Foundation for Reformed Theology

Greetings!

Our ministerial study seminars are the most important component of the program and work of the Foundation for Reformed Theology. And while I am always glad to tell you about them, I am especially delighted today to be able to share with you what someone else says about them.

Mr. Dee H. Wade, pastor of the Anchorage Presbyterian Church of Anchorage, Kentucky, has been active for, I believe, more than twenty years now, in our seminar led by Mr. William W. Williamson. And Mr. Wade has been kind to share with me the March 2014 newsletter article he wrote to let the congregation know about the Foundation.

I commend it to you.
Dearly Beloved

 

The week beginning February 16th just past found me, with a group of friends and colleagues, in the city of Richmond, Virginia. We have gathered at the Union Presbyterian Seminary through the sponsorship of the Foundation for Reformed Theology. The foundation was formed by John H. Leith, a long-time professor at the seminary. Leith's vision was to promote the thought forms and practices that make Presbyterian and similar churches unique. It is an amazing program. I can't say enough good things about it.

 

The primary way the Foundation pursues its mission is by the ministerial seminars it creates and underwrites. Groups of six or more active pastors gather, study, discuss, and later, try to apply seminal ideas that flow from Scripture and from the work of theologians such as John Calvin, William Temple, Karl Barth, Reinhold Niebuhr, Paul Tillich, and, of course, John Leith. About twenty such seminar-groups exist around the country. They meet independently, setting their own schedules, picking their own courses of study, and the regimens their study will take. Though they are in communication with the Board of Directors of the Foundation through their executive director, the Reverend Dr. Jim Goodloe, they are neither monitored nor required to account for their time together. Groups meet all over the country, usually at seminaries. My group has met at Columbia Seminary in Atlanta, the Austin Seminary in Texas, and at my own seminary, Union Theological in New York City. Most of the time, however, we meet in Richmond at the "other" Union Seminary.

 

Thirty-five topics are offered by the Foundation. They range from Prayer, Religion and Science, the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, the Christian Life, Forgiveness, and so on. This past meeting had us reading from a bibliography about Hope and Eschatology. This last word means the study of "last things." We looked at this issue from an individual standpoint and the cosmic. The former involves death, natural and spiritual. This angle opens up views of eternal life and the personal issues in preparing for death. We also examined the church's traditions concerning funerals. The discussion here in our group was most lively and instructive.

 

Energy was also generated around the cosmic side of eschatology: the final and glorious manifestation of Jesus Christ; the coming of the kingdom of God; the new creation, the fulfillment of time, the end of human and natural history. Here we learned that because the ultimate unfolding of God's will for the world is important, the penultimate (the "next-to-last" things) are important, too. If we pray sincerely that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven, our mission becomes crystal clear: to join God in making the earth a more heavenly place. That's preparing the way of the Lord with the Spirit's truth and by following the life of Christ. Excellent material, that. Lofty ideals grounded in everyday reality.

 

Our seminar group has outstanding qualities. There are seven of us in all: four men and three women. We are from Kentucky, Tennessee, and South Carolina. The other members are far more intelligent, witty, devoted to God, charitable, and prettier than am I. They are also better preachers, better teachers, and better practitioners of pastoral care. I am so privileged to be among them during these study weeks. And I am privileged that you, Anchorage Presbyterians, provide the time off in order to drink from their wisdom. By God's grace, I might, upon occasion, be able to share some of that wisdom with you.

 

As Ever,

 

Dee


Anchorage Presbyterian Church March 2014 Newsletter
Dr. James C. Goodloe IV
Thank you for your ongoing interest in the mission and work of the Foundation. To learn more about our ministerial study seminar program, please click on this link:

Seminars.

To learn more about ways to give and to support the Foundation, please click on this link:

Donate.

Thank you! 

Grace and Peace,

Dr. James C. Goodloe IV, Executive Director

Foundation for Reformed Theology

4103 Monument Avenue

Richmond, Virginia 23230

 

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