Covenant Seminary Regains Momentum In Training Pastors

When Tom Gibbs began creating a brand new strategic plan for Covenant Theological Seminary, the PCA denominational seminary was dealing with unprecedented challenges in its work to coach future pastors. Gibbs turned Covenant’s president in July 2021 amid a swirl of modifications on the seminary, in theological training, and all through the broader tradition.

The seminary was dropping college students, particularly male residential college students enrolled within the M.Div. program. The seminary has termed these “pastor-minded college students,” as a result of most of them go on to ordained pastoral ministry.

In fall 2010 the seminary had 62 incoming residential M.Div. college students. Within the fall of 2021 the variety of incoming pastor-minded M.Div. college students had plummeted to 4. One other dozen college students had been enrolled within the on-line program, however the residential program has all the time been a trademark of Covenant’s instructional ministry.

As the brand new president, Gibbs was stunned by the 2021 enrollment decline, not only for the misplaced income it represented, however for the decline in laborers geared up for the harvest.

Many components contributed to this drop: The pandemic, the altering political landscapeCovenant being a late adopter of absolutely on-line training, and rising prices of training all contributed to a lower in college students. 

And for college students focused on pastoral ministry, their instructional choices have multiplied through the years. Whereas a technology in the past most college students pursuing ministry turned to Covenant, Reformed Theological Seminary, or Westminster Theological Seminary, now these college students have many different choices for in-person and on-line theological training.

“Establishments like Covenant must be extra strategic of their mission if they’re going to be efficient. And that’s all taking place in a world that’s changing into much less and fewer biblically literate all whereas needing that readability extra acutely,” Gibbs mentioned. 

Gibbs notes that Gen Z can be not as religiously affiliated as earlier generations. They’re interested in religious issues, however not essentially focused on religious coherence. “Meaning fewer college students in Gen Z are on the lookout for theological coaching within the conventional sense,” and fewer members of Gen Z sense a name to pastoral ministry.  

Connecting With Pastor-Minded College students

Now Covenant has made prioritizing pastor-minded college students a pillar in its new strategic plan, and a method it hopes to recruit extra of those college students is by strengthening the connection between Covenant and the PCA. Gibbs desires PCA pastors and church members to know in the event that they ship the seminary their younger males to coach for the pastorate, Covenant will return well-trained pastors who’re able to serve, whether or not in a church, campus ministry, or on the worldwide mission area. 

Gibbs factors to the connection between Covenant and Mission to the World as certainly one of mutual profit. Covenant and MTW have partnered to fund the Paul Kooistra Chair of Missions. Covenant has not had a resident missiologist on the college in years, however now that the chair is absolutely funded, the seminary is looking to fill the place, with MTW providing its recommendation on missiologists. 

Covenant additionally offers an up-to-50% scholarship to present MTW missionaries, these getting ready to enter the mission area by means of MTW, and internationals working with MTW. 

Covenant additionally desires to supply itself as a useful resource to pastors. Covenant has created a sequence of conferences to edify PCA pastors and ministry leaders. The Lifetime of Ministry convention and Francis Schaeffer Institute convention are two alternatives pastors have for additional coaching by means of Covenant. 

Gibbs can be encouraging professors to be extra energetic on the Normal Meeting. Greater than merely attending the Meeting, he desires them to show seminars, meet with former college students, and take part within the Meeting’s work. 

Gibbs summarized the seminary’s technique as “extra voices in additional locations with extra quantity.”

“We need to inform the denomination, ‘We need to be a trusted companion with you.’” Gibbs is visiting presbyteries, assembly pastors, explaining to them the worth Covenant Seminary gives. He explains that Covenant is each upstream and downstream from what is going on on the native church. Upstream as a result of Covenant sends graduates to serve the native church, and downstream as a result of the church in flip sends its sons to Covenant for pastoral coaching.  

The messaging appears to be working. For the 2023-2024 tutorial 12 months Covenant had 201 college students in its M.Div. program, although not each scholar was residential or planning to turn out to be a pastor. However the numbers are trending in the best course.