# How did you pay to go to seminary???



## Scott Shahan (May 9, 2008)

Wow, expensive. I just met with an admissions counselor yesterday, and $505 a credit hour!!! Jesus doesn't want me to go into debt, I am pretty sure about that. I talked with my pastor and he told me not to put myself into debt. He said that it isn't worth going into debt. So how did you guys pay to go to seminary? Is racking up alot of student loan debt just to go to seminary worth it? I know there is a lot of guys on the PB that are in seminary or have gone to seminary and maybe you guys can share some insight into this.

thanks


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## larryjf (May 9, 2008)

There's always The North American Reformed Seminary, which is completely free...

The North American Reformed Seminary


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## bconway52 (May 9, 2008)

What seminary are you looking at going to? 

Does your denomination have a seminary? Have you considered talking to your church about helping pay the tuition? 

Also...you may want to check out Student Ministries, Inc. - its a good way to work as a volunteer intern at a church and get paid through contributions for your part time work, so you would have more time for family and studies! 

Student Ministries, Inc.


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## bconway52 (May 9, 2008)

I found a little bit more information for you...

Military chaplain candidate program: 

Chaplains > Student Candidate Program > Student Candidate Program


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## N. Eshelman (May 9, 2008)

Puritan Reformed is $150 per credit hour and has a lot of scholarships available. 

I went for free on scholarship from work and had another scholarship for living expenses. 

GO PRTS!

Reactions: Like 1


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## Puritan Sailor (May 9, 2008)

I had some scholarship help, church support, and worked almost full time during seminary. I also saved up a good chunk before we went to seminary. The Lord provides in various ways.


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## JOwen (May 9, 2008)

In the Free Reformed Churches, once you are accepted as a student by the Theological Ed Committee, all expenses are paid by the denomination's education fund. Our seminary is PRTS.


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## Blue Tick (May 9, 2008)

> $505 a credit hour!!!




What seminary is charging this amount?


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## N. Eshelman (May 9, 2008)

JOwen said:


> In the Free Reformed Churches, once you are accepted as a student by the Theological Ed Committee, all expenses are paid by the denomination's education fund. Our seminary is PRTS.



And if you go Free Reformed, there are pulpits that will be open when you graduate!


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## Wannabee (May 9, 2008)

Savings and student loans got me through.

If the seminary is accredited you may qualify for student aid. I received about 3400 a year while attending TMS. They also have a matching grant for support coming directly from your church. The tuition there isn't too bad, but the cost of living is tough.

Southern's tuition is about the same if you're a member of a SBC. The cost of living there is pretty reasonable too. They have student aid as well, but I'm not familiar with it.

If you can avoid debt, do so. Our current level of debt (not too much, but still a factor) is making it more difficult to survive on the little pay we receive. I could get a part-time job, but we'd rather tough it out and try not to divide my attention, if we can. But it's still a consideration.

One close friend managed to work full-time while attending seminary and did it in three years. But his family didn't get his time as they should have. Even though I didn't work, my family didn't get my time like they should have either. Take all of this into consideration. More than one marriage has self-destructed because a man transferred his love for Christ to a love of studies and academics. Idolatry has many forms, even to the point of studying about God.


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## Ivan (May 9, 2008)

Being EV Free, the primary school would be Trinity in Deerfield, IL. I'm sure you have investigated that. I've been to their bookstore years ago and that's all I really know about them. D.A. Carson is there, right?

Being a Southern Baptist, I went to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas in 1978. It was just about the only conservative seminary we had left at the time, with the possible exception of New Orleans. If I were to go to seminary today it would be Southern in Louisville. For sure.

In 1978 I was 26 years old, had been married for five years with no children. As best I can remember the total bill for the whole semester was something over $200. That's not per hour, but for the whole semester, full-time. Of course we had living expenses and that was taken care of by me working essentially full-time at the seminary's AV Learning Center and my wife working full-time in accounts receivable at TCU. 

The cost for non-Southern Baptists was much, much more. I don't remember what it was but it was lots of money. For Southern Baptists students most of the expenses were paid by the Cooperative Program. Bottom line: that means the good folks sitting in the pews Sunday after Sunday were footing the bill. God bless them.

So when I left Southwestern in 1981 I left with a seminary degree, a baby daughter, a new car and no debt. In fact, we left with much more money than we came with. By the Grace of God.


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## Ivan (May 9, 2008)

If I were not Southern Baptist I'd consider Beeke's seminary. I do respect the man.


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## CovenantalBaptist (May 9, 2008)

Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary has a tuition waiver program. Contact the seminary for details (ask for Mrs. Kathleen Curto, Registrar).

GPTS is a confessional seminary (Westminster Standards) and they provide a solid affordable Reformed education in an area of the country where you can buy a house for less than $100K (rent is also cheap) and live on a single income very easily. There are no professors teaching deviant or questionable theologies here. A clear faculty statement exists on 6 day creation, justification and the federal vision. These men are serious and sober about the Gospel and very gracious despite what you may hear or read on the internet.

I would also mention that MCTS for those Reformed Baptists (or even Presbyterians) is also very affordable and solidly confesssional (1689) with very good men like Sam Waldron, Rich Barcellos, Tom Nettles, Tom Ascol and others. It is a more unique seminary in that it is provided in the context of a local church. In this way there is a combination of solid scholarship (read Dr. Waldron on anything) and practical spiritual apprenticeship.


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## Ivan (May 9, 2008)

CovenantalBaptist said:


> Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary has a tuition waiver program. Contact the seminary for details (ask for Mrs. Kathleen Curto, Registrar).
> 
> GPTS is a confessional seminary (Westminster Standards) and they provide a solid affordable Reformed education in an area of the country where you can buy a house for less than $100K (rent is also cheap) and live on a single income very easily. There are no professors teaching deviant or questionable theologies here. A clear faculty statement exists on 6 day creation, justification and the federal vision. These men are serious and sober about the Gospel and very gracious despite what you may hear or read on the internet.
> 
> I would also mention that MCTS for those Reformed Baptists (or even Presbyterians) is also very affordable and solidly confesssional (1689) with very good men like Sam Waldron, Rich Barcellos, Tom Nettles, Tom Ascol and others. It is a more unique seminary in that it is provided in the context of a local church. In this way there is a combination of solid scholarship (read Dr. Waldron on anything) and practical spiritual apprenticeship.



Excellent suggestions, CB.


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## DTK (May 9, 2008)

Scott Shahan said:


> I know there is a lot of guys on the PB that are in seminary or have gone to seminary and maybe you guys can share some insight into this.
> 
> thanks



I did it the old fashioned way; I worked my way through college and seminary.

DTK

Reactions: Like 1


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## Ivan (May 9, 2008)

DTK said:


> Scott Shahan said:
> 
> 
> > I know there is a lot of guys on the PB that are in seminary or have gone to seminary and maybe you guys can share some insight into this.
> ...



Me too. Glad I did.


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## Guido's Brother (May 9, 2008)

Student loans, bursaries, family help, and my wife and I worked.


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## jawyman (May 9, 2008)

nleshelman said:


> Puritan Reformed is $150 per credit hour and has a lot of scholarships available.
> 
> I went for free on scholarship from work and had another scholarship for living expenses.
> 
> GO PRTS!



Amen!

I attend PRTS on scholarship and I have a very part-time job. I will have no debt after graduation.


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## N. Eshelman (May 9, 2008)

Ivan said:


> If I were not Southern Baptist I'd consider Beeke's seminary. I do respect the man.



We have Baptists at the Sem. Just let them know if you subscribe to the 1689 LBC. We have a number of Baptist profs as well (Haykin, Thomas, etc)


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## Prudence and Passion (May 10, 2008)

Wise thinking to not go into debt. In 2003 when we wanted to go to seminary we originally decided that we would pay off any debts we had already incurred. Then, some friends of ours told us that we weren't living by faith, and that we needed to move across country and just trust God to provide. We took this advice and survived for a few months before things got really bad. It was an unwise decision and we had to move back to IL to regroup. (And we are still in regroup mode) Paul still wants to finish his seminary studies but we refuse to go with any debt at all (including car payments).


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## Ivan (May 10, 2008)

nleshelman said:


> Ivan said:
> 
> 
> > If I were not Southern Baptist I'd consider Beeke's seminary. I do respect the man.
> ...



And I believe Haykin teaches at Southern Seminary too.


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## Pergamum (May 10, 2008)

I went into the military and used savings to pay for schooling. Did the army ROTC program to pay for bachelors and used savings to pay for seminary.


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## moral necessity (May 12, 2008)

larryjf said:


> There's always The North American Reformed Seminary, which is completely free...
> 
> The North American Reformed Seminary



Larry,

Do you know of anyone who was accepted to a pastorate with a degree from this seminary? Thanks.

Blessings!


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## Raj (May 12, 2008)

If you are interested studying in the Philippines, only M.A. and MTh then pls check with [email protected], for the needy, except the air ticket, almost everything is provided.


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## larryjf (May 13, 2008)

moral necessity said:


> larryjf said:
> 
> 
> > There's always The North American Reformed Seminary, which is completely free...
> ...



No i don't. We are very new as a stand-alone seminary...since about January of 2008.

You can see more regarding our recognition here...
TNARS Recognition/Affiliation


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## Scott Shahan (May 13, 2008)

Blue Tick said:


> > $505 a credit hour!!!
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Sioux Falls Seminary | Admissions

The reason I am looking at this school is because it is in the town that I live in. These prices are high, and I am just wondering if it is worth it?? I am not able to move and go to a different seminary, because of my family situation at the moment. Just wondering with the high cost of tuition and then trying to pay off student loans......how much does a Pastor make $$, or how much should a pastor make $$$ a year?? What should a senior pastor make a year? Are pastor's able to say how much they are worth, or how much they should be paid?? Or does it completely depend on the congregations? I always wondered how churches decided how much to pay their pastors.


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## jogri17 (May 13, 2008)

*side question*

I am planning on graduating two years late to learn French in Québec City because I have a passion for the Church in Québec. I am praying about Farel or PRTS (because my former Pastor is good friends with Dr. Beeke). If I graduate from PRTS I will be done at the age of 28 and if I do Farel I will be 27. Is this too old to start pastoring a Church? Thanks for your opinion.


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## Contra Marcion (May 13, 2008)

jogri17 said:


> I am planning on graduating two years late to learn French in Québec City because I have a passion for the Church in Québec. I am praying about Farel or PRTS (because my former Pastor is good friends with Dr. Beeke). If I graduate from PRTS I will be done at the age of 28 and if I do Farel I will be 27. Is this too old to start pastoring a Church? Thanks for your opinion.



Are you kidding? 28 is still VERY young! There are a lot of us who are significantly older than that when the Lord calls us into the ministry. You have nothing to worry about in that regard, my friend.


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## Ivan (May 13, 2008)

jogri17 said:


> If I graduate from PRTS I will be done at the age of 28 and if I do Farel I will be 27. Is this too old to start pastoring a Church? Thanks for your opinion.



Let's see...you start to pastor when you are 28 years old. You do that until, let's say, 68 years old. So you're a pastor for 40 years. I think that would be fine.

I started to pastor when I was 30 years old. Sure, I wished I had started earlier but that's how the LORD did it. I'm glad He did.


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## fredtgreco (May 13, 2008)

jogri17 said:


> I am planning on graduating two years late to learn French in Québec City because I have a passion for the Church in Québec. I am praying about Farel or PRTS (because my former Pastor is good friends with Dr. Beeke). If I graduate from PRTS I will be done at the age of 28 and if I do Farel I will be 27. Is this too old to start pastoring a Church? Thanks for your opinion.



I was 38 when I started pastoring as a minister (I was a ruling elder for nearly 9 years before that). God will use your experiences to His glory.


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## jawyman (May 13, 2008)

jogri17 said:


> If I graduate from PRTS I will be done at the age of 28 and if I do Farel I will be 27. Is this too old to start pastoring a Church? Thanks for your opinion.



I started PRTS when I was 37 years old. I will be 40 when the Lord leads me to my first flock. I would rather a man have some life under his belt, than university, seminary, and then pastorate.


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