MISSION AND DISTINCTIVES

Westminster prepares leaders to plant churches in every nation and proclaim Christ to the ends of the earth

OUR VISION

TO SEE CHRIST’S CHURCH REVIVED AND REFORMED IN ITS PASSION FOR GOD’S GLORY

We long to see Christ-centred churches, the gospel proclaimed in every nation, and God glorified to the ends of the earth.

OUR MISSION

TO PREPARE LEADERS TO PROCLAIM GOD’S UNCHANGING WORD IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

The need is great: even within the UK, there are empty pulpits in need of faithful preachers, churches in need of Christ-like leaders, and communities in need of the gospel.

We exist to meet this need by preparing, training and sending faithful leaders who are rooted in God’s Word and ready to proclaim it wherever Christ calls them.

‘HOLDING FAST THE FAITHFUL WORD’

Titus 1:9 underlies our approach to training faithful leaders: teaching them to hold fast to God’s true, faithful and eternal Word, and equipping them with the tools they need to make it foundational to their entire ministry.

OUR DISTINCTIVES

Underlying our vision and mission is our heart to supply leaders with all they need to savour Christ and serve His church. Everything that we do toward this end flows from our distinctives:

THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION

We joyfully adhere to the Westminster Standards, and believe them to be a faithful subordinate standard to God’s Word. Our students come from a range of theological backgrounds, but all benefit from the careful, consistent and committed approach to Scripture that our faculty adopt.

EXPERIENTIAL CALVINISM

Following God is a matter of the heart as well as the head; those who know most about God should also be the most loving and joyful. As Jonathan Edwards put it, true religion consists in genuine affections alongside true doctrine. We don’t just respond to Christ on an intellectual level.

PRESBYTERIAN DISTINCTIVES

There is only one church, the glorious body and bride of Christ.

Our faculty are pastor-theologians who teach from a Westminster Presbyterian perspective, but we warmly welcome students with other denominational affiliations.

THE ORDINARY MEANS OF GRACE

God has appointed the Word, prayer and sacraments, in the context of pastoral care and discipline, for our spiritual nourishment. These 'ordinary means' are the way the church is to fulfil the Great Commission.

THE REGULATIVE PRINCIPLE

God has revealed to us through His Word how we should worship Him. We are not to imitate the world around us, nor to invent new ways of worshipping Him.