“Wow. That’s going to shake things up.” Those were the words
of Sinclair Ferguson upon receiving the news from Ian Hamilton that Dr. Joseph
Pipa had accepted the invitation to come to Greenville Presbyterian Theological
Seminary as its first President in 1997. By his own admission, Dr. Hamilton
reports, “I had no idea what he meant then, but I know what he meant now.”
During our annual Spring Scholarship Banquet, we recognized
Dr. Pipa’s 20 years of service to Christ as President of Greenville
Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and the snippet above is taken from the beginning
portion of Dr. Hamilton’s remarks. The entire program is available for viewing
at www.sermonaudio.com/gpts, www.youtube.com/gpts, and
www.gpts.edu/banquet.
We also enjoyed words of congratulations, reminiscence, and
gratitude from Dr. Chad Van Dixhoorn (on behalf of Reformed Theological
Seminary and Westminster Theological Seminary), Pastor Arie Van Eyk (of
Providence Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, NC), Pastor Jeff
Kingswood (Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Pastor of Grace Associate
Reformed Presbyterian Church in Woodstock, ON), the Puritan Project of Brazil,
and Mr. Zachary Groff (Director of Advancement & Admissions).
Over 165 guests enjoyed a lovely evening of fellowship and
thanksgiving in the Pearis Ballroom of downtown Greenville’s Commerce Club,
overlooking the city. Over $33,000 was raised in support of our Student
Scholarship fund.
Dr. Pipa closed the evening with remarks expressing
thanksgiving for God’s grace, the faculty, the Board of Trustees, and the
students, past and present. Expressive of the sentiment of the whole of his
remarks, he reflected, “Friendship is a wonderful gift of God, and it is great
to have so many friends here.”
We thank God for the many generous gifts and pledges
received during this year’s banquet, the total of which exceeds previous years’
banquet-related contributions.
