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· The Goal and Mission of Highlands Hall The Goal and Mission of Highlands Hall.Highlands Hall seeks to prepare men for ministry, by encouraging them to grow in grace. While believing in an educated clergy, we in turn believe the qualifications for elder describe more spiritual maturity and less academic attainment. We strive to create faithful shepherds by growing faithful sheep. The Highlands Hall program consists of well-rounded reading, covering sound understanding of the word of God, and sound, historical theology, along with books designed for spiritual nourishment. The reading is supplemented by weekly meetings not with professors, but with pastors, and bi-annual week-long meetings held in the context of a healthy, thriving church body. Our conviction is that institutions create institutional leaders, but church bodies create leaders of church bodies. At Highlands Hall we want to encourage great men of God to lead great churches for Christ. R.C. Sproul Jr. on Highlands Hall (A Kingdom Moment video).How to Apply for Highlands Hall.Call us at 877-878-2238 or email us at info[at]highlandsstudycenter[dot]org and we will send you an application. CommitmentHighlands Hall is a 36 month program which runs year round. 2008 Start DateWeek of September 1, 2008. Teaching/Learning FormatWe believe that a man is best prepared for the ministry by knowing and believing Scripture, learning from the best books, holding conversations on the Christian life with their pastors and fellow laypersons and participating in the life of a covenant community. For a more detailed explanation, please read "An essay on the need for Highlands Hall." Tuition for 2008-2009 $1,050 per semester (each semester is six months long), plus the cost of the books.
Teaching ScheduleSunday Monday and/or Thursday (optional) Tuesday (20 weeks per year Mandatory) Wednesday (Mandatory) Holiday BreaksThough we run the program year-round we will skip weeks here and there around major holidays. Extra Benefits· Attendance at the Annual Pastors Camp, Couples Camp, annual conference, monthly Basement Tape recordings.
Essentially an "all access" pass to any event put on by the Highlands Study Center. GraduationCompleting all requirements to the satisfaction of the HSC teachers. We anticipate that many of our students will never formally graduate from the program so great is the demand for pastors who hold to our particular distinctives. That being said, if a man is to complete the entire program he will have to achieve several milestones in order to be certified a graduate of Highlands Hall. In a traditional seminary model this means passing all classes with a certain grade point average and perhaps passing a comprehensive examination. While less rigid, our method of certification will hopefully be of interest to a church seeking a shepherd. They include primarily growing in grace but also becoming apt to teach and passing a pastoral exam; one in use by a Reformed denomination. Pastoral RecommendationA man could receive a recommendation without finishing the program and someone may complete the program and not receive a recommendation for ordination. This recommendation involves a combination of factors including, and most importantly, meeting the requirements of I Timothy 3: "It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?, and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil." Frequently Asked Questions, Randomly AssembledWhat happens if I have to miss a week or two here and there because of work or family commitments? Infrequent absences can always be made up through outside class discussions with R.C. and Laurence. If I have to leave halfway through the program, can I pick up where I left off? Yes. It would have to be at the appropriate time and that may mean waiting a semester until we got back around to where you left off. You say that the weekly meeting is held by R.C. and/or Laurence. Why is this? R.C. will be your principal mentor but whenever he is unable to hold a weekly meeting, Laurence will fill in for him. Where will classes be held? We hold them locally. We currently meet at a local restaurant — Bonnie's — because it is centrally located, R.C. likes their biscuits and gravy and it creates a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere for our discussions. We hold class from 6:30-8:00am to allow you time to make it to your job. What is the cost of living in the Bristol area? Lower than most places. The average home sells for $125,000, you can rent a house for $500 per month but salaries are correspondingly lower as well. Is someone available to discuss other questions I might have? Our very own Dante Tremayne is a student in the program and he not only would be glad to share his experiences with you, he gets paid to do it as well. He can be reached at (877) 878-2238 or dante[dot]hsc[at]gmail[dot]com. If he can't answer your questions then we'll put you in touch with R.C. directly. I would like to visit and look around, when might be a good time to do that? Anytime you are in town we will be glad to have someone meet with you. You can sit in on class, attend a Bible study,
worship with us, etc. Often we are having a fun church event so if you know about when you'd like to come,
call Dante and see if anything special is occurring that week. You can also look on our "Ongoing Events" page to see what we
are doing on a weekly basis. How do I get an application? Just call Dante and he will send you one. (We will eventually put together an online application, but don't wait for it.) Where do I mail my application? Highlands Study Center An Essay on the Need for Highlands Hall.Everyone likes to paint themselves in the middle. When we are selling our particular view of this thing or that, we like to point out the extremes on our right, which we thoughtfully avoid, and the extremes on our left that we sidestep, making ourselves out to be the nice and sane middle. The Reformation itself serves as just one example. Lutheranism, and often Anglicanism represent the Reformation undercooked. There is much to be praised, but, we Reformed often reason, they didn't sufficiently jettison enough of Rome's bathwater. The Anabaptists, on the other hand, veered wildly into the other side of the ditch, tossing the baby of church history out with the bathwater of tradition. We Reformed folk, on the other hand, walked the middle way. We escape both the charges of sacerdotalism and mere memorialism in how we look at the sacraments. We tip our hat to the church fathers, without falling into ancestor worship. We are the sane middle. The same is true with respect to how we view our clergy. The Reformed camp rejects both the exalted offices of Rome with their "holy orders," and the egalitarian Anabaptist mindset that denies any distinction between clergy and laity. All of this is right and proper. Once we recognize the wisdom of having clergy in our churches, however, we are left with these important questions — how are we to prepare men for gospel ministry, and, does the Bible give us any wisdom with which to decide? Or to put it another way, is the seminary/academic model for preparing men from ministry wisdom handed down from our fathers that we ought not dismiss, or is it a cultural accretion that needs a more thorough reformation? Seminaries have been with us for centuries. On the other hand, the people of God were served quite well for centuries, without seminaries. One thing we can be clear about, the Scripture no where calls the people of God to create seminaries, nor does it require those who would be pastors to attend them. And while it may yet be true that seminaries are both lawful and helpful, neither can they be said to be the necessary consequence of anything in Scripture. Without yet settling the question of whether or not we ought to adopt a "Regulative principle of preparing men for ministry," we ought at least to confess that were we to take that position, seminaries would not pass muster. Why then do we have seminaries? Is the seminary morally adiaphora, but practically a boon? Is it an appropriate tool by which we pursue a Biblical imperative? Before we can answer that, we have to consider the nature and calling of the Biblical elder, or shepherd. Of course we are at a disadvantage, as the New Testament books are, by their nature, written during a time of direct, apostolic rule over the church. The history of the first century church is both sketchy, and not the same circumstances where we find ourselves. Nevertheless, we will try to discern what we can. First, whether one adopts a two office or a three office view as it relates to eldership, all would agree that the qualifications for elder listed in I Timothy 3 apply both to what we would call ruling elders and teaching elders. What is interesting to note about this list: blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach, not given to much wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well … not a novice … having a good testimony among those who are outside: is that with the exception of "apt to teach" each of the things on this list are things to which all men are called. Despite this, seminaries, because they are by nature academic institutions, focus their attentions almost exclusively in helping men become more "apt to teach." If we take a three office view, we see that some are called to "labor in word and doctrine" (I Timothy 5:17.) This matches well with the calling of the first deacons in Acts 6 where the apostles argue that they should not be waiting tables, but should be tending to the Word of God. In either case, shepherds are to rightly handle the word of God, teaching the sheep under their care sound doctrine. Despite this clear calling with respect to shepherds, the Bible is silent with respect to schools of higher learning for shepherds. How were men prepared for ministry? They were discipled by godly men. Their ministerial training was given in the context of the life of the church, and in the context of helping young men grow to spiritual maturity. Just as God commanded parents that they should teach their children the things of God "when you lie down and when you rise up …" (Deuteronomy 6) so God calls pastors to shepherd the flock such that those called to gospel ministry might, within the flock, be so trained. Before we get too far, let us consider some of the advantages of a seminary education. First, we find at the seminary experts in various fields of study. The average professor of systematics at the average seminary will have far more expertise in his field than the average pastor. Those who teach Biblical languages, in like manner, will excel the average pastor in knowledge. You have in the seminary not only better scholars, but have the advantage of economies of scale. That is, you can have one expert teaching an entire classroom of novitiates. A seminary likewise has the advantages of a centrally located library. Third, seminary provides a large group of peers, fellow shepherds in training. Fourth, a careful, academic training for pastors better equips them to be on guard against the dangers of false doctrines. Are there, however, other simpler means at our disposal to achieve many of these same ends? Do we not, for instance, benefit not just from living experts, but from experts in history if we follow the wisdom of C.S. Lewis and read a healthy dose of "old books." If John Calvin is our systematics professor, we are not being short changed. With the advent of the internet, the brick and mortar library is no longer so necessary. Keep in mind that for centuries pastors have done well without access to large libraries. As for the value of a seminary education in guarding against false doctrine, we would be wise to confess that seminaries tend to spawn more error than guard against it. It was the laymen who took back the SBC from encroaching liberalism. It was the laymen who rescued the ARP from the snare of neo-orthodoxy. We have succumbed to enlightenment conceit if we believe that theological infidelity flows out of poorly trained minds, rather than unfaithful hearts. Indeed, the seminary, as an academic institution, usually carries with it the seeds of its own destruction, tending toward apostasy. What crumbles the ivy walls is a combination of man pleasing (seeking the academic approval of men) and the spirit of Mars Hill, hungering after the new. What seminary cannot provide is training in shepherding. The seminary, as a graduate school, will tend to treat its subject matter as just that, subject matter. As an institution of higher learning, the seminary is far more adept at creating scholars than it is at training shepherds. The seminary also holds up as the ideal not a godly pastor, but the seminary professor. Thus, we have a high percentage of seminary students who are there, according to their own goals, in preparation for becoming seminary professors themselves. When these goals are seen to be less than attainable, many graduates console themselves by hoping that their congregation will become for them their academic classroom. Out of this is born the dry and dusty reputation we have rightly earned. The seminary is by its nature an institution removed from the work of the ministry, and so can only teach in a context removed from the work of the ministry. How might the training of men for ministry be different if, instead of beginning with an academic presupposition, we were to begin by looking at the qualities of an elder? What if, in other words, our goal in training up shepherds would be to train up men of godly character, rather than men of academic achievement? What if we no longer gave "apt to teach" a privileged position in our criteria? How might we train up a man for godly leadership? Our Lord's model, though it was far too organic to be rightly called "a model," was to disciple men. Jesus taught His disciples by investing His time and energy in them, by speaking with them of the things of God while about the business of doing the work of the ministry. Jesus never gave a lecture on the cessation of sign gifts. Instead He gave a lesson on the folly of Job's friends by healing the man born blind, that they, and we might know that He is the light of the world. The disciples witnessed Jesus as He ministered in Judea. They sat and learned from His sermons. They asked Him questions, not abstract questions, but questions touching on the lives of those to whom they ministered. The disciples understood that they needed to be about the business of bearing the fruit of the Spirit, more than amassing the credit hours necessary to graduate. As "graduates" the disciples went out as apostles, those sent to speak with the authority of the Sender. At Highlands Hall, we aspire to train men for the ministry in the same manner. We have compiled a reading list that, while certainly potent enough to prepare men to be "apt to teach" is rounded enough to prepare men to be better men of God. The list includes the wisdom of Calvin, Murray, Warfield, and Machen. But it also includes the wisdom of C. S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton, as well as the insight into the family that flows from the pen of Douglas Wilson. The reading list is rigorous, but it is but a small part of how we prepare men for ministry. Those who go through the program here will meet weekly with their mentoring pastor to discuss the reading, as well as to cover pastoral issues as they arise in the local church. Students will visit the sick and the imprisoned with their pastor. They will tussle along with the session over tangled relational issues in the church. Students here will be instructed in both hermeneutics and homiletics, but will be so instructed in real time as their pastors prepare and deliver their sermons. They will be shown how the Bible washes the Bride of Christ. Those who go through the program away from here must have a mentoring pastor where they are to provide the same help. Just as we discourage homeschooling moms from making the mistake of doing school at home, so here the point isn't to ask the pastor to recreate the seminary in the church. Instead the pastor in this scenario is doubly blessed. First, he is busy about the work of ministry, making disciples of men, rather than running programs. Second, he is reminded of all that he is teaching. We affirm that one of God's reasons for calling parents to teach their children the things of God when they lie down and when they rise up is so that the parents will not forget the things of God. In like manner, the pastor is more apt to grow in grace the more he is laboring to help others grow in grace, rather than keeping the machinery of ministry running. We believe that we have been tremendously blessed of God at Saint Peter Church. Through our pastor's camps and the Highlands Hall program, we hope to see many churches spring up around the country that are suffused with community, that thrive under heart-changing preaching, that are drawn together at the Lord's Table, that incarnate the very grace that gives us life. We believe that such churches should be more common, and indeed would be more common were not churches birthed out of academic institutions. Insanity, one wag once said, is repeating the same behavior over and over again, and expecting different results. Seminaries have not given us godly shepherds to watch over the flock of the Great Shepherd. They have given us academics and entrepreneurs, professionals and psychologists, technocrats and hirelings. That's what institutions create. Living bodies, on the other hand, give birth to living bodies. We believe pastors ought to grow out of body life, and that such will give life to the body. We pray God's continued blessing as we continue down this path. R.C. Sproul Jr. |
