Preparing and training for the Christian Ministry

Salisbury Reformed Seminary aims to provide a Biblical theological and pastoral training to the Christian Ministry. We aim to provide a trusted ground for churches in United Kingdom to teach those called to be pastors who are being set aside as ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ.

SCRIPTURAL

To teach them that the Bible is the inspired (God-breathed) Word of God, infallible and inerrant, the sole authority for faith and practice.

EVANGELICAL REFORMED FAITH

To ground them in the Evangelical Reformed Faith, the first term alluding to the “good news” that God has provided salvation in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, which salvation is received by faith alone, and the second term designating the doctrines rediscovered in the Reformation of the 16th century, that renounce the errors of Romanism and uphold the truth taught in Holy Scripture.

MEN OF GOD

To help them to be men of God, not only with doctrinal knowledge in their minds but also with experimental knowledge in their hearts.

GOSPEL

To encourage them in the exercise of their preaching gifts, emphasising their responsibility to preach, freely and fully, and with passion for men’s souls, the glorious Gospel of Christ

THE DOCTRINES OF GRACE

To instruct them in the doctrines of grace, sometimes called “Evangelical Calvinism”, and to show how these doctrines affect every area of our lives, as well as the worship, government and practice of churches.

CONFESSIONAL

To convince the students of the importance and value of Confessional Christianity, as seen in the London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689), the Westminster Confession (1647) and the Savoy Declaration of Faith and Order (1658), all three of these documents being essentially one, but differing in areas  such as church government and the sacraments.

REVERENT WORSHIP

To impress them with the need for reverent worship, such as Scripture requires and the Westminster Directory of Worship (1648) outlines and describes; and to emphasize the Law of Worship, carefully defining and applying the Regulative Principle which states that there must be positive scriptural appointment and prescription (in clear commands and approved examples) for every ordinance of worship.  Quod Scriptura non jubet, vetat – “What Scripture does not prescribe it forbids”

SEPARATION

SRS trains men to fulfill their pastoral responsibilities ordained of God: for the faithful preaching and teaching of God’s Word, with dependence upon the Holy Spirit; the administration of the gospel ordinances; the overall care of the church and its members; the defence of orthodoxy and purity; the superintendence of church discipline; and the maintenance of biblical church unity.

HOLY SPIRIT REVIVAL

To incite them to appreciate the reality of true Holy Spirit revival, which is nothing less than a divine visitation, God coming to His people and granting them an overwhelming sense of His presence, power and favour, which today is the supreme and desperate need of the Church:  therefore all ministers should be prayerfully seeking it from God at His Throne of Grace.