Where am I?
Uniquely Covenant
What We Believe
Our Mission
The purpose of Covenant Theological Seminary is to train servants of the triune God to walk with God, to interpret and communicate God's Word, and to lead God's people.
These words summarize well what we do at Covenant Seminary: We are all about training pastors and those who serve beside them for fruitful and effective ministry to Christ’s church. And yet, good as it is, our mission statement alone cannot convey the full depth of what our mission involves. Every aspect of what we do here is governed by:
- Our understanding of the Scriptures as the Word of God.
- Our perception of God’s grace at work in our lives.
- Our deep commitment to a relational approach to ministry preparation that provides more than a merely academic education.
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
2 Timothy 3:16–17
Our Core Values
The values we hold dear provide a strong foundation for our mission and help to keep us focused on the purpose for which we were established.
We believe that a seminary education is successful only if, at its end, the student knows Jesus Christ more intimately than at its beginning. Our approach to ministry training finds both its source and its goal in the person and work of Christ.
We believe that the Bible is the Word of God and therefore it is our only infallible rule of faith and practice. We believe in the plenary, verbal inspiration of the Scriptures by the Holy Spirit, and thus we affirm the inerrancy of the original manuscripts whose objective truth it is our responsibility to interpret and proclaim in accord with the principles of Scripture.
We believe that the foundation for all that we do must be the gospel of grace—our absolute confidence in God’s acceptance of us provided through his redemptive work in Jesus Christ as the supreme motivation and enablement for love and holiness.
We believe that relationships between students and professors must take a meaningful place alongside teaching content, so that the entire character of the student—mind and heart—might be transformed for ministry.
We believe that our primary task is to train students for pastoral ministry—including church planting, campus ministry, chaplaincy, and missionary service—while also equipping those who will serve beside these pastors in a variety of ministry roles. To accomplish this purpose, we have gathered a faculty of pastor-scholars who are not only first-rate academically, but also experienced in every facet of ministry and church leadership.
We believe that, as the seminary of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), it is our responsibility to provide theological training and ministry models that are true to the Westminster Standards and the historic distinctives of Presbyterian orthodoxy, while equipping the next generation of Christian servants for more effective church leadership in a changing world. At the same time, because we recognize that a seminary alone can never fully equip students for these tasks, we seek to work in partnership with local churches to accomplish our purpose.
We believe that God’s ultimate purpose is the gathering of his people from every nation and the renewal of all things. He call his church to active involvement with the world’s peoples and cultures for the purpose of bringing the gospel to those who do not believe and expressing Christ’s lordship in every area of life. In order to train students to make disciples of the nations, our faculty, staff, and students must increasingly reflect the ethnic and cultural richness of God’s worldwide church.
Our Personal Commitments
As brothers and sisters in Christ, members of the Covenant Seminary community share not only a common Lord but also some deep commitments that define and shape who we are and how we live. Thus, our students and faculty exhibit:
- A close personal relationship with and trust in the triune God.
- A commitment to a life of godly obedience.
- Submission to biblical authority for faith and life.
- A commitment to the spread of God's Kingdom through worldwide proclamation of his gospel.
- A commitment to glorify God by diligent pursuit of academic proficiency.
- Demonstrated gifts for ministry in keeping with their goals.
- Submission to the Lordship of Christ in every area of life.
Our Doctrinal Commitments
As an institution dedicated to training leaders for Christ’s church, we hold firmly to the following doctrinal beliefs and standards:
- The Bible as the Word of God is the primary standard for our faith. We are unqualified in our commitment to the Scriptures as being immediately inspired and inerrant in their original manuscripts. Covenant Seminary's faculty and Board of Trustees annually subscribe in writing to this belief.
- The Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms, although subordinate to the Bible in their authority, set forth our understanding of biblical truth in a consistent, concise, and reliable form. Our faculty and board subscribe annually to this belief as well.
- The doctrines of the historic Christian faith to which we adhere are expressed clearly in such documents as the Apostles' Creed and the Statement of Faith of the National Association of Evangelicals.
Although not written by the apostles, the Apostles' Creed dates from the early centuries of the church and provides a concise summary of essential biblical teachings.
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended into the grave. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic [i.e., universal] church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Statement of Faith of the National Association of Evangelicals
The National Association of Evangelicals was organized in 1942 by evangelical denominations and churches in the United States. Its Statement of Faith summarizes essential evangelical beliefs.
- We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.
- We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in his virgin birth, in his sinless life, in his miracles, in his vicarious and atoning death through his shed blood, in his bodily resurrection, in his ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in his personal return in power and glory.
- We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
- We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
- We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
- We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Other Perspectives
We do occasionally permit a limited number of applicants who do not share these beliefs to enroll in individual courses as non-degree students. As part of our educational curriculum, we also periodically invite to campus guest speakers who may not hold to the Seminary's doctrinal standards but who offer perspectives and points of view with which our faculty and students need to be familiar.
If you have questions or concerns about any of these beliefs, please contact our Admissions staff.