Do you enjoy reading theological papers and editing that one sentence to make it just right? Well, we have an opportunity suited for you! Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary is looking for four to five volunteers to assist graduate students (especially ESL students) in their paper-writing skills. Ideal volunteers would have a degree in English, familiarity with Turabian citations and bibliographies, ability to note the logical (or illogical) flow in writing, and/or experience in the editorial process. If you are interested in assisting our students on a volunteer basis (usually most urgent near the end of a semester), please contact our librarian, Mrs. Laura Ladwig. For more information on our Writing Support program, please see here. We appreciate any help you can provide!

Please note the following correction to the May/June 2021, Vol. 18 / No. 2 issue of the PRTS Update. Dr. Daniel Timmer, not Dr. Greg Salazar, will be teaching “Minor Prophets, Major Theologies” at the Summer Colloquium for the Evangelical Theology Faculty (ETF) in Leuven, Belgium.

For more information please visit https://www.etf.edu/en/minor-prophets-major-theologies/.

Congratulations to Dr. de Blois and Dr. Stanton for their successful doctoral defenses. A historic day @PRTS celebrating our first PhD graduates.

CONTACT: Chris Hanna, Director of Development & Marketing

For immediate release: May 1, 2021

Grand Rapids – Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary (“PRTS”) announced today that a grant by Lilly Endowment Inc. for ministry development has been awarded to the institution.

The Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative grant of $50,000 will support PRTS’s Competency Embedded Ministry Education Model (CEMEM), which will enable the seminary to work closely with pastors, provide a relevant education and support structure to students, and enable churches to continue to operate, especially those in rural and/or inner-city areas, while their ministers are receiving specialized education and support.

Joel R. Beeke, President of PRTS comments, “We trust that by God’s grace, this significant grant will serve the church and the academy in unprecedented ways, strengthening the Reformed community. We greatly appreciate Lilly Endowment for supporting our vision.”

Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative focuses on:

• Exploring emerging challenges and opportunities facing their institutions as well as the Christian congregations that they serve
• Gaining clarity about their mission in light of these challenges and opportunities and in relationship to the leadership needs of their constituent churches
• Assessing the effectiveness of their educational strategies and financial operations for preparing and supporting pastors and congregational lay ministers
• Designing and implementing plans to launch new and/or strengthen current projects to address their key challenges and opportunities and to make their institutions more educationally effective and financially viable for the continued preparation and support of pastors and congregational lay ministers into the future

Started in 1994, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary is an accredited educational institution for MA, MDiv, ThM, and Ph.D. degrees. Its mission is to prepare students worldwide to serve Christ and His church through biblical, experiential, and practical ministry. The seminary numbers 200 students, has ten professors, twenty globally renowned scholars serve as adjunct faculty, and has a support staff of fourteen.

Don’t miss your opportunity to apply for the PRTS Doctor of Ministry program starting this August!

This is a four-year program (maximum 6 years) designed for those who desire to advance their ministry skills, particularly in preaching and homiletics.

The specific focus of the PRTS Doctor of Ministry program is biblical, Reformed, experiential and practical preaching. Courses in the DMin homiletics program will be taught by Dr. Joel Beeke, Dr. Gerald Bilkes, and Dr. Adriaan Neele.

The upcoming August course offering is Introduction to Homiletical Studies. This course is an introduction to homiletical studies, including the history of homiletics, and will be primarily based on primary source readings, secondary literature overview, developments in homiletics, and research method. The classical Roman and Greek rhetoric and oratory will be studied, as well as transitional moments from Augustine to the mid-1800s. In addition, attention will be given to the trajectories of homiletics in the Reformed tradition including the Dutch experiential tradition of preaching and Dutch handbooks of homiletics from the 17^th to 20^th century. These primary sources will be set in historical context, and trajectories of continuity and discontinuity will be discussed. Attention will be given to the classical structure of the sermon, as well as a discussion on the intersection of preacher, audience, psychology, affections, and communication.

For a little less than $325.00 USD per month over four years you can earn a fully accredited Doctor of Ministry degree grounded in biblical, Reformed, experiential and practical preaching from Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary.

This degree program is designed to equip you to become a more effective communicator, both in your pulpit and writing ministries. Multiple church-matching scholarships are available up to a maximum of $1950.00 per year. This Church-Matching Scholarship is awarded to a DMin student whose church agrees to financially support their studies.

We are excited about this year’s Puritan Reformed Conference, “The Grace of the Gospel.” Along with that, each week we want to introduce you to one of our out-of-town guest speakers.

The last of our out-of-town guest speakers is Dr. Jon D. Payne.

Dr. Payne serves as organizing pastor of Christ Church Presbyterian (PCA) in Charleston, SC. He previously served for ten years as pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church in Douglasville, GA. Dr. Payne is the Executive Coordinator of the Gospel Reformation Network, trustee of Westminster Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Newcastle, UK, and a trustee of the Banner of Truth Trust.

He is also the series co-editor (with Joel Beeke) of the multivolume Lectio Continua Expository Commentary on the New Testament and the author/editor of several books. Dr. Payne will be speaking on “The Gospel Planned” and “Law and Gospel.”

Here’s a link to a recent message by Dr. Payne entitled “Declared the Son of God in Power” (Romans 1:4). https://sermonaudio.com/sermon/22121177203848

About the Puritan Reformed Conference
The Puritan Reformed Conference aims to cultivate a Christian worldview that is biblical, doctrinal, experiential, and practical. 2021 marks the 13th year of the conference sponsored by the Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. Past speakers have included the seminary’s faculty, as well as men such as Ligon Duncan, Michael Haykin, Carl Trueman, Conrad Mbewe, Derek Thomas, Geoff Thomas, and a host of others.

Why Attend?
The Puritan Reformed Conference is a wonderful venue to hear Reformed, preaching; preaching that makes much of the grace of God in the gospel. It is also a great opportunity for dear friends to get reacquainted and to make new friends along the way. Lastly, the conference is a destination for wonderful, godly, Christian books for all ages, all at deeply discounted prices.

We are excited about this year’s Puritan Reformed Conference, “The Grace of the Gospel.” Along with that, each week we want to introduce you to one of our out-of-town guest speakers.

Another of this year’s Puritan Reformed Conference speakers is Rev. Pooyan Mehrshahi.

Rev. Pooyan Mehrshahi is the pastor of Providence Baptist Chapel, Cheltenham UK. Beside his pastoral ministry, Rev. Mehrshahi is involved in Bible translation with the Trinitarian Bible Society, and ministry for Persian (Farsi) speakers through Parsa Trust.

Rev. Mehrshahi will be speaking on “Gospel Inspired Gratitude” and “Gospel Empowerment.”

Here’s a link to a recent message by Rev. Mehrshahi entitled “Fear God not Pharaoh” (Exodus 1:15-22). https://sermonaudio.com/sermon/221212118531477

About the Puritan Reformed Conference
The Puritan Reformed Conference aims to cultivate a Christian worldview that is biblical, doctrinal, experiential, and practical. 2021 marks the 13th year of the conference sponsored by the Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. Past speakers have included the seminary’s faculty, as well as men such as Ligon Duncan, Michael Haykin, Carl Trueman, Conrad Mbewe, Derek Thomas, Geoff Thomas, and a host of others.

Why Attend?
The Puritan Reformed Conference is a wonderful venue to hear Reformed, preaching; preaching that makes much of the grace of God in the gospel. It is also a great opportunity for dear friends to get reacquainted and to make new friends along the way. Lastly, the conference is a destination for wonderful, godly, Christian books for all ages, all at deeply discounted prices.