Archive for the 'D. A. Carson' Category

Not Your Father’s Seminary: Reinventing Pastoral Training

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

Not Your Father’s Seminary: Reinventing Pastoral Training

The Gospel Coalition recently asked four well-known seminary professors and presidents, “What one thing would you change about seminary?” After a vigorous exchange of new ideas by Al Mohler, D. A. Carson, Jeff Louie, and Richard Pratt, the Gospel Coalition then posted a follow-up article by Ric Cannada, Chancellor of Reformed Theological Seminary.

Most of the ideas shared in these two posts pointed to the future. Few seminaries are currently doing the cutting-edge work envisioned by these five seminary leaders.

Faith Bible Seminary provides an intriguing exception. So I sat down with Rob Green, Pastor of Counseling and Seminary Ministries at Faith Baptist Church in Lafayette, Indiana, to learn more. Listen in on our conversation to travel “back to the future” to learn a new way to train pastors.

RPM Ministries: Rob, I know you read the recent blog posts on the GC site about changing seminary education. What were your thoughts and how does Faith Bible Seminary fit into the discussion?

Rob Green: While each scholar offered his own thoughts, many of the answers spoke of the importance of the local church and the practical ministry experience that many seminarians fail to get during their academic pursuit. You will not recognize us. We’re not a well-established seminary with hundreds of students, nor do we have nationally known professors. But we do have a very different way of offering seminary training.  

RPM Ministries: Tell our readers about the paradigm shift you’ve initiated in seminary education.

Rob Green: Our paradigm shift began in 2007 when our Sr. Pastor, Steve Viars, and our congregation began a revised version of seminary training. Our church wanted to minimize three basic challenges with the current seminary structure.

• The high cost of seminary training resulting in some students graduating with significant debt.

• A lack of practical ministry experience.

• The significant pressures on any wives or children due to the heavy seminary and job workload.

RPM Ministries: Those are significant issues. So what’s your new approach look like in action?

Rob Green: In order to minimize these weaknesses, Faith Bible Seminary created a three-year intern-based M.Div. program. Each student in the program must either be a pastor in full-time vocational ministry or a paid intern in a church. This requirement allows every student to be directly involved in various aspects of pastoral ministry during their entire training. Interns at our church are required to spend about 20 hours per week being part of the ministry (counseling, discipleship, teaching preparation, pastoral staff meeting, deacon meetings, etc.). Our classes meet one day per week with some one-week modules occasionally built into the system to allow students from surrounding communities to participate.

RPM Ministries: And how have you addressed the cost issues?

Rob Green: The cost challenge was minimized by providing the tuition free-of-charge for students involved in an internship at a local church. In our church’s view, since our partnering churches are providing paid internships for three years, it would have been very burdensome to expect them to pay tuition. Our church family covers the overhead costs with contributions and graciously allowing our pastors, who either have terminal degrees or are candidates for terminal degrees, to dedicate their time to training students.

RPM Ministries: How have these changes impacted your course offerings compared to the “traditional” seminary?

Rob Green: This model also allows a very structured curriculum to develop. Instead of students taking classes that most easily fit into their schedules, the entire three-year curriculum, semester-by-semester, is already set by the institution. The advantage to the structured curriculum is that both biblical languages can be taught in the first year allowing for more opportunities to focus on the original languages in both exegesis and biblical theology classes.

RPM Ministries: You’ve been at this a few years now Rob, what are some of the results you’ve experienced?

Rob Green: In 2007, Faith Bible Seminary enrolled 14 men and in 2010, ten of those men graduated. Of the 10 men who received their diplomas this June, 8 are placed in full-time vocational ministry including one serving in as a pastor in England, one in the church planting network with Harvest Bible Chapel, one in pastoral ministry in Brazil, one working for a Christian school, and four others in pastoral ministry in the States. Our 2010 class began this week with 19 students.

RPM Ministries: What final thoughts do you have about seminary education?

Rob Green: FBS does not have a long track record, nor thousands of graduates like the larger schools. Time will tell whether this system is sustainable for the long term. In addition, this model has weaknesses and challenges of its own. Maybe, however, it can be an encouragement to other churches that have been challenged by articles such as the one published by The Gospel Coalition or by their own convictions to help strengthen seminary education. Finally, it may be that in the scope of seminary training there might be several models that can seek to help prepare men to glorify God by serving in the church of Jesus Christ.

Join the Conversation

What is your vision for the seminary preparation of pastors?

Note: For Rob’s first-hand thoughts on this issue, visit his post Attempting a Paradigm Shift in Seminary Education.

Pastor Rob Green


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Posted in D. A. Carson, Faith Baptist Church, Faith Bible Seminary, Gospel Coalition, Pastoral Training, Seminary Education | No Comments »

Is the Emergent Church Theologically Healthy?

Saturday, May 9th, 2009

Theological Insight into the Emergent Church Movement

Book Review: By Robert W. Kellemen, Ph.D., LCPC, www.rpmministries.org

Classic Book Review Date: 2005

Book Author: D. A. Carson

Book Publisher: Zondervan, 2005

Because the Emergent Church Movement is new and so disparate, a brief primer is necessary to intelligently review D. A. Carson’s groundbreaking work, Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church: Understanding a Movement and Its Implications.

The Emergent Church began to emerge in the early 90s (to the extent that a date can be affixed) through the writings of authors such as the late Stanley Grenz, Brian McLaren, L. Newbigin, N. T. Wright, and Don Miller (to name a few). In his first chapter, Carson provides a summary of his understanding of the Emergent Church. “At the heart of the ‘movement’—or as some of its leaders prefer to call it, the ‘conversation’—lies the conviction that changes in the culture (post-modernism) signal that a new church is ‘emerging.’ Christian leaders must therefore adapt to this emerging church. Those who fail to do so are blind to the cultural accretions that hide the gospel behind forms of thought and modes of expression that no longer communicate with the new generation, the emerging generation.”

D. A. Carson (Ph.D., University of Cambridge) is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. In February 2004 he presented the substance of this book as three Staley Lectures at Cedarville University. (Readers interested in a review of Carson’s original lecture series, can visit http://people.cedarville.edu/employee/millsd/ the home page of David M. Mills, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Philosophy, Honors Program Director, Cedarville University.)

Carson’s core premise is that we must not only be aware of and interact with post-modernity, but also have our assessments of it and responses to it shaped by biblical theology. Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church assists readers to understand and evaluate the Emerging Church and its response to post-modern culture.

In his Preface, Carson explains how he plans to accomplish his purpose.

“Whenever a Christian movement comes along that presents itself as reformist, it should not be summarily dismissed. Even if one ultimately decides that the movement embraces a number of worrying weaknesses, it may also have some important things to say that the rest of the Christian world needs to hear. So I have tried to listen respectfully and carefully; I hope and pray that the leaders of this ‘movement’ will similarly listen to what I have to say.”

Carson begins by defining the Emergent Church as a protest movement against modernist churches and pragmatic mega-churches. In this section, Carson offers a perceptive introduction to the movement and its leaders and begins his critique of what he sees as troubling weaknesses of the movement. He style is frank, thoughtful, and fair throughout. He constructs for readers a list of Emergent Church core principles in the form of contrasts, such as narrative over against propositional truth, and experience over against rational insight. While Emergent Church writers would say that they highlight a both/and approach (such as narrative and propositional truth, the emotions and affections and rational truth), Carson adeptly reveals extremes in these contrast areas.


After providing his list of emphases, Carson offers observations on several praiseworthy aspects of the Emergent Church. These include areas such as valuing authenticity, understanding the need to read the times, reaching out to those who are left out, and exploring the degree to which traditions now followed may or may not be biblical. This section is an example of Carson’s desire to present a fair and balanced portrayal of the Emergent Church Movement.

In the next section, Dr. Carson focuses on whether or not the Emergent Church is seeking to reform the Modernist Church through the Word of God (as Luther and Calvin sought to reform the Medieval Church with the Word of God). Noting the complexity of the movement, Carson offers specific critiques including: the Emergent Church does not truly understand post-modernity, it does not assess modernism and the Modern Church accurately or fairly, it tends to cater to post-modernity rather than confront it, and it fails to capture a balanced fully-orbed biblical theology instead choosing proof-texting (a very modern method). Carson provides logical argument and biblical theology to support his assessments throughout each of these areas of critique.

Finally, Carson presents his own positive view on a biblical theology of integrating truth and experience. This section is vital since many authors critique opposing views without ever presenting a biblically thought-through, real-world-relevant alternative. Here he also emphasizes the role of historical theology in developing current models of biblical theology and church methodology. This, too, is an often missed aspect in the Emergent Church Movement and in those critiquing it.

It’s difficult to overstate how important this discussion is. The Emergent Church Movement is a watershed issue at an epic time in Church history. D. A. Carson’s Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church truly is a “must-read” for those who want to biblically ponder how to do ministry in today’s culture and how to develop a theology of how to do ministry in any culture.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., LCPC, is the author of Soul Physicians, Spiritual Friends, Beyond the Suffering, and Sacred Friendships. www.rpmministries.org

Posted in Carson, Christianity, Church, D. A. Carson, Emergent, Emergent Church, McLaren, Theology | No Comments »