New seminary focusing on pastoral ministry planned By Craig M. Kibler The Layman Online Wednesday, October 8, 2003 PORTLAND, Ore. – A new seminary focusing on a pastoral ministry model is in the developmental stages, a Texas pastor told Gathering VIII. The Rev. Ron Scates, pastor of the 5,200-member Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas, told more than 250 people Monday that a group of evangelical pastors had been meeting in Texas for three years. Last January, he said, more than 400 people – staff and elders – from 11 congregations throughout the state gathered. Out of that meeting, Scates said, a big question arose regarding theological education. "What seminaries are you encouraging your candidates to go to?" he asked. The response, he said, was that "theological education needs to be done in a different way." Explaining this model as distinct from the prevailing academic model, Scates said it was a pre-Princeton, pre-1812 method of training candidates for ministry. "A seminarian is assigned to a faithful pastor in a faithful church," he said, and this practical training approach is combined with the existing academic model. Plans call for the seminary to be located in Houston, which Scates said was one of the few cities in America that doesn't have an existing seminary. "We're working on faculty now and accreditation," which he said the fledging school hopes to obtain in a blanket form from an existing seminary. Once the school becomes viable and is able to secure its own accreditation, Scates said, this blanket accreditation will be removed. Although that was "all I can say at this time" about the seminary, he said it "may be an attractive outcome for our future candidates."

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