It is rare to find a seminary that trains men within the context of a local church. But the benefits of connecting the classroom to the church are invaluable for future pastors. This close connection can be seen in some of the greatest seminaries in church history—like Calvin’s Academy in Geneva and Spurgeon’s Pastors College in London. More importantly, the apostle Paul modeled this approach while ministering in Ephesus on his third missionary journey.

In Acts 19:8-10, Luke described the training school that Paul founded in Ephesus:

He entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the people, he withdrew from them and took away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

Paul met with a group of disciples every day for two years, reasoning with them from the Scriptures and teaching them the whole counsel of God. That is the basic paradigm of seminary education. Though the students met in a local lecture hall (the school of Tyrannus), their training was directly connected to the local church in Ephesus—a point Paul made clear when he addressed the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:24.

By meeting daily with these disciples for a period of two years, Paul demonstrated his commitment to train the next generation of spiritual leaders. The apostle invested time and energy to instruct these disciples. Within the context of this training school, he made sacrifices to equip the next generation of Christian leadership. Those men from the early Ephesian church would continue on to become pastors and evangelists, extending gospel truth to the rest of Asia Minor.

In essence, this gathering of Ephesian believers constituted the first seminary. Throughout church history, faithful men have followed Paul’s example by establishing training schools to equip leaders for ministry in the local church—leaders that would exposit the Word, strengthen the church, and proclaim the gospel to the lost. It is in that same legacy that Grace Church has sought to train the next generation of spiritual leaders through The Master’s Seminary.

This evening, the thirty-eighth graduating class of The Master’s Seminary will celebrate God's sustaining grace and receive their hard-earned degrees. These 112 men join more than 2,000 others who have preceded them and now serve Christ on six continents in dozens of countries.

Thank you, Grace Church, for your partnership in the lives of these men and their families. Your investment has been vital, and without it, the seminary and the lives of its men would not be what they are today. We invite you to join us this Sunday evening, May 5, at 6 pm as we celebrate this year’s graduating class, and ask that you would continue to pray for them as they transition to their new places of ministry.