An Evaluation of the five stated objectives
set forth in the Seminary mission statement

Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary / Mill Valley Campus
P1112: Foundations for Ministry II / President William Crews / Spring 2003

by

Chris A. Foreman / Box 780 / March 13, 2003

This is the Mission Statement of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary:

"Under the Lordship of Christ, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary provides educational and ministry experiences to shape Christian leaders through programs which emphasize spiritual growth, biblically-based scholarship, and ministry skills development--all within a multicultural setting.

Within this strategic setting, the seminary equips men and women to...

1. Walk more closely with God, 2. Understand more clearly the heart of the Christian faith,

3. Develop a passion for fulfilling Christ's great commission,

4. Strengthen God-given gifts to serve and equip others, and

5. Minister effectively to people of all cultures.

Dedicated to missions, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary commits itself to the lives of its students and to the churches it serves. Our dream is to become the primary provider of effective Christian leaders for the churches of tomorrow."


This is my personal assessment of the GGBTS objectives.

Objective One: Walk more closely with God.

I do believe that my walk with God is closer as a result of attending GGBTS classes and studying proscribed books. Many professors have encouraged me along the way to pursue my ministry and in doing so I have grown more serious with God. There were classroom moments of epiphany as when I recognized Nehemiah as a textbook on church growth. There were moments of joy as when I finally digested enough Greek to read through and understand a whole paragraph of Colossians. All this caused me to walk closer to God.

As I discuss my seminary experience with friends I like to explain it as dissecting frogs. Before I came to seminary, I admired Holy Scripture as one might admire a living creature. As I taught Sunday school I remarked about how graceful and lovely the words were. I memorized entire chapters of the New Testament. I loved the Bible as God's living word. But then I came to seminary! At first I was aghast as Dr. Arbino began to cut into the living bone and sinew of the Old Testament. "Why is he doing all this dissection?" I thought. Then I came to realize that Scripture becomes more marvelous as we examine how it is put together and how all the inside parts work so wonderfully together. I have some friends who attended a semester or two of Bible School and then dropped out. Their faith in the Bible was shaken as they speculated about "2 Isaiahs" in the Old Testament and "Q" in the New Testament. They loved frogs, but they didn't understand that if you wanted to major in "frog-ology" then you had to dissect the things you love. I am not afraid to dissect God's word. I believe that we have exactly the final product that God intends for us to have. Dissecting has made my walk with God closer.

In regard to tweaking the curriculum to emphasize this objective, I do like the new MDiv program which re-vamps the Foundations of Ministry classes into Spiritual Formation.

Objective 2. Understand more clearly the heart of the Christian faith.

As I think about answering this question my mind jumps to three places. First I think about the lectures that I have received in GGBTS classrooms. Through them I do more clearly understand the heart of the Christian faith. Second, I reflect on all the books that now line my shelf. There are many words that I have highlighted. Each highlight has given me insight into the Christian faith. But finally it is this third place that my mind races to. The 18 professors below have shown me the heart of the Christian faith. As I think about my seminary experience and about my Christian growth, it is the quality of people that have made the difference. I am glad that in the revised curriculum, Greek and Hebrew are remaining. One of the truths I have learned is that all Biblical translations are necessarily interpretations. Familiarity with the original languages draws me nearer to the heart of the Christian faith.

I have observed nothing but integrity from seminary faculty, but please let me comment on another area of seminary life that impacts the heart of Christian faith. As I waited for a class to start this week, all I heard from students were complaints about the increasing cost of student housing. Is it true that students have signed contracts stating that housing charges won't go up as long as they occupy housing? If this is not true, why do students think that it is true? Whatever the facts, many students feel abused. In this atmosphere of bitterness "finding the heart of Christian faith" is difficult.

3. Develop a passion for fulfilling Christ's great commission

Although the great commission was addressed directly in only a few classes (church growth, missions, leadership), the idea of the great commission was woven throughout the curriculum. After my first semester at GGBTS, I traveled to Africa on mission in the summer of 2001. My travel was motivated in part by the mission atmosphere that permeates the campus. I do have a better understanding of Matthew 28:19-20 "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you". And of Acts 1:8 "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." I see evidence of the seminary's commitment to missions throughout the campus. I see a constant flow of mission visual displays and IMB representatives.

In regard to suggestions as to how the seminary could improve its attempts to fulfill this objective, I say this: Require a multi-cultural mission trip in tandem with the missions class. Preferably this trip would be overseas, but it could also be in the US, within another culture.

4. Strengthen God-given gifts to serve and equip others

This seminary helped me to strengthen my existing God-given gifts and to discover new gifts. I knew that I had a gift for teaching, but the Preaching class helped me to re-tool my teaching gift toward preaching. I often find myself in a situation where I take notes in a seminary class one day and then within a week or so, I am teaching from those notes in a church Bible study. I have received much that I can pass on to others. I have saved every scrap of paper from my 88 hours of coursework and I intend to refer to my seminary papers as long as I am in ministry.

5. Minister effectively to people of all cultures.

Seminary classes certainly included people from different cultures. Beyond my own mainstream American culture, I can note off-hand: African-American, Korean, Japanese, German, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Hispanic class members. I think that this multicultural facet is one of the strongest calling cards of GGBTS.


Additional Comments:

Please allow me to suggest one addition to the current mission statement as it stands. I would add these words: "In addition, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary commits itself to be salt and light to our local community by offering community education classes, by hosting community events, and by engaging our neighbors in Kingdom-building dialogue". This suggestion comes to mind because I have seen two opportunities missed in the past few months.

First of all, there was genuine public interest in the "James ossuary" last November. This event was all over the secular news. I even overheard two people in the mall discussing it. Wouldn't it have been great if GGBTS would have sponsored a public discussion of the this biblical artifact? I think that Dr. Durst and Dr. Arbino could have provided our community with Christian light. I think that if such a community forum were properly advertised a few hundred new people would have set foot on this campus. Some in our local community may have been won to Christ.

Secondly, about one month ago I just happen to meet a woman in the GGBTS parking lot. She looked lost so I asked if she need help with something. She was about 50 years old and said she was a brand new Christian. She was interested in taking a few classes. I mentioned the degree programs to her, but she said she already had a degree and just wanted to learn more about Jesus. I escorted her into the admissions office. I saw her discouragement when someone explained to her that we don't offer community classes, but only degree program classes. My question is "why don't we offer community education classes?" Especially if they were managed to pay for themselves. Marin county is our "Jerusalem" for Christian witness and I think that we are missing the boat here. I do believe that our degree programs should be for believers only, but why aren't we salt and light to our Marin county neighbors? Thanks for hearing me out.