Founders Ministries Announces New ‘Founders Seminary’ + We Have Some Thoughts

Staff Writer

Founders Ministries has announced that they are launching a new seminary – Founders Seminary– whose mission is to “serve the Triune God of the Holy Scriptures by equipping godly men with the education, aptitude, character, and conviction requisite for effective leadership in the local church.”

Announced by Voddie Baucham at the ‘Revive Us, OH Lord’ national conference, the new seminary will be located on the campus of Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, FL, with classes starting this coming August.

The founding faculty includes Dr. Voddie Baucham, who recently moved from Zambia to help start the seminary, along with Dr. Tom Ascol and Dr. Tom Nettles. The residential faculty includes Dr. Conrad Mbewe, Travis Allen, Dr. Peter Sammons, and Dr. Scott Callaham.

In terms of distinctives, the seminary closely partners with approved local churches so that students can receive personalized mentorship under the supervision of a pastor/elder. Here, the mentors will “nurture and direct students in learning to shepherd God’s people.”

“Many seminaries or institutions of pastoral training focus on one of two things, the head or the heart. Some believe the intellect is exclusively the chief concern of seminary training, equipping men for ministry by aiding them in lofty intellectual pursuits. This is noble, necessary, and good. However, they do it outside the local church and therefore ill equip the heart for necessary compassion to serve the church. Other institutions aim for the heart, and are so focused on compassion and practical ministry that they neglect the head. Founders Seminary, located on the campus of, and in partnership with, Grace Baptist Church… offers a training ground where both important aspects of pastoral training are uniquely wed.

However, one important distinctive of Founders Seminary is that our training not only informs the intellect and softens the heart, but it also instills deep-seated solid convictions in the spine. Founders Seminary uniquely offers a program that is intentional in equipping men for ministry with unflinching convictions that are well-informed and humbly held.”

Offering a 4-year Master of Divinity and seeing a value in not “burdening our students with tremendous debt that can cripple young families and prospective churches,” Founders Seminary is heavily subsidized by the support of donors, with the aim of being one of the most affordable seminaries in America.

As a result, classes cost around $7500 a year, or $30k over four years, not including housing costs and other miscellaneous fees.

The seminary is presently raising $1.5M dollars to purchase their building, and interested parties who are looking to help can do so at their website.

So, what do we think of this? We are of the belief that a young man can be taught everything he needs to know to be an effective and qualified elder through discipleship by his pastor within his own local church, serving the body through years of mentorship and instruction. That is frequently the very best option.

However, if for some reason that was not possible, or there was a strong conviction that seminary would be the best course of action, Founders Seminary would make an excellent alternative with a great mission and a world-class faculty.