A Word from the President

Without question, the divine call to the ministry is a special and noble calling. There is no occupation with greater consequence than the gospel ministry, and there is no greater folly than entering the ministry unprepared. Ministers cannot afford to do shoddy work, and the time for ministry is too precious to waste. The church of Christ needs men with a knowledge of and passion for God who can effectively communicate that knowledge and passion to others. Yet, God’s call to service within His kingdom is not limited to ordained ministers. Pentecost changed that. Every segment of the church shares the divine commission to serve, and all should be prepared to the fullest of their opportunities. It is true for ministers and laymen alike that knowledge without zeal is potentially dangerous, and zeal without knowledge is potentially destructive.

Geneva Reformed Seminary exists to serve Christ in behalf of and for His church. Although our primary mission is to train prospective preachers, our doors are open to help laymen as well to discover and hone their skills to serve more efficiently and effectively for God’s glory and the good of the church. Connecting the head to the heart—the intellect and devotion—is a major concern in every aspect of the seminary’s course. GRS is committed to cultivating the students’ divinely distributed spiritual gifts and to keeping before them the need for absolute dependency on the Holy Spirit for the execution of those gifts.

GRS is committed as well to connecting orthodoxy and practice. Our motto is “Separated unto the Gospel.” We believe that evangelical separation must pervade every sphere of ministry and life. Affirming the biblical, historic, Reformed, and Protestant faith, we believe that ecclesiastical separation from all forms of unbiblical ecumenism and personal separation from the vices of the world are the logical and necessary consequences of true Reformed theology. Given that so much of modern Christianity—even fundamental and evangelical segments—is either aberrant or eccentric, GRS with its unapologetic and uncompromising commitment to a Reformed theology that is Christ-centered, biblical, evangelistic, and separatist is crucial. It is our prayer that those who study at GRS will have a firsthand knowledge of God and the gospel coupled with a burning zeal for the glory of Christ and the advance of His kingdom.

In service to Christ,
Michael P. V. Barrett