Board Member Dr. Kevin Backus (Grand Island Bible Presbyterian Church) and Adjunct Faculty Dr. George Scipione (Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary) are collaborating to team-teach this year’s Summer Institute. The topic is Pastoral Family Counseling, and will take place in Intensive format over the course of a week from the afternoon of July 23rd through the morning of July 27th.
The course will be conducted on the Seminary’s Taylors campus, and is open to seminarians and non-seminarians alike. It is geared to ordained elders (teaching and ruling) who are wanting to pursue continuing education to develop their competencies in counseling situations.
The course description reads:
The family as a creation ordinance is the God-given bedrock
of human society, culture, and relationship. It is through the family that
Reformed churches have historically passed on the great truths of the Christian
faith. However, it is through the family that sin, the flesh, and the devil
have made their most violent attacks upon Christ’s bride, the church. In this
intensive course on pastoral counseling for families, you will receive a
systematic survey of the theology of the family. You will learn to articulate
the theological importance of the Christian home, including the covenant family relationship. You will also learn how to think through and properly
counsel your flock in matters like courtship and dating, premarital and
marriage counseling, issues of divorce, and how to rebuild the marriage
relationship after crises like adultery, abandonment, and other forms of abuse.
Above all, you will leave this class equipped with a model of family counseling
that seeks the glory of God through the proper application of biblical truth to
those you are called to pastor in your congregation.
To enroll in the Summer Institute, a completed registration form with payment must be received by the Seminary’s Business Office no later than the Friday prior to the class date (July 20th). Non-GPTS students who would like to take the course for graduate-level course credit must register by June 30th. Tuition for the Summer Institute is $225 for non-students and $468 for students taking the course for graduate-level credit. Tuition charges are inclusive of any related fees.
For more information, or to request the registration form, please contact Mr. Zachary Groff (Director of Advancement & Admissions) at zgroff@gpts.edu or Mrs. Kathleen Curto (Registrar) at registrar@gpts.edu.
