Heart targeted courses

By Alexander Schmidt

About six months ago, our seminary adopted a new logo which emphasized 3 imperatives for our students, Truth, Character and Ministry.  In the qualification of our future pastors we see not only the need for knowledge and skills in ministry, but also in their own hearts, realized through a personal relationship with our Risen Lord.

During the last intensive course, we offered subjects on ministerial skills – marriage covenant and child raising. This time we decided to focus more on the heart of our students. Therefore, we included a series of classes which could be called “heart-targeted.”  Our curriculum included the History of the Reformation, presented by Rev, Oleg Volkov, the Minor Prophets, by Rev. Alexander Schmidt, and the Book of Acts, taught by Rev. Eric Greene (Thompson Memorial Church, Centreville, MS).  We also had the privilege to hear Mr. Ben Burgher, Elder of Christ Covenant Church, Lexington, KY, who presented great lectures on how best to disciple.  Being a former Navigator (if you can be a former Navigator), he shared many important lessons and rules on personal growth in Christ. As simple as it might appear, the Navigator illustrations of the Bridge, Wheel, and Hand carry with them years of experience from the many godly men who grew in their knowledge of Scripture and strengthened their walk with God.

Students also were very blessed by lectures of Rev. Eric Sauder.  Eric is the pastor of Christ the King Church in Springfield, Missouri. He shared, from his knowledge of the Word and many years of his pastoral experience, themes of Church discipline and outreach to men.  This experienced pastor’s very thought-provoking lessons helped our students to recognize that discipline should not be abused in any sense.  On the one hand for the Glory of God the Church is not allowed to tolerate sin; on the other, there are clear rules on how church discipline should be administered in difficult situations without over-stepping boundaries.

The core of this Intensive course was a life-changing class on the Book of Ephesians taught by Rev. Blake Purcell. Being not only rector of the seminary, but also having many years of missionary and pastoral experience, Blake showed the unique character of Ephesians.  This book is the only part of the New Testament that presents the Church in its universal sense. Using the pictogram of the tree, with Ephesians as its root system, the book of Acts as the trunk, and the Epistles to the other churches as branches, believers gain understanding of the Body of Christ in full meaning and depth.

The full armor of God was presented to students not only from an academic perspective (studying Greek roots, comparing different parts of Scriptures, etc.), but also from the standpoint of personal involvement, which reflects the character of one prepared for the ministry.

In between the lectures Duane Miller, a visiting Elder from the All Saints Presbyterian Church, Lancaster, PA, told our students about the St. George project of his congregation.  It is a set of lessons that father and sons go through together, and the lessons are organized in a way that helps to set up structures and models of thinking and behavior for young Christian soldiers.

We were delighted to welcome two new students for this intensive course.   Aleksej Korchagin is an associate pastor of the Russian Evangelical Church.   Also joining us from Penza in the center of Russia was Alexander Ignatov,  a member of the local Baptist Church there.  We are asking all of our friends and supporters to join us in prayer for these new students that the Word might grow in them and through them.

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