HISTORY

Faith Evangelical Seminary was founded in 1969 as Faith Evangelical Lutheran Seminary by Lutherans Alert-National (LAN), an organization committed to biblical inerrancy. In 1968 the LAN was commissioned to investigate possible avenues of proclaiming historic, biblical theology due to the fact that a significant part of the Lutheran church was moving toward liberalism. It eventually seemed expedient to recommend the establishment of a seminary committed to the inerrant Word of God. The Rev. Dr. R. H. Redal was called as the first president and the initial classes were held September 23, 1969 in Tacoma, Washington. After 38 years of service, the seminary has graduates serving God throughout the United States and around the world.  

MISSION STATEMENT

Faith Evangelical Seminary exists to glorify God by equipping Christian leaders with a biblical, theological, and practical education empowering them to apply and proclaim the inerrant Word of God for world-wide Christian service.

Our mission is pursued through the development of a community of teachers and students who seek to strengthen their Christian beliefs by exegeting and interpreting Scripture, who uphold the form of doctrine expressed in the historic creeds and confessions of orthodox Christianity, and who labor together in fellowship to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The seminary seeks to serve the church and society by educating, training, and nurturing students toward spiritual maturity and readiness to serve God effectively in both the church and the world. The seminary expects faculty, staff, and students to model Christian values such as faithfulness, humility, and service. We are dedicated to excellence in teaching, research, and writing and expect our students to live and study "as unto the Lord."

To this end, the seminary provides instructors and facilities for undergraduate and graduate Christian education. The seminary also grants degrees required for the church's multiplicity of ministries, and provides academic opportunities in a life-setting that encourages students to live under the guidance of God's Word for God's glory.

The seminary is an interdenominational, nonprofit, religious, and educational institution that respects the right of students to affiliate with the evangelical denomination or synod of their choice.

EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

The seminary is committed to the authority of the inerrant Scriptures. From this firm commitment to God's authoritative, written revelation stems a system of doctrine in which the great truths of the Christian faith are affirmed and expounded. The theological position of the seminary can be described as orthodox, conservative, and evangelical. The seminary's educational philosophy is based on this biblical foundation and built within this confessional framework. Every learning experience, course, department, and degree program must relate to this commitment to Scriptural authority.

Relevance of the Scriptures

Instructors are concerned for the students' academic pursuit of knowledge in biblical, theological, and ministerial disciplines. Along with maintaining high academic standards in the teaching-learning process, the instructors also are to minister to the personal and spiritual needs of the students, with the goal of fostering spiritual growth through interaction with divine truths.

Dependence on God's Gifts of Grace

Since communication of God's truth is a divine-human process in which the instructor seeks to minister God's truths to and in the lives of students, both instructors and students need to depend on God in the teacher-learning process. The divine-human process adds an essential spiritual dimension and dynamic to the seminary curriculum and provides a unique classroom climate and a distinctive theological education.

Student and Faculty Interaction

Instructors actively involve their students in the education and training process. This is accomplished through numerous means such as lectures, note-taking, discussions, reports, research projects, exegetical papers, examinations, readings, faculty-student dialogues, etc. These, coupled with practical training activities such as field practicums and internships, help foster maximum learning in a Christian academic environment. Faculty members are required to be committed to the aforementioned principles.

CURRICULUM

The seminary's curriculum is rooted in a commitment to the plenary and verbal inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, the original documents of which are inerrant as to fact and infallible as to truth. Through its curriculum the seminary remains committed to providing a theological and biblical education to last a lifetime.

Such an education should enable our students to develop careers in service to our Lord and to assume ever greater responsibilities as new opportunities arise in our constantly changing world. The curriculum emphasizes various educational and spiritual goals as agreed upon by the faculty.

Students should gain the following:

1. An introduction to the breadth of learning in the Christian tradition;
2. An ability to think biblically, theologically, logically, analytically, and independently within the Christian tradition;
3. An ability to understand the inter-relationships among the various fields of biblical and theological studies and the significance one discipline has for another;
4. An ability to communicate clearly, effectively, and compassionately, both orally and in writing;
5. An ability to maintain a spiritually vital and edifying corporate life of worship and service that encourages the formation of disciplined and mature Christian character; and
6. An ideal of leadership and life-style that accurately reflects the example of Jesus Christ.

Denominations, Synods, or Associations

All students must uphold the Doctrinal Statement of the seminary (pages 12 - 13). Various denominations, synods, or associations may require a series of courses that uphold specific theological viewpoints and/or church polity. Faith Evangelical Seminary is not an ordaining body and, therefore, does not ordain graduates.

Before beginning any program, students intending to seek ordination or licensing for Christian ministry and/or vocational opportunities should be knowledgeable of the specific requirements of their denomination, synod, religious organization, or military association.

GLOBAL OUTREACH

The seminary has a strong commitment to "The Great Commission" mandate (Matthew 28:18-20), and the crucial role of missions toward its fulfillment. The international flavor and involvement of the seminary continues to broaden through our aggressive policy of taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth so that all might have opportunity to hear of the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

As evidence of our commitment to world missions, the seminary established an educational outreach in the Kingdom of Tonga (South Pacific) in 1992 in conjunction with Polynesian Missions. The seminary offers a combination of distance education courses and resident classes that have been vital in helping thwart the spread of liberal theology and the proliferation of cults in that area of the world. Seminary faculty members and other well-known evangelical professors travel to the South Pacific several times each year to teach and train students.

KOREAN DIVISION

The seminary has a Korean Division for the Bachelor of Arts in Religion, Master of Arts Christian Ministry (Christian Counseling concentration), Master of Arts Theological Studies (Interdisciplinary program), and Master of Divinity programs. Courses are taught in Korean and English and are offered through a local resident program. Hundreds of our Korean alumni serve God in their own nation and throughout the world as pastors, missionaries, counselors, and church workers.