Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Equipping preachers, pastors, & churchmen for Christ's Kingdom

Fall ’19 Day of Fasting & Prayer

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This Friday (October 25, 2019), our seminary community is hosting a day of fasting and prayer. We will earnestly plead with God for an outpouring of His Spirit on the church.

Simply put, we will fast and pray for revival. Will you join us either on-campus or remotely?

Pastor Al Baker of the Reformed Evangelistic Fellowship (REF) will be preaching on Scriptural revival and prayer this Friday during a special chapel.

Pastor Baker will preach from 11:15AM to 12PM (Eastern Time). Following the chapel time, we will spend the next four hours (until 4PM) praying and receiving instruction (from Pastor Baker) on protracted revival prayer as a feature of local church ministry.

If you are not able to join us in-person, please consider making a note on your calendar to set aside the day (or afternoon) for fasting and prayer for revival in the church. If you are physically unable to fast, or unavailable to get away from your daily responsibilities to pray for a protracted period of time, make a note to pray – even briefly – at some point during that window of time (from 1PM to 4PM, Eastern Time) on Friday.

May our covenant-keeping God hear us as we plead with Him to pour out His Spirit, echoing the supplication of Isaiah 64:1,

Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down,That the mountains might quake at Your presence.

If you have any questions or prayer requests to be shared during our time together, please email us at info@gpts.edu and a member of the Seminary’s administration will get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you for considering joining us to fast and to pray this Friday, even if from afar.

GPTS PrayerPoints 11(1) – September 2019

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Our September 2019 Prayer Points dispatch is now available in printable-PDF format here.

This document is designed to be a resource to you and your church (for prayer meetings and congregational distribution).

In this edition, we are requesting prayer for:

  • Our next president, Dr. Jonathan Master, and his family as they prepare to move to Greenville in the coming months. Dr. Master also asks that we pray for wisdom for him as he prepares to take up the leadership of the Seminary.
  • Dr. Pipa’s request that we pray for him as he prepares to step down from the presidency next year, and to continue teaching as a full-time member of the faculty.
  • The Seminary’s finances as we are in a difficult time of year for our cash-flow. By the end of September, we are projected to be roughly $100,000 behind where we need to be.
  • Our 29 new students and 70 returning students as they continue through our programs.
  • Recent Alumni Transitions: Brian McCollough (MDiv ’19), Duncan Hoopes (MDiv ’19), Curt Straeter (MDiv ’19), and David Balzer (MDiv ’03)
  • For expectant mothers (we have many in our Seminary community)
  • For one student’s adoption process
  • For the Seminary’s Admissions Office and interactions with prospective students 
  • For local churches in which our students are interning, worshipping, or serving
  • For our graduates who are pastoring and planting churches both at home and abroad
  • For the Presbyterian and Reformed denominations and associations in which our graduates are ministering
  • For our professors’ writing projects and speaking opportunities
  • For the presidential succession/transition
  • For Dr. and Mrs. Shaw as they prepare to move to Sanford, FL
  • For friends and family members who are either Lost or hurting
  • For evangelistic opportunities with neighbors and friends in our communities
  • For faithfulness in studies, teaching, work and family life

Introducing Dr. Jonathan Master

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This month, Seminary President Elect Dr. Jonathan Master visited campus to meet with students, record an episode of Confessing Our Hope: The Podcast of Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and shoot a brief video with current President Dr. Joseph A. Pipa, Jr.

The resources that came out of Dr. Master’s visit are intended not only to introduce him to our friends around the world, but also to encourage the Seminary community (both near and far). Follow the links below to access the audio and video content.

Dr. Jonathan Master (who has a bit of a cold in the video and podcast episode, affecting his voice) is currently the Dean of Cairn University‘s Divinity School (Langhorne, PA), and will assume responsibilities as President of Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in July 2020, Lord willing. For more information on his appointment, please click here.

In the video (short-form) and podcast (long-form) Dr. Pipa and Dr. Master address the following questions:
– Who is Dr. Master?
– When did the Seminary begin succession planning?
– What attracted Dr. Master to GPTS?
– What will Dr. Pipa be up to once Dr. Master arrives on campus?
and more!

Be sure to watch the video through to the end so you don’t miss a couple of fun outtakes!

Confessing Our Hope #215 – Introducing Dr. Jonathan Master

Friends of Dr. Master and GPTS Offer Congratulations

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Congratulations, Dr. Master

Since the Seminary announced last week the appointment of Dr. Jonathan Master as the next President of Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, friends of Dr. Master and the Seminary have sent in warm congratulatory remarks.

To read some of the statements, please visit the following page, where they are published (and archived) on the Seminary website: Congratulations, Dr. Master.

Board of Trustees Selects Jonathan Master to be the Next President of Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary

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Dr. Jonathan Master

Dr. Master will assume the Seminary presidency on July 1, 2020. Dr. Pipa will continue to serve as full-time Professor of Systematic & Homiletical Theology and President Emeritus.

Taylors, SC, August 23, 2019 – The Board of Trustees of Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary (GPTS) has elected Dr. Jonathan Master as the Seminary’s second President, to start on July 1, 2020. Dr. Master is currently the Dean of the School of Divinity at Cairn University in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, where he has served as Professor of Theology since 2011. He is the Editorial Director of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals; founding editor of the Alliance content platform, Place for Truth; and co-host of the Alliance podcast, Theology on the Go. He is also Associate Editor for the Banner of Truth magazine.

Dr. Master is the author of the books Growing in Grace (Banner of Truth, forthcoming) and A Question of Consensus: The Doctrine of Assurance After the Westminster Confession (Fortress, 2015). He co-edited On Reforming Worship (Covenant Publications, 2018) with Dr. David W. Hall of Midway Presbyterian Church in Powder Springs, Georgia, and he edited The God We Worship (Presbyterian & Reformed Publications, 2016). He is the author of numerous academic journal articles and presentations.

As President, Dr. Master will lead the Seminary’s faculty and administration, and he will teach theology and biblical studies. His appointment as President of GPTS follows Dr. Joseph A. Pipa, Jr., who will step down as President in July 2020. Dr. Pipa will continue to serve the Seminary community as full-time Professor of Systematic & Homiletical Theology and as President Emeritus.

“We thank God for so quickly making clear to us the right man to build upon Dr. Pipa’s work,” said GPTS Chairman of the Board C. Fredric Marcinak. “Dr. Jonathan Master has a strong background in pastoral and academic leadership that will greatly benefit our students, faculty, and staff. On behalf of the Board, I can say that we are thrilled to welcome him as our co-laborer in service to Christ at Greenville Seminary.”

Dr. Master is a familiar face to GPTS students, faculty, Board members, and graduates. He recently preached a sermon on Perseverance of the Saints from John 6 at the 2019 GPTS Spring Theology Conference, Amazing Grace: 400 Years After Dort. He has preached at the Banner of Truth East Coast Ministers’ Conference, and he has partnered with faculty, staff, and students through his editorial work with the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.

“Over the past year as I have gotten to know Jonathan, I have been impressed by his breadth of knowledge and experience, his devotion to Christ, his commitment to the Reformed faith as articulated in the Westminster Standards, and his desire to labor for the good of the church,” said Dr. Pipa. “The faculty and I are fully supportive of the Board’s decision to bring Jonathan in as my successor. I have great respect for Jonathan, and I am looking forward to working under him as I continue teaching at Greenville Seminary.” 

Dr. Master earned a Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Aberdeen. His research was in the field of Historical Theology, specifically the doctrine of assurance in the Westminster Confession and in the writings of Anthony Burgess. He earned both the M.Div. and the Th.M. from Capital Bible Seminary, and the B.S. in Bible at Cairn University. While an undergraduate at Cairn, he worked on an archaeological excavation in Israel and in that capacity was a summer school instructor for Harvard University.   

Ordained to the gospel ministry in 2002, Dr. Master first received a call to replant a church in East Windsor, New Jersey. During that time, he participated as a pastor-theologian at the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton, New Jersey. After moving from New Jersey, Dr. Master served as a pastor in Bowie, Maryland, while also teaching systematic theology at a seminary in Maryland. Dr. Master’s ministerial credentials are currently in the Presbytery of Philadelphia of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.  

In addition to his full-time position at Cairn University, Dr. Master serves on the Candidates & Credentials Committee for the Presbytery of Philadelphia, and on the Session of Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Ambler, Pennsylvania. He is the Ministerial Advisor and primary preacher while the church conducts a pastoral search. 

“Moving is never easy, but Elizabeth and I are looking forward to coming to South Carolina next summer to join in the work of Greenville Seminary,” said Dr. Master. “The doctrinal unity of the Seminary, along with its focus on equipping men to preach Christ’s Word and to care for souls within Christ’s church, make it an important place – much needed in our day. I thank God for this entire process, and I am eager to see how the Lord will continue to use GPTS and its graduates in the years ahead.” 

“I am personally delighted both as a Board member of GPTS and also as an associate teaching Professor, to welcome the appointment of Dr. Jonathan Master as our next President,” remarked Dr. Ian Hamilton. “Jonathan and I have been friends for a number of years and I have come to admire and respect greatly his Christian integrity and the theological and ministry gifts that God has entrusted to him. Jonathan and his wife Elizabeth will be following the richly blessed leadership and godly example of Joey and Sissy Pipa. May it please the Lord to bless abundantly the Masters and their ministry both in GPTS and in the wider Christian community.”

To read additional congratulatory statements from friends of Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and Dr. Master, please click on the following link: Congratulations, Dr. Jonathan Master.

Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary is an independent religious educational institution approved by the State of South Carolina to grant degrees. The Seminary is governed by an inter-denominational Board of Trustees made up of men ordained in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC), Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP), Bible Presbyterian Church (BPC), Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales (EPCEW), Presbyterian Reformed Church (PresRC), United Reformed Churches in North America (URCNA), and the Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS). Established in 1987 by PCA Ruling and Teaching Elders, the Seminary’s mission is equipping preachers, pastors, and churchmen for Christ’s Kingdom.

If you would like more information about this topic, please call Mr. Zachary Groff (Director of Advancement & Admissions) at 864.322.2717 (ext. 324), or email zgroff@gpts.edu.

GPTS Prayer Points 10(1) – August 2019

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Our August 2019 Prayer Points dispatch is now available in printable-PDF format here.

This document is designed to be a resource to you and your church (for prayer meetings and congregational distribution).

In this edition, we are requesting prayer for our preparations for the new school year:

  • The Lord’s blessing on Convocation (Friday, August 23, 2019 at 7PM in the Auditorium of the Academy of the Arts in Taylors, SC)
  • Faculty preparations, especially for Dr. Shaw (his last term with us as a full-time faculty member), Dr. McGraw (his first semester as Academic Dean), and Dr. Morales (taking a sabbatical to work on his writing projects)
  • The Seminary’s finances (we need to bring in $200,000 between now and the end of September)
  • At least 22 new students and 70 returning students (across all campuses). Five additional applications are currently in process.
  • Faculty Spotlight on Pastor Breno Macedo (MDiv ’11)
  • Recent Alumni Transitions: Bennie Castle (MDiv ’19), Ethan Bolyard (MDiv ’17), Andrew Wann (MDiv ’18), and Nick Batzig (BDiv ’08)
For more information, please contact us. Contact Us