Reformed Baptist Seminary completed 17 years of ministry in May of this year. Since our founding, we’ve had the privilege of helping dozens of local congregations train gospel laborers. Our online format allows students to remain in their local church under the oversight and mentorship of their own pastor. As a result, the student can serve in his local church as he pursues theological training. Additionally, the online classes provide the student with a more flexible format and affordable education than a traditional seminary. While the traditional residential module may better fit the needs of some, we believe RBS fills an important niche. Of course, none of his would be possible without the prayers and support of individuals and churches that view church-based theological training as an important part of the church’s Great Commission. Thanks for your partnership!

Students & Graduates

The 2021–2022 academic year saw an increase in student enrollment. The Fall semester began with 90 students, and the Spring ended with 103. A total of 15 students graduated, 12 from the Marrow program, one from the Scholar’s program, and one from the Divinity program. Currently, 115 students are enrolled for Fall 2022. The pie chart below shows the proportion of students in each program.

Live Instruction

We launched the Certificate of Reformed Baptist Studies program in the fall. At the heart of that program is the 1689 Theology Project—five systematic theology courses that employ the Second London Baptist Confession as a teaching template. In December, Brian Borgman, Robert Briggs, and Bob Gonzales lectured on “Christian Life and Worship,” which features expositions of such topics as “the Law of God,” “Religious Worship,” and the “Civil Magistrate” from chapters 19 through 25 of the Confession. Over 60 were in attendance for this weekend module. Later, in the spring, Jeff Smith treated chapters 10 through 18 in a module entitled “Salvation Applied.” He covered topics ranging from “Effectual Calling” to “Assurance of Grace and Salvation.”

On the third week of February, RBS invited Mark Chanski to update his lectures on Hermeneutics. Over the space of four days, Mark surveyed the history of biblical interpretation from Ezra to the modern period, offering a special critique of the hermeneutics of critical theory. He then expounded the grammatical, historical, and theological principles that should guide a sound interpretation of Scripture, providing plenty of helpful illustrations along the way. Finally, he focused on such issues as parables, typology, and prophecy.

In April, the Reformed Baptist Church of Riverside hosted a three-day module on Pastoral Theology featuring Robert Elliott, Jamie Howell, and Jeff Johnson. Robert lectured on the office, calling, character and care of the pastor. Jamie addressed the various responsibilities of the pastor, including marriage, funerals, and shepherding diverse members of the church. Jeff gave a special set of lectures on the use of Social Media, which comes from his book, Taming the Fingers, expected to be published next year.

Finally, Jamie Howell offered a three-day “Introduction to Biblical Counseling” course the first week of August, hosted by Grace Baptist Church of Taylors. In this course Jamie develops the theme “How People Change” using Lane and Tripp’s CCEF study guide by that name. In addition to about 20 attendees, another 26 live-streamed the lectures.

RBS International

RBS entered into a partnership with HeartCry Missionary Society in 2018 to provide theological instruction in Nepal. We started the training with a module on the Doctrine of Scripture offered by Nick Alford and Doug Van Dorn. That was followed with a course on Principles of Interpretation featuring John Reuther. In 2019, Jim Domm and John Price teamed up to lecture on the doctrine of salvation applied. George McDearmon taught a course on the doctrine of the church in May. Then, a missionary in a closed-country in the Far East taught on the topic of missions and church-planting. Early in 2020, John Reuther lectured on the Gospel of John and managed to return to the states just before COVID19 shut down travel. After a two-year wait, we plan to resume the instruction this November (2022) with Jamie Howell teaching on the doctrine of God.

Dean’s Sabbatical

In light of over 16 years of service and some health struggles, the Board granted the dean, Bob Gonzales, a four-month sabbatical. The sabbatical commenced in April and proved timely. Dr. Gonzales was able to rest, recreate, visit family, and spend more focused time in prayer. He also did some work on a popular exposition of Genesis 12 through 50 entitled Faults of Our Fathers: The Sins of the Patriarchs and the Grace of God. His assistant, Vadim Chepurny, did an excellent job overseeing operations in his absence.

Financial Report

We ended the last fiscal year at $58,730.06 in the black, and our assets increased over $60,000 from last year. Currently, we are ahead in projected student income and donations received, and we anticipate ending this fiscal year in the black despite significant increases in staff expenses.

If you are one of our supporters, please be advised that you can request a much more detailed financial report at any time (contact us).

As you can see, RBS operates on a relatively small and streamlined budget. It costs us less than $3,000 per year to educate one student. This is one of the reasons our training is cost-effective and sustainable for smaller network of local churches.

If you are a supporting church, we are deeply grateful for your generosity, and we hope you will continue supporting us or maybe even consider increasing your support. If you are not yet supporting RBS, but would like more information about that, please feel free to contact us.

If you are a supporting church, we are deeply grateful for your generosity, and we hope you will continue supporting us or maybe even consider increasing your support. If you’re not able to give on a regular basis, perhaps you’d consider a one-time donation for Giving Tuesday.

Sincerely,
Bob Gonzales, Dean