President's Welcome

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At SFTS, we are praying, thinking, and doing much these days for “wholeness.“ As we embrace the triune God’s mission of wholeness for the world, we endeavor to prepare whole Christian leaders for the whole church. Our mission statement articulates the threefold pattern of this wholeness concisely: “We are committed to the education of students in spiritual formation, critical theological reflection, and the skills and arts of ministry, to serve in congregations, the wider church, the classroom, and the public sphere.“

Spiritual formation is a distinctive strength for which we are known around the world. On both our Northern and Southern California campuses, shared worship is the starting point for everything else. As we are transformed together in God’s glorious presence, our educational and vocational priorities are continually illumined and refocused in the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. From the beginning of seminary through graduation, our students are immersed in a comprehensive program of vocational and spiritual formation that enables each to discern and pursue God’s specific calling to serve the world, in response to divine wisdom and the leading of the Holy Spirit. Our Diploma in the Art of Spiritual Direction and other programs in Christian spirituality extend the seminary’s resources in spiritual formation to ministers and other already serving in churches and laboring for the wholeness of human society and all of God’s creation.

Critical theological reflection encompasses our commitment to equip each student to draw deeply and authentically from the wells of scripture, historic church traditions, and ecumenical and Reformed theology and ethics in innovative ways that are responsive to the latest intellectual developments around us, even as we remain faithful to the God we know in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. Our Reformed heritage warns us to critically test all spiritualities, interpretations, theologies, power structures, and religious practices for their tendencies toward self-justification and idolatry. In response, we prayerfully work for their transformation. That same heritage enables us to rest secure in the reliable certainty of our triune God’s unalterable grace, mercy, and love.

The skills and arts of ministry must be continually practiced and refined over a lifetime, even as they are simultaneously required of us in serving the needs of church and world. At SFTS, this lifelong process is informed and focused in a mentoring community that intentionally brings together the best models the churches have to offer. Our students engage in the practice of the skills and arts of ministry throughout their seminary experience: in coursework, around campus, in ministries in local churches, in pastoral care settings, in evangelistic undertakings, in social outreach ministries, and in transforming experiences of global Christianity. Our typical third or fourth year internship brings these practical experiences into focus in a way that is unique in Presbyterian theological education.

Founded in 1871, San Francisco Theological Seminary is a dynamic academic community characterized by vital Christian faith, worship, and practice. We are a seminary of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and a founding member of the Graduate Theological Union, a distinguished Bay-Area consortium of 9 seminaries and numerous related institutes with full cross-registration, a shared theological library that is among the best in the world, and joint M.A. and Ph.D. programs. We have two exciting locations: our historic campus in San Anselmo, and an innovative non-residential, congregationally-based commuting program which offers courses and degrees for well over a hundred adult learners throughout Southern California. We hold ourselves to a high standard of academic excellence in providing spiritual, theological, and practical leadership preparation for ministry in both the church and the world.

In a time of faltering economies, world conflict, and cultural fragmentation, we at SFTS seek to prepare whole Christian leaders for the whole church; leaders spiritually, theologically, and practically ready to meet the challenges placed before us as we share in our triune God’s mission of wholeness to the world.

We extend our warmest invitation to you to partner with us in ministry preparation in either the Bay Area or Southern California, as you embrace the call of God’s Spirit for your life and ministry.

Philip W. Butin
President SFTS