Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary - Mission and Vision

Mission and Vision

The mission and vision of the Seminary are set forth in the Catalog in a series of purpose statements adapted from Princeton Seminary when it was established in 1872. These purposes are:

• "…to form men for the Gospel ministry who shall truly believe, and cordially love, and therefore endeavor to preach, propagate, and defend, in its genuineness, simplicity, and fullness, that system of religious belief and practice which is set forth in the Westminster Confession of Faith, Catechisms, and historic Presbyterianism; and thus to perpetuate and extend the influence of true evangelical piety and Gospel order.
• "…to provide for the Church an adequate supply and succession of able and faithful New Covenant ministers of the Word and sacraments; workmen that need not to be ashamed, accurately handling the Word of truth; reproving, rebuking, and exhorting by means of expository, experimental, and applicatory preaching.
• "…to furnish our congregations with enlightened, humble, zealous pastors, who shall watch for the good of souls, and consider it their highest honor and happiness to win them to the Savior, and to nourish them in holiness and peace.
• "…to provide for the Church, men who shall be able to defend her faith against skeptics, to defend her doctrines against heretics, to challenge the presuppositions of non-Christian worldviews, and to serve faithfully in here courts.
• "…to found a nursery for missionaries to the nations, and to people destitute of the preaching of the Gospel; in which men, both nationals and internationals, may receive that appropriate preparation which lays a foundation for their qualification for missionary work.
• "…to endeavor to produce a succession of men qualified for and devoted to the work of the Gospel ministry; who, with a variety of gifts, suiting them to different stations in the Church of Christ, may all yet share a portion of the apostolic spirit; prepared thereby to make any sacrifice, to endure any hardship, and to render any service that the promotion of pure and undefiled religion may require.
• "…to unite, in those who shall occupy the ministerial office, that piety that is the fruit of the renewing and sanctifying grace of God, and that love of learning which comes only from the desire for the deeper knowledge of God; believing that either piety without learning, or learning without piety, in ministers of the Gospel, is ultimately injurious to the Church.
• "…to promote and cultivate both piety and learning in the preparatory course for ministers of the Gospel; piety, by placing it in circumstances favorable to its growth, and by cherishing and regulating its ardor; learning, by affording favorable opportunities for its attainment, and by making its possession indispensable.
• "…to cultivate harmony and unity among the ministers of our Church by educating a succession of them in the same course of study.
• "…to lay the foundation of early and lasting friendships, productive of confidence and mutual assistance in life among the ministers of the Gospel; which experience shows to be conducive not only to personal happiness, but to the production of inquiries, and publications advantageous to the Church.
• "…to preserve the unity of our Church, educating her ministers in an intelligent and full subscription to the same doctrines and in a commitment to the principles of historic Presbyterianism.
• "…to bring genius and talent, when united with piety, to the service of the Church, whatever the financial need of its possessor, by furnishing, as far as possible, the means of education and support, with limited expense to the student.
• "…to provide opportunity for the theological education of other than prospective ministers by means of the Master of Arts degree, and especially the Master of Ministry for Ruling Elders, and
• "…to provide for advanced education for ministers, and building up the academic strengths of the Church through the advanced degree programs (Th.M. and Th.D.).”