A Shared Passion for Truth

COVENANT | Summer 2006

18

S

ince our founding, Covenant Theological Seminary has held the conviction that the Bible is the inerrant word of God. Francis Schaeffer, a longtime friend and for many years an adjunct faculty member here, shared this conviction.

He spoke and wrote with great passion about the truthfulness of Scripture. He would often say that the Bible—in its entirety—is true and is inerrant in whatever it affirms, whether it is speaking about faith, morals, the cosmos, or history. He clarified his original statement by adding “what it affirms,” for there are many things in Scripture that are not affirmed (e.g., the words of Job’s comforters—these are condemned in the text as being blasphemous and deeply dishonoring to God).

“I am thankful to Covenant Schaeffer believed that God exists—indeed, God is truly personal, communication Seminary for many reasons. Above he often would say that he was more and language are foundational to who everything else, I am glad that it has certain of the existence of God than he was God is. Therefore, God speaking to us His stood completely firm concerning of his own. He also believed that God has creatures, who are made in His image, is a the Scriptures and holds without not been silent, but rather that He has perfectly natural and unsurprising reality. compromise to the fact that the Bible We only love because we are made by the spoken to us in the Bible. This, to Schaeffer, is without error in every area in was the beauty and glory of Scripture, personal God who has been enjoying relawhich it speaks.” — francis schaeffer that the God who made the universe—the tionships of love within the Trinity infinite God—is also personal, truly personal, with Father, through all eternity. We communicate with one another in Son, and Holy Spirit communicating with each other through personal ways because we are made by the personal God who all eternity. This God, who has spoken to us in His Word, chose has been communicating for all eternity within the Trinity. We to make Himself known in ordinary human language. speak with language in words—one of the unique realities of For most non-Christians, and even for many Christians, human persons that sets us apart from all other creatures on this notion of God speaking in our language is a troubling earth—only because we have been made in His likeness by the doctrine, an idea that is hard to understand or believe. How God who is the Word from all eternity. This is the God who could God, who is so great and must be so far above us, accomspeaks in language within the Trinity, the God who spoke to modate Himself to human language? “Surely,” some ask, “is it bring the world into being, and the God who upholds the uninot more sensible to believe that the Bible is just a record of verse by His law-speaking Word. This God, to whom speaking in the encounters of people with God? Is it not a record written words is completely natural, has given us the gift of language so by ordinary people like you and me that is inspiring, but, in the that we may be like Him. He has spoken to us in His Word, and end, simply a human document and therefore one that inevitably He has spoken truth. The excerpts on pages 21-23 are examples contains errors?” of works and ideas from Francis Schaeffer about these topics.

— jerram barrs To Schaeffer, this idea that the infinite God speaks to us in the Bible was not a problem or even a difficult notion. Because

19

www.covenantseminary.edu

at Christians’ lives and see the reality of God’s holiness and love expressed in the way we live in our marriages, in our families, in our work places, in our neighborhoods—in all we do. This is never perfect, for we each bear the corruption of a sinful nature.

Yet, by the grace of God the Father, by the love of Christ, and by the power of the Spirit, there ought to be a visible reality of righteousness.

The fourth emphasis expresses something about Francis Schaeffer’s innermost heart. He drew a distinction between Christians building the Kingdom of God and men and women praying that God would build His Kingdom and take and use their efforts in His work. A passage of Scripture to which he referred frequently was Isaiah 50:10–11, where the Lord challenges His people to walk in His light rather than their own, to rely on His grace rather than their efforts. Schaeffer felt the need to call the Church to live by faith. He desired to be one who daily depended on the Lord for light, for help, for strength, for wisdom. He was prepared to be the grain of wheat that has to fall into the ground and die in order that God would bring forth fruit that would remain. These emphases were taught and lived by Francis Schaeffer. It is our prayer that we, in the Institute and in the Seminary, may teach and live these too.

– jerram barrs

This letter about the then-newly established Francis A. Schaeffer Institute appeared in the 1989-1991 seminary catalog.

I

n establishing the Institute at Covenant Seminary, my desire as director and the desire of the Seminary, is to honor God’s graciousness in raising up Francis Schaeffer to be a help to Christ’s Church. We recognize the significant contribution that Francis Schaeffer made, and we want the central emphases of his work, which so clearly expressed Biblical truth, to be an important part of our life and teaching here at Covenant Seminary.

There are, I feel, four emphases that stand out in Schaeffer’s ministry. The first and most widely known is his stress on truth.

Christianity is not a religion made by man; rather, it is the truth about God, about this world, about ourselves as human persons, about history, and about the future. The God who is has spoken to us in His Word, and that Word is true. We ought to be prepared to encourage everyone to bring his or her questions to us and to give them honest answers, and we should seek to show what is wrong with every philosophy and religion that sets itself up against God’s truth.

The second emphasis follows from the first: Because God’s Word is truth, it speaks to every discipline and to every aspect of human life. Christ is Lord of all and desires that we, His people, should take every thought captive to make it obedient to Him. We ought, therefore, to reject the separation of life into religious and nonreligious, or sacred and secular, compartments. Our obedience— in thought, word, and deed—is to be shown in all of life.

The third emphasis stresses the importance of the daily living of the Christian faith. We, as believers in Jesus, ought to be those who are light and salt in the world. People should be able to look

former Director of the Francis A. Schaeffer Institute, current Professor of Christian Studies and Contemporary Culture, and Resident Scholar of FSI

Adjunct faculty member Francis Schaeffer (with goatee) spoke at the 1981 baccalaureate service for Covenant Seminary. below, left The Francis A. Schaeffer Institute was established in the late 1980s on the Covenant Seminary campus. below, right Founding President Robert Rayburn, adjunct professor Francis Schaeffer, and professor Laird Harris far left

COVENANT | Summer 2006

20

The following questions and answers are excerpts from the Reclaiming the World video, a more than 20-hour discussion in the early 1980s with Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer (FAS), his son and filmmaker Franky Schaeffer (FS), and historian and author Dr. Jeremy Jackson. The point of the discussion was to give a perspective on the wholeness of Christianity.

Why I Am a Christian (part 1) FS What is the first thing you consider in looking at the Christian faith?

FAS We begin with a God who is there.

One must always say this is the starting place. The God who is there is not there because you think He is there or because humanity thinks He is there. The whole point is this: Is He there objectively, or is He not there? There is only one fundamental antithesis in the universe that everything else hangs on and that is that God is objectively there whether we think He is there or not. If everybody in the world says He is not there, it makes no difference whatsoever.

This is the beginning of all things.

FS In other words, you are saying it is the very opposite of the concept of truth being in your own head?

FAS Completely opposite. Just completely opposite. I think the Bible invites us to come and ask questions that would be based on the normal asking of questions of other areas, whether He is there or not. The modern man who starts with chance must say that he knows the thing exhaustively before he can say that he knows it.

He is in a terrible mess because in the next second there might be something different. However, if there is a God who is there and He knows things exhaustively, that is very different. We can know “true” truth. [Note: Schaeffer used the term “true truth” because the value of words has diminished today and the word “truth,” which meant something 50 or 100 years ago, now means “truth as I see it,” “truth to me,” or “what I feel to be true,” and the objective quality of the term “truth” is lost.] This is where I would bring in “true” truth. We can know “true” truth without having exhaustive truth. But, I would insist that we can have more adequate knowledge that God is there than even you being there, my son. If you were not there, or if Edith was not there, or if Jeremy was not there, if that was so, I would still have to deal with the fact that I am here. And, if God is not there, I have no explanation for why I am here. So, I am down really in the nitty-gritty of the very basis of human existence and thought. I am not saying that people do not live in the light of real existence; I am saying that they do not have any answer for living in it. I am not saying that they

do not have moral motions (I have said that they do) but that they have no basis for them. I am not saying that the person with a non-Christian system—even a radically non-Christian system like Buddhism, Hinduism, or the modern Western thinker of chance—does not know he is there. They do know that they are there. The only problem is that they have no system to explain it.

As a matter of fact, I would say this is their damnation. This is their tension…. The wiser they are, the more honest they are, the more they feel that tension, and that is their present hell. (I believe that there is a future hell, but this is their present hell.) The problem is not that they do not know that there is existence but that they have no explanation for it….

On Questions About Faith

FAS If you examine the ministry of Paul and also of Christ, you find that they endlessly answered questions. There was no concept here of “shut up, just believe.” It just does not exist. Paul answered the questions of the Jews; he answered the questions of the non-Jews. He was always answering questions.

I believe there are good and sufficient reasons to know these things are true…. When we come to the Bible, it says that, on the basis of God’s created world and on the basis of who you are, there are good and sufficient reasons to know that these things are true…. People come to the knowledge that this is adequate on different levels, depending on their intelligence, their education, their personalities, and the way their minds work. But, at some place—if they are honest—they come to the place where there are good and sufficient answers. Now, when we come to the place where there are good and sufficient answers on our own level (and I would say that it is Christian compassion to find that level and pursue it—that is what Christian compassion is all about; it is a part of evangelism real evangelism)….

FS In other words, not to use some set formula…

FAS That’s right. Nor just a set formula in apologetics or in evangelism. When a person comes and on his own level sees that these are good and sufficient answers—and notice that I am saying good and sufficient; I am using the word “sufficient” answers—they are confronted with doing then one of two things: Either they will bow before the answers and the person who is behind the answers, or they will refuse to bow. When you bow metaphysically, you acknowledge that you are not autonomous, that you are not a product of chance, and that there is a Creator who is the intellectual explanation of the existence of the universe and yourself.

21

www.covenantseminary.edu

FS As well as really being there.

FAS But He is not just an intellectual answer. He really is there…. You must bow morally because you have to acknowledge that He is there; His character is the absolute of the universe.

You have deliberately sinned. You are a sinner. Therefore, you need the death of Christ in substitution for you. So you bow first to creation by the Creator who is there, and then you bow to the Savior in acceptance of Him. Now, we can ask a question.

I think this is the core of the matter. If it is true that there are good and sufficient reasons to know that Christianity is true, why doesn’t everybody accept the answers? That obviously is the next question. I would say that the answer to this is clear. You must realize that Christianity is the easiest religion in the world because it is the only religion in which God and Christ and the Holy Spirit do everything. We do not do anything. He is the Creator. We have nothing to do with our existence or the existence of other things. We can shape other things, but not existence. We do nothing for our salvation, in the narrow sense, because Christ did it all. Isn’t that wonderful? You do not have to do anything.

In every other religion you have to do something—everything from burning a joss stick to sacrificing your first-born child to dropping a nickle in the collection plate. So, in one way, it is the easiest religion in the world. But now you can just turn that over. It is the hardest religion in the world for the same reason. The heart of the rebellion of Satan and man was the desire to be autonomous, and accepting the Christian faith robs you in this sense—not of your existence, not of your worth (it gives you your worth)—but in this sense, it robs you completely of being autonomous. You did not make yourself; you are not a product of chance. None of these things.

You stand there before a Creator plus nothing. You stand before the Savior plus nothing. It is a complete denial of being autonomous. What we are talking about is truth in the total reality.

Then we can measure the truth of the Scripture as it gives the answers to the total reality…. I am allowed by God to ask the Scripture questions and therefore to ask God questions, for ten years if necessary….

COVENANT | Summer 2006

The following section is adapted from the chapter “The Importance of Truth” in The God Who Is There,

by Francis A. Schaeffer.

Truth and Spirituality

Just as this matter of objective truth needs to be stressed before [people] can do effective evangelism, so the same thing must be considered before we can talk about true spirituality. From the Biblical viewpoint, spirituality is not fragmented, and therefore it is to be contrasted to modern concepts of spirituality, both in the West and the East, and, unhappily, to some evangelical concepts.

It is not fragmented because it concerns the whole man in his whole moment-by-moment life….

It is very important to realize over against modern concepts of spiritual experience that the Biblically based experience rests firmly on truth. It is not only an emotional experience, nor is it without content.

We can think of true spirituality as having three parts. The indispensable beginning is to consider who (or what) “is there” and how I can have a relationship to Him (or it).

That something must be understood and defined. You cannot have a personal relationship with something unknown. Then, having understood who it is with whom I am to have a personal relationship and how I may have it, comes the actual step of entering into that relationship. The Bible calls this being “born again,” and this is a step which a person can only take as an individual. We cannot be born again in groups, only one at a time. But to say that this is an individual matter is not the same as to say it is individualistic. The words may sound alike, but they are worlds apart. This gives the basis for a whole sociological and cultural concept.

True spirituality cannot be abstracted from truth at one end nor from the whole man and the whole culture at the other.

If there is a true spirituality, it must encompass all. The Bible insists that truth is one—and it is almost the sole surviving system in our generation that does.

To avoid confusion, let us notice what this emphasis on the unity of truth does not involve. First of all, from the Biblical viewpoint, truth is not ultimately related to orthodoxy.

Orthodoxy is important, and I am known as a man who is a convinced orthodox theologian. But truth is not ultimately related to orthodoxy. Secondly, truth is not related finally to the creeds either. I also believe we must defend the historic Christian creeds, but we must realize that, while the creeds are important, truth is

22

not finally related to them. Truth is related to something back of both orthodoxy and the creeds.

Thirdly, truth is not ultimately related even to the Scriptures.

Let me explain. Though I firmly believe what the early Church and the Reformers taught concerning the nature of the Scriptures, and though I would emphasize that what they have to say concerning the Scriptures is crucially important, yet again, truth is finally related to something behind the Scriptures. The Scriptures are important not because they are printed in a certain way, or bound in a certain kind of leather, or because they have helped many people. This is not the basic reason for the Scriptures being overwhelmingly important. The Bible, the historic creeds, and orthodoxy are important because God is there, and, finally, that is the only reason they have their importance.

The answer can only be the existence of God and who He is.

Therefore, Christian truth is that which is in relationship to what exists and ultimately to the God who exists. And true spirituality consists of being in the correct relationship to the God who is there—first in the once-for-all act of justification, secondly by being in that correct relationship as a continuing moment-by-moment reality. This is the Biblical emphasis on true spirituality. It is a continuing, moment-by-moment, proper relationship to the God who exists.

Francis Schaeffer at the 1981 baccalaureate service middle, left Francis Schaeffer middle, right Edith Schaeffer above Edith Schaeffer included this drawing with her signature on a personal letter to Dr. Robert Rayburn following the death of Francis in 1984. top

23

www.covenantseminary.edu

alumni profile

The Character of an era

Sometimes, in the unfolding of historical events, a few lives are so intertwined that they almost seem to embody all the qualities—both human and noble—that mark those historic events. One such life is that of Dr. William Barker (BD’60), former Covenant Seminary student and the first graduate to become a faculty member.

Though he was just a young boy when the Bible Presbyterian Church (BPC) came into being, the life of Will Barker is woven together with the founding, growth, and maturing of that denomination and of Covenant Theological Seminary. To the world at large, it appears a story of circumstance. But to the follower of Christ, Will’s is a story of God’s love moving in believers to change a nation through grace and a commitment to fundamental beliefs.

When the Bible Presbyterian Church first split from what is now the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (originally known as the Presbyterian Church of America), leadership of the young denomination fell to men such as J. Oliver Buswell, Jr.; Francis Schaeffer; John Sanderson; Carl McIntire; and others like them.

Many of these men are remembered, almost legendarily, for their service to the Church, their impact on culture and society, their love for people, and their passion for the ministry of Christ’s Gospel. Will Barker’s earliest memories of these men are nothing so grand; he remembers them simply as guests in his childhood home.

COVENANT | Summer 2006

“Carl McIntire often stayed with our family when he came to town to speak,” Dr. Barker recounts, “and I have boyhood memories of Bob Rayburn, Fran Schaeffer, and J. Oliver Buswell, Jr.” How was it that the early days of William Barker— future graduate from and later president of Covenant Theological Seminary—would be so bound with those who gave up so much to found this institution? “I grew up in St. Louis,” he explains. “I can even remember when The Covenant Presbyterian Church, a congregation of the Bible Presbyterian Church, formed back in 1939.”

J. Gresham Machen was one of the leading figures on the conservative side, which led to a division in 1936—a result of the fundamentalist-modernist controversy. After the death of Machen, the BPC originated after an unfortunate second division over what Dr. Barker calls “secondary issues.” “I was just old enough in 1939 to be aware of what was happening,” he says, “though I admit I didn’t understand all the issues.”

William Barker was born in 1934 to Theodore Barker and Nancy Edwards. His mother’s brother, Presley Edwards, and his father’s sister, Virginia Barker, also married, making Will and his brothers both maternal and paternal first-cousins with the Edwards children. “My family members—the Barker family and the Edwards family—were the nucleus of Covenant Church,” Dr. Barker explains. The actions of Machen and those who sided with him seemed strange to many, even radical. For families such as the Barkers and Edwardses, it just made sense to leave a

24

denomination that no longer held to the essential—or fundamental—truths of orthodox Christianity.

Will inherited more than a name and a reputation; he inherited a faith that called him early to a life of intimate communion with Christ his Savior. After high school, the young Will Barker ventured east to pursue undergraduate studies at Princeton University. There he majored in history. During those formative years, he attended the BPC church in Trenton, New Jersey. In 1955, a year before Will graduated from Princeton, he already possessed a clear sense of calling to the ministry. Despite the clarity of calling, the turmoil in the BPC left Will unsure of which seminary he ought to attend. He was even more unsure after his attendance at the now famous BPC synod of 1955, which was held in St. Louis.

“A lot of the issues had arisen at the synod of ’54, when Bob Rayburn and Fran Schaeffer began raising questions about some of McIntire’s ethics as well as his ultra-separatist position,” Dr. Barker explains, drawing on his own study and experience of BPC history. “See, McIntire stood against the mainline liberal denominations and pushed for fundamentalist representation among military chaplains. And it’s a good thing.

The PCA indirectly owes some of its growing influence in the chaplaincy to McIntire. More importantly, McIntire was a key man in organizing the American Council of Christian Churches.”

As he continues, Dr. Barker’s voice becomes more somber. “Many, however—like Schaeffer and Rayburn—took exception to some of the ethical stances that McIntire had taken,” he says. “My own uncle, Presley Edwards [then senior partner of A. G. Edwards financial firm] had to speak at the synod of ’55 and recount instances when McIntire put forth false information. That synod was held in St. Louis at The Covenant Presbyterian Church. I sat in the balcony and listened to McIntire talk. He was a very powerful speaker, but he offended many people. McIntire said in essence, ‘I am operating at this level,’” Dr. Barker explains as he raises his hand high to illustrate and then lowers it, “‘whereas many of you are working on this level.’ Of course, that really downplayed the work of the frontline pastors.

“Dr. Buswell moderated that synod,” Dr. Barker continues, now speaking with admiration. “Having met him in my childhood

home, I had already developed a great respect for Dr. Buswell.

The way he moderated was so balanced and fair that you actually couldn’t tell which side he was on until the synod ended.” At the close of that synod, Carl McIntire and his supporters separated from the continuing BPC and took the name Bible Presbyterian Church, Collingswood Synod. Those who did not follow McIntire became the Bible Presbyterian Church, Columbus Synod. Because of the turmoil in the BPC during that period, Will decided to postpone seminary and instead begin studying medieval and Roman history at Cornell University. Yet, even there, God continued to instill in Will a need for and desire to attend seminary.

“I had a Jewish roommate at Cornell,” Dr. Barker shares.

“When he found out that I was planning to travel 70 miles every Sunday to go to church, he knew I had strong convictions. So he invited me to try and prove to him that the Bible says that Jesus is God. John Sanderson was actually living in my family’s home in St. Louis at that time—during the first year of the Seminary. I would mail home my questions, and he would send me great answers. All of that helped me see how essential

“...in God’s providence, the PCA has grown and been blessed to be...a strong, sound, Reformed denomination in North America that can have an impact worldwide.”

it was for me to get theologically trained.” After that year, Will left Cornell and returned to St. Louis to attend the then-fledging and now-flourishing Covenant Theological Seminary—begun by the Bible Presbyterian Church, Columbus Synod in 1956.

Following the division at the synod in April 1955, many faculty members from other BPC institutions ended up at the newly formed Covenant College and Covenant Seminary, both on the same campus in St. Louis. “We really got the cream of the crop in terms of faculty from all the other institutions,” Dr. Barker says.

“Bob Rayburn had been president at [former] Highland College in Pasadena, California, and Dr. Buswell had served as president of [former] Shelton College in Cape May, New Jersey. When the Seminary was founded, the big question was, ‘Who will be president?’ Uncle Pres served on the board during that time, and he

25

www.covenantseminary.edu

recounted the graciousness of these men, each insisting that the other serve as president.” The board eventually had to decide between Buswell and Rayburn. They went with the younger of the two, Dr. Robert Rayburn, while Dr. Buswell—who had the highest reputation as a scholar—became dean of the seminary.

Will studied at Covenant Seminary and graduated in 1960.

During his second year of seminary, Dr. Rayburn invited Will to teach history at the college, a load he shared with Rudy Schmidt.

“I also pastored a church in Hazelwood [Missouri] during that period,” Dr. Barker says. “I was there for four years while continuing to teach. God blessed the church, and it grew. In 1963, my wife, Gail, and I realized we needed to concentrate our work either at the college or the church.

Feeling called to academics, I went to John Sanderson, who was the dean at the time, and told him I wanted to come on staff full time.

Unknown to Gail and me, the board had just decided to move the college to Chattanooga, Tennessee.” that responsibility to then-student In 1964, the Barkers moved to Randy Nabors, who now serves as Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, above In 1989, during Will Barker’s tenure as President of Covenant senior pastor there. From 1969 to Seminary, Laird Harris (right), one of the Seminary’s founding faculty where Will taught history at the 1972, Will succeeded mentor and members, retired. recently relocated Covenant friend John Sanderson as academic College while working on his PhD at Vanderbilt University. dean of Covenant College. Then, quite unexpectedly, Dr. Robert And though they could not know it, their role in the growth of Rayburn, who was still serving as president of Covenant Covenant Seminary would not end. While in Chattanooga, Will Seminary in St. Louis, extended Will an offer to come back to served as preacher for a church plant that would eventually Missouri to teach church history. When Will accepted, he not become New City Fellowship. One year later, he relinquished only became a co-laborer and equal, in many regards, to the men

Important Dates in the Formation of the Presbyterian Church in America 1936 Formation of the Orthodox Presbyterian

1956 Founding of Covenant Theological Seminary

Church (OPC; originally the Presbyterian Church of America)

by members of the Bible Presbyterian Church, Columbus Synod

1937 Death of J. Gresham Machen (January 1)

1961 Changing of name of Bible Presbyterian Church, Columbus Synod to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC)

1937 Formation of the Bible Presbyterian Synod (June 4) 1938 Meeting of Bible Presbyterian Synod at Bible

1965 Union of the EPC and the Reformed Presbyterian

Presbyterian Church in Collingswood, New Jersey (September)

Church in North America, General Synod, to form the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod (RPCES)

1955 Schism of Carl McIntire to form the Bible Presbyterian Church, Collingswood Synod. The remaining majority group became known as the Bible Presbyterian Church, Columbus Synod.

1973 Formation of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA; organizational name was the National Presbyterian Church)

1982 ”Joining and Receiving” of the RPCES by the PCA

COVENANT | Summer 2006

26

who helped found the institution and denomination, he also became the first graduate of Covenant Seminary to return as a faculty member (although David Jones, who had studied at but not graduated from Covenant Seminary, was already a faculty member).

“In 1977, Bob Rayburn had to step down because of his cancer,” Will explains. “He remained on the faculty and so remained a great influence in the seminary community. Dr. Rayburn had earned the respect of all the board members—they had great allegiance to him.” Following Dr. Rayburn’s retirement from the presidency after 21 years of service, Will Barker was nominated as the second president of Covenant Seminary. “I didn’t seek to become president. I really loved teaching more than administration,” Dr. Barker says with sincere humility. He says nothing more about his seven years in that position. In 1982, the Bible Presbyterian Church, which had become the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod (RPCES) after a 1965 merger, joined with the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA; formed in 1973). Will served the Seminary until 1984 during those difficult, transitional years.

He continued in other ministries, serving as the editor of The Presbyterian Journal and publisher of the early World magazine.

He taught church history at Westminster Theological Seminary from 1987 to 2000, where he settled on English Reformation and Puritan history as his area of special focus, and also served as Vice President for Academic Affairs. With so many ties to St. Louis, it made a lot of sense for the Barkers to retire there.

Dr. Barker continues to serve the seminary that owes so much to his family and his participation. He is Adjunct Professor of Church History at Covenant Theological Seminary.

Why would a man of so many years of God-blessed ministry continue to pursue teaching? Because, as Will indicates in his words and actions, the Gospel is not just for the past—it is also for the future.

“I recently served as the PCA’s fraternal delegate to the Orthodox Presbyterian Church,” Dr. Barker says. “I tried to make the point with them that, in God’s providence, the PCA has grown and been blessed to be the fulfillment of Dr. Machen’s vision: a strong, sound, Reformed denomination in North America that can have an impact worldwide.”

One gets the sense that God, through the life of this “retired” church historian, might do as much with these next 25 years as he did with the last 70. In any case, William Barker will remain an essential character in the history and life of the Presbyterian Church in America and, more importantly, the Kingdom of God in redemptive history.

JOEL HATHAWAY

God’s Future Church

His Kingdom, Our Calling October 10–12, 2006 Covenant Theological Seminary St. Louis, Missouri

Lifetime of Ministry Courses Invest 24 hours or just a few days to gain solid Biblical teaching that will invigorate your ministry.

Fall 2006

Course number

Sept. 29-30 Urban Church Planting in North America

CG510E

Oct. 6-7

Small Group Ministry

CE561E

Oct. 13-14

Women’s Ministry

CE55E

January 2007

Jan. 2-5 Worship in Today’s Church PT536

Jan. 5-6 Creating a Christian Education Ministry Jan. 12-13 Understanding Prophecy Today

CE505E OT560E

Jan. 16-19 Eldership: A Servant Partnership PT546

Spring 2007

Feb. 2-3

Discipling Youth

Feb. 2-3

Muslim-Christian Relations WM542E

Feb. 9-10

CE527E

Relationships in God’s Image PT566E

Feb. 16-17 Developing Lay Leaders in the Church

Feb. 16-17

Mar. 9-10

Mar. 9-10 World Missions in Global Issues WM515E

CG550E

Leading Music and Worship PT538E Ministry to Singles

CE552E

Covenant Seminary offers these courses for a minimal fee. Call the Admissions office at 1.800.264.8064 for more information.

Joel Hathaway (MDiv’04) serves as Covenant Theological Seminary’s Director of Alumni and Church Relations.

27

www.covenantseminary.edu

Foundational Scripture For the past 50 years, several verses of Scripture have formed and transformed Covenant Seminary. They are our cornerstones.

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in

...Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.

– 2 Timothy 2:1–2

all things God may be praised through Jesus

And this is my prayer: that

Christ. To him be the glory and the power for

your love may abound more

ever and ever. Amen. – 1 Peter 4:10–11 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may

…We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power and the wonders he has done.

– Psalm 78:4

and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. – Philippians 1:9–11

have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

– 2 Timothy 3:16–17

– Ephesians 3:16–20

COVENANT | Summer 2006

28

ALUMNI

news

After serving as the pastor of Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Williamsburg, Virginia, for eight years, Tom Darnell (MA’90) joined newly particularized Midtown Fellowship (PCA) as Associate Pastor in September 2005. The church is located in downtown Nashville, Tennessee.

Stanley D. Gale (DMin’97) has written a book on spiritual warfare in evangelism from a Reformed perspective titled Warfare Witness: Contending With Spiritual Opposition in Everyday Evangelism (Christian Focus Publications, 2005). Sinclair Ferguson wrote the foreword to the book.

Clay Harrington (MDiv’96, MAC’96) is working to share the good news of the Gospel with Bahamians. He is working with Sam Haupt at Mission to the World (MTW) and Rev. Julian Russell to host “Back To the Basics Bahamas Bash Marriage Conference” from June 29 to July 3. He encourages interested people to contact MTW. U.S. Army Captain Roger McCay (MDiv’05) was sworn in by Covenant Seminary Library Director James C. Pakala on July 14, 2005. He currently serves as Battalion Chaplain for 1-8 Cavalry in the First Cavalry Division in Fort Hood, Texas.

His daily work consists of counseling sessions, visitations to unit training, and praying with soldiers. When his unit spends several weeks in the field for training, he conducts field services, which often include celebrating the Lord’s Supper.

On January 8, 2006, Walt Nilsson (MDiv’05) was ordained as the Assistant Pastor of Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Lexington Park, Maryland. He will be leading a short-term missions team to the Philippines this spring. Walt and wife Holly continue to move toward planting a church in the California, Maryland, area. Holly finds service and ministry opportunities through her part-time work as a home health care nurse. Their daughter, Julia, is doing well.

Jeff (MDiv’97) and Val Rickett are celebrating their first anniversary as church planters of NewTown Church in Columbia, Maryland. Jeff works with other pastors in the area to further develop multiracial churches.

Jim (MDiv’79, DMin’94) and Anne Urish have been serving God in the congregation of Forestgate Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, since 2001.

The number of U.S. Air Force Academy faculty and staff attending the church continues to increase, and the Urishes are able to be used of God to impact that school.

Congratulations to daughter Abbie, who earned a BS in physiology, and daughter Mimi, who received an MA in speech pathology. Son Luke continues his career as a captain in the Air Force.

For nearly 31 years, Bruce (MDiv’74, ThM’91) and Susan Young have watched God grow His Kingdom in Japan. They have seen this happen in the lives of national families such as the Tsujis, in the multiplication of marriages as evidenced in the lives of their own children, and through the churchplanting efforts of the Nagoya team. Bruce and Susan also get to enjoy grandparenting young Gus and Bea. Stephen (MDiv’76) and Sarah Young (MARC’77) serve with MTW in Trigg, Australia, where they have been for 15 years. The Youngs praise God for the opportunities they have had to minister to the Japanese community in Perth. A 1995 Japanese translation of Stephen’s book on POWs has led to the recent Japanese publication of Small Man of Nanataki, a biography about a Japanese Lutheran pastor who, as a translator, risked his life to assist prisoners at a POW camp in Hong Kong. Sarah’s devotional book, Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence, was published in 2004

by Integrity Publishers.

29

BIRTHS Lucy Cheryl was born to Dan (MDiv’04) and Lynda Adamson on December 28, 2005. Lucy joins siblings Emily (age 6), Ben (age 4) and Joey (age 2). Dan is the Assistant Pastor at All Souls Fellowship in Decatur, Georgia.

Beverly and John (MDiv’02) Gullett praise God for the way they have seen Him work in their family this past year. They adopted Sam (22 months) in February 2005 and were asked if Sam wanted a sister in August of that year.

Maggie (17 months) joined the family two weeks later, and her adoption is in the process of being finalized. The Gulletts say with the Psalmist, “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes” (Ps. 118:23). In January, John accepted a call as organizing pastor of Christ Community Church in Johnson City, Tennessee.

John Thomas McCarley Hall was born to Michael A. (MDiv’00) and Kirby (MATS’99) Hall on April 26, 2005.

Dave Queener (MDiv’95) and his wife, Helen, celebrated the arrival of their second covenant child, Emma Catherine, on November 3, 2005.

She joins sister Sarah Talbot, born exactly three years and seven hours before on November 2, 2002. Dave pastors Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, and continues to make large-scale toy trains on the side.

We Want to Hear From You! Alumni, we consider you family, and we’d like to keep in touch! Please let us know where in the world God has called you, and fill us in on what you’re doing there.

Update us about your family as well.

Send e-mails to alumni@covenant seminary.edu and written correspondence to Alumni News, Attn: Joel Hathaway, 12330 Conway Road, St. Louis, MO 63141.

www.covenantseminary.edu

SEMINARY

news

At Home With the Lord

Congratulations to May Grads

Covenant Theological Seminary’s Board of Trustees is grateful for the committed service of Robert F. Singleton, 75, of Miami, Florida, who passed away in January of this year. A former CPA, he retired as chief financial officer and member of the board of directors of Knight-Ridder, Inc. Outside of his profession, community service and volunteer efforts played a large role in his life. Mr. Singleton served as a deacon and an elder at churches in Miami, and he served on boards at Evangelism Explosion International; Ministries in Action, Inc.; God’s World Publications, Inc.; Baptist Health South Florida; and World magazine. He also pursued his musical passion of writing music and playing trumpet.

President Bryan Chapell and other friends describe Mr. Singleton as extravagant in living, loving, and giving.

Mr. Singleton is survived by Dolores Holt Singleton, his wife of 52 years; two children; and five grandchildren.

Covenant Seminary’s class of 2006 has the special privilege of being the fiftieth graduating class. With 160 graduates, this is the largest group of men and women ever to be sent from this institution to proclaim the Gospel across the world and to the next generation.

Here are the degree breakdowns as well as some interesting facts.

59 Master of Divinity 41 Master of Arts, Theological Studies (Two of these are students who earned their degrees through our distance education program.)

37 Master of Arts in Counseling 13 Doctor of Ministry 6 Master of Arts in Educational Ministries

5 Graduate Certificate in Biblical Studies

2 Graduate Certificate in Counseling

2 Master of Arts, Exegetical Studies

(This is double the number we had last year.)

Two graduates are from Ghana, West Africa. Five students are graduating with two degrees. A husband and wife have each earned a degree.

Capital Campaign

Alumni Reunion

Praise the Lord for the generosity of faithful servants. We are ahead of schedule with giving commitments! As of February 2006 we still had $6 million to raise, but we are experiencing God’s blessing on this effort and hope to break ground for our new academic building in the summer of 2007.

While speaking during Spiritual Renewal Week at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana, in February, Dr. Chapell and several Covenant Seminary alumni from across the state gathered for lunch and a time of encouragement hosted by the Seminary.

50 Days of Prayer

A Jubilee Tribute

Mission to North America has published Revive Us Again: 50 Days of Prayer 2006 to guide people in praying for PCA needs in the weeks leading up the 34th PCA General Assembly.

This year’s devotional guide leads readers through the promises, pictures, prayers, principles, patterns, problems of, and prelude to revival. It calls the PCA to pray together from May 4 to June 22, based on Psalm 85:6, which says, “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?”.

COVENANT | Summer 2006

To celebrate our fiftieth year, we have compiled a commemorative scrapbook featuring Seminary history written by Dr. David Calhoun. This special edition tells what God has accomplished through the faithfulness of men and women across generations. If you would like to purchase a copy, contact the Seminary Bookstore toll-free at 1.877.213.3353 or 314.434.0110, or visit www.covenantseminary.edu/bookstore.

30

FSI Update

Covenant Worldwide

This January, the Francis A. Schaeffer Institute, in conjunction with L’Abri Fellowship, sponsored the annual St. Louis L’Abri retreat. Rochester L’Abri worker Jock McGregor and his wife, Alison, hosted the retreat at a 500-acre farm in Missouri owned by friends of the Seminary. The retreat enabled Covenant Seminary students to supplement excellent seminary training with an opportunity to integrate, process, and apply their learning in a family-focused community environment. w This February, FSI Resident Scholar Jerram Barrs, FSI Director Luke Bobo, former FSI Intern Travis Scott, and Professor Richard Winter were among the speakers at the annual L’Abri conference in Rochester, Minnesota. The theme of this year’s conference was “Living in a Brave New World: Facing the Challenges Ahead.” w Nicolas Farelly (MATS’00, ThM’02) is starting a Protestant Cultural Center in France modeled after FSI. w Luciano (MDiv’02) and Luciene (MATS’00) Pires started an FSI-like ministry in Brazil nearly two years ago. w Remember the case surrounding Terri Schiavo? How can we as the body of Christ minister to families in this situation?

What is the role of the pastor in this situation? Cindy Province, RN, came to Covenant Seminary in March to discuss these issues during a ministry lunch. She is cofounder and Associate Director of the St. Louis Center for Bioethics and Culture.

Covenant Worldwide, www.covenantworldwide.org, is a free educational resource for faculty, students, and self-learners around the world. In light of Covenant Theological Seminary’s grace-centered Gospel mission, this resource is a means by which high-quality, graduate-level theological education is made available to those who do not have the ability to attend seminary.

Covenant Worldwide: w Makes masters-level theological training available via download. w Does not require registration and offers free downloads.

The courses posted on this Web site comprise selected courses from Covenant Seminary’s Master of Arts in Theological Studies degree. The course selection is designed to provide foundational knowledge of church history, theology, the Old Testament, the New Testament, and practical theology.

Course materials may be downloaded at no charge and used for noncommercial purposes only. Lectures are in MP3 format, and study guides are available as PDFs.

w

Art on Loan

To coincide with the Worthy Is the Lamb worship conference that was held March 13– 15, a new installation of liturgical art work was displayed in Edwards Community Center. For more than 35 years, families, children, art students, art professors, and liturgical arts groups at Grace & Peace Fellowship (a PCA church in St. Louis) have produced artwork to encourage worship and support the message of weekly worship services. The sampling of banners was on loan through the spring semester.

Tribute Publications

Covenant Seminary faculty members honor the Seminary’s milestone year with All for Jesus: Essays Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Covenant Theological Seminary (Christian Focus Publications, 2006). This academic book of faculty members’ writings will be available at the 34th General Assembly in Atlanta, Georgia, in June. It was coedited by Sean Lucas and Robert Peterson. After General Assembly, copies can be purchased through the Seminary Bookstore.

As a tribute to the late Dr. W. Harold Mare, Beyond the Jordan: Studies in Honor of W. Harold Mare has been published (Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2005).

To purchase a copy of this book or All for Jesus, contact the Seminary Bookstore toll-free at 1.877.213.3353 or 314.434.0110, or visit www.covenantseminary.edu/bookstore.

Calendar

To find out about more Seminary happenings and events, visit our Web site at www.covenantseminary.edu and click on “calendar” at the bottom of the page.

31

www.covenantseminary.edu

Eating Disorders Conference

The Covenant Family Conference

Covenant Seminary is teaming up with Remuda Ranch in Wickenburg, Arizona, to host a two-day conference about eating disorders. These complex and harmful illnesses manifest themselves in many ways, and Remuda Ranch provides intensive Biblically based inpatient programs for women and girls suffering from anorexia, bulimia, and related issues.

This conference will be held September 29–30 on the Seminary campus. It is free for students and faculty at Covenant Seminary; there will be a minimal cost for clinicians, professionals, pastors, and church leaders who would like to attend.

If you or someone you know is battling an eating disorder, please join us on Friday, September 29, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. and on Saturday, September 30, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (lunch included).

Dr. Richard Winter, director of the counseling program at Covenant Seminary, along with Remuda Ranch therapists and Covenant Seminary graduates Elizabeth George, Caleb Mitchell, and Travis Stewart, will teach on many aspects of eating disorders, including perfectionism and, most importantly, how to help people who are struggling.

To register, contact event coordinator Sage Hill at 1.800.445.1900, ext. 4514, or sage.hill@remudaranch.com.

“Building Families God’s Way,” July 24-28 Ridge Haven Conference and Retreat Center and Covenant Theological Seminary jointly present the tenth annual family conference. Nestled in the mountains of Brevard, North Carolina, Ridge Haven offers a variety of recreational activities to suit all ages. Tubing, rafting, hiking, climbing, and ropes courses are just a few of the activities. Morning and evening worship times with Covenant Seminary faculty are another highlight. Come experience the powerful teaching of Dr. Donald Guthrie (husband, father, professor, and lover of both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Christian education) and Dr. Sean Lucas (husband, father, church historian, and lover of all outdoor activities). For more information or to register, contact Ronna Snipes at Ridge Haven at 828.862.3916 or ronna@ridgehaven.org.

COO Position Open

Covenant Theological Seminary seeks candidates for the new position of Senior VP/Chief Operations Officer. With the Seminary’s mission and vision always in mind, the COO: w provides strategic and tactical leadership to department heads w supervises and evaluates daily operations and performance of departments w facilitates communication between the President and department heads w offers recommendations of operational guidelines w supports employees’ personal satisfaction

Graduation Weekend

Baccalaureate will be held Thursday, May 18, at 7:30 p.m. in Rayburn Chapel on the Seminary campus. Commencement takes place on Friday evening, May 19, at 7:30 at First Evangelical Free Church of St. Louis County in Manchester, Missouri.

Dr. George Robertson, former Senior Pastor of The Covenant Presbyterian Church in St. Louis and now Senior Pastor of First Presbyterian in Augusta, Georgia, will be the speaker.

For more information or to apply, contact Wayne Copeland, VP for Business Administration, at 314.434.4044, ext. 4040, or wayne.copeland@covenantseminary.edu.

Seeking Executive Director of Development

Yimi Summer Conference

Covenant Seminary’s Youth in Ministry Institute (Yimi) hosts the Yimi Summer Conference 2006 “GROW” June 12–16 on the Seminary campus. The event invites students and youth leaders to consider how they can grow in godliness in the face of many challenges in today’s world. Find out more and register online at www.covenantseminary.edu/yimi/events.asp.

COVENANT | Summer 2006

32

A new position is being created to lead the Seminary’s fund-raising efforts. In addition to working with the board and President’s Cabinet to increase the Seminary’s Endowment Fund, this position with oversee all donor, church, and alumni relation efforts. Reporting to the Vice President of Advancement, this individual will preferably be a Covenant Seminary graduate and/or an elder in the Presbyterian Church in America. For more information contact Dave Wicker at 1.800.264.8064 or dave.wicker@covenantseminary.edu.

BRIEFLY STATED

Executive Editor David Wicker Managing Editor Stacey Fitzgerald Editor Jackie Fogas Assistant Copy Editors Rick Matt Nicolle Olivastro Photography Historical documents and photos courtesy of the PCA Historical Center Kelly Park Photography LaCour Niesen Visuals, Inc. Design and Production 501creative, inc.

Circulation Nicolle Olivastro Editorial Contributors Will Barker Joel Hathaway Jerram Barrs Paul Kooistra John Barrs Rick Matt James Breckenridge Kent Needler Robert Case Nicolle Olivastro Bryan Chapell Nancy Potter Jackie Fogas Covenant Theological Seminary 12330 Conway Road St. Louis, Missouri 63141 Tel: 314.434.4044 Fax: 314.434.4819 E-mail: covenantmagazine@covenantseminary.edu Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®, ©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission.

All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News publishers. Used by permission.

All rights reserved.

Volume 21, Number 2. ©2006

Covenant is published by Covenant Theological Seminary, the National Seminary of the Presbyterian Church in America.

The purpose of Covenant Seminary is to train servants of the triune God to walk with God, to interpret and communicate God’s Word, and to lead God’s people.

CAMPUS

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

–2 Corinthians 9:8

As the largest class in Covenant Seminary’s history graduates this May, ask that the Lord would make clear to each student where He is leading. Pray that they would trust Him in all circumstances.

Thank God for the unity of the faculty at Covenant Seminary. Pray that their love for one another might shine forth as an even richer testimony to the love of Christ.

Seek the Lord’s provision for a new generation of preachers who will communicate the Word of God with its proper depth, weight, and beauty.

Pray that the students and faculty at Covenant Seminary would be led deeper into covenant relationships with God through a fuller understanding of Scripture.

Pray for refreshment for students and faculty

members this summer so that they may enter the new semester with endurance and zeal.

Ask God to continue to send servants to Covenant

NATIONAL

Many professors at the seminary are obedient to God’s call of making His name known among all the nations. Pray for our professors as they prepare for international travel and that the Lord would use His children in the lives of nonbelievers.

INTERNATIONAL

Palestine, pray for wisdom in their leadership as well as for the people of that country. Pray that Hamas would recognize Israel and renounce violence as a response to the Israeli occupation. Intercede for President Bush as he relates to this new governing power.

With Hamas as the elected governing power of

Addictions, gangs, and violence are part of the lives of the Hobbema Indians to whom Marcus Toole (MDiv’00) ministers. Pray for their deliverance from these things and for Marcus’s continued physical protection and sanctification.

Also, lift up his desire to improve several ministry areas.

“I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,” says the –Haggai 2:7 Lord Almighty.

John Rug (MDiv’84) , a missionary in Chile, confronts many needs of the deaf and the blind. As a team leader and presbytery moderator, he travels long distances to visit and encourage churches. Pray for continued service to his family as well as to those he encounters.

who serve as military chaplains in Iraq, including Jeffrey Dillard (MDiv’92) and Thomas MacGregor (MDiv’83). Pray for peace and for the progress of the Gospel in this country.

Pray for Covenant Seminary alumni and others

pray for the edification, encouragement, and renewal of vision for attendees of the 34th PCA General Assembly in June. Pray that leaders would have a clear sense of what the Lord wants them to communicate and of how best to share that truth.

As solo pastors lead their congregations, ask the Lord to provide them with adequate resources and spiritual support. Also, pray that God would expand their abilities “to become all things to all men so that by all possible means [they] might save some.” (1 Cor. 9:22).

With the May release of the movie The Da Vinci Code,

pray for Christians to be ready to engage in meaningful dialogue with non-Christians about the questions it raises.

Pray for them to respond with compassion, wisdom, and discernment and for God to use these spiritual conversations to draw men and women into His family.

Praise God for 50 years of His using Covenant Seminary to train men and women to walk with Him, to interpret and communicate His Word, and to lead His people. Ask God to continue to grow His Church through this institution.

Intercede for people who suffer and are persecuted throughout the nation. Pray for their hope so that they may say with the Psalmist, “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the lord in the land of the living.” (Ps. 27:13).

But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

–Psalm 5:11

INTERCESSOR

Seminary. For those who will take this step of faith in the fall, pray for their transition to St. Louis and for them to form deep friendships, find churches and ministries where they can serve, and for God to provide abundantly for their needs.

Summer 2006 A Quarterly Calendar of Prayer Requests for the Covenant Seminary Community

Mark Dalbey

Sean Lucas

Covenant Comes to You… Professors’ Summer Speaking Schedules Jerram Barrs

GA

w M ay 20–25 Hotel Eger Park; Eger, Hungary.

European Leadership Forum lectures.

TOPICS: counseling framework, perfectionism, homosexuality, and forgiveness. Leading counseling track. w M ay 30–June 2 Novosibirsk, Siberia, Russia.

Pastors and Christian workers conference.

COUNSELING LECTURES: depression, forgiveness, pornography, anxiety, and the relationship between theology and psychology.

Professor of Practical Theology

Richard Winter

w M ay–August Hope Presbyterian Church; Collinsville, IL. Preaching.

Professor of Systematic Theology

Robert A. Peterson

TOPIC:

June 20–23 Hyatt Regency Atlanta; Atlanta, GA. PCA General Assembly; seminar.

“Making Disciples—Thinking Through Presbyterian Identity in our Emerging World”

Dean of Faculty and Assistant Professor of Church History

June 20–23 Hyatt Regency Atlanta; Atlanta, GA. PCA General Assembly; seminar.

“Gospel-Centered Worship in the PCA”

Dean of Students and Adjunct Professor of Practical Theology GA

GA

w M ay 3 Concordia Seminary; St. Louis, MO. Day of Homiletical Reflection.

GA June 20–23 Hyatt Regency Atlanta; Atlanta, GA. PCA General Assembly; seminar.

TOPIC: “The Three Stories of Preaching” (with Rev. Scotty Smith)

Assistant Professor of Homiletics and Director of DMin Program

Zack Eswine

w J uly 24–28 Covenant Theological Seminary; St. Louis, MO. Teaching class for Access students: “Spiritual and Ministry Formation”

June 20–23 Hyatt Regency Atlanta; Atlanta, GA. PCA General Assembly; seminar.

TOPIC: “Your Church Has Personality— How to Develop Outreach and Assimilation Programs That Uniquely Fit Your People”

Associate Professor of Practical Theology

Philip Douglass

TOPIC:

Professor of Christian Studies and Contemporary Culture and Resident Scholar of FSI GA

June 20–23 Hyatt Regency Atlanta; Atlanta, GA. PCA General Assembly; seminar.

TOPIC: “Lord, Teach Us To Pray” (with Bryan Chapell)

Hans F. Bayer Associate Professor of New Testament w M ay 22-26 Bangkok, Thailand; Food for the Hungry International Annual Leaders Conference.

“Growth in Christ Amid Pressing Human Needs” TOPIC:

Bob Burns Director of the Center for Ministry Leadership GA

June 20–23 Hyatt Regency Atlanta; Atlanta, GA. PCA General Assembly; seminar.

“Ministry for the Long Haul” TOPIC:

David B. Calhoun Professor of Church History w J une 19 Hyatt Regency Atlanta; Atlanta, GA. Westminster Confession for Today conference.

LECTURE: “Loving the Westminster Standards” w J une 21 First Presbyterian Church of Rome; Rome, GA. Evangelical Presbyterian Church General Assembly. TOPIC: “The Last Command: Princeton and Missions”

Covenant Theological Seminary 12330 Conway Road Saint Louis, Missouri 63141 change service requested

“By His grace, the Lord has made us the leading seminary for pastoral training in a denomination serving as the theological conscience of evangelicalism at the precise moment that Christianity is experiencing its most rapid expansion in history. We have been given an historic opportunity; we must make the most of it...for His glory.”

President Dr. Bryan Chapell has had the opportunity to speak over the past year about this important time in the history of the Seminary. “Covenant Theological Seminary has been given a great abundance of God’s grace,” he says. “As we have treasured this message of grace, God has granted this seminary unprecedented opportunities to multiply Kingdom members and Gospel messengers.... He has blessed us beyond our present capacity.” With the recognition that we have been blessed abundantly for such a time as this, there is a sense of increased responsibility not only to steward those blessings, but also to prepare for the next 50 years of growth.

Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage

PAID

Covenant Theological Seminary

Believing in the Mission John Prentis is passionate about the mission of Covenant Seminary and is eager to share that passion whenever he can. As chair of the committee leading the By His Grace, For His Glory capital campaign, he gets many opportunities to do just that.

“I’m enthusiastic about the Seminary,” Prentis says with a grin. “The transgenerational nature of its mission strikes a note with me, as does the way that so many people have been touched by the Gospel because of what goes on here. The Church depends on us; missions depend on us. There is no more effective way of doing Gospel ministry than what is done at Covenant Seminary.”

Prentis’s long history of involvement with the Seminary— first as a trustee, then as Vice President for Institutional Advancement, and currently as a member of the advisory board— gives him unique insight into the needs of the school and the challenges it faces as it prepares for the next phase of its story. He believes that the current campaign will help to address those needs and challenges successfully. Through funds raised by the campaign, a new academic building will be constructed, older facilities will be adapted for more effective use, and Christ’s Church will benefit greatly as future generations of pastors and ministry leaders are trained to serve God’s people—by His grace and for His glory.

Prentis’s hope for the campaign is that those who, like him, have a passion for the Church and a desire to see the Lord’s Kingdom multiply would support this effort with their prayers, financial resources, and influence so that the mission and ministry of Covenant Seminary would be strengthened. “I believe in the goals of this campaign,” he says with a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face. “A gift to Covenant Seminary has the potential to touch more lives for Christ in an effective manner than anything else I know.”