Our seminary faculty already includes Northern Irish, American, Ukrainian, and South African nationalities, but God is still adding to this international flavor! Dr. Jonghan Joo, a new professor sent by the Korean Presbyterian church, did an excellent job in May teaching our course on “Faith, Culture and Society.” He has now moved to Kiev with his family!

We are also expecting soon another coworker for seminary – Mel Pike! He and Martha are to arrive in Kiev next week, to help develop the English worship into a stable international church. But Mel will also be helping ERSU to mentor our students.

We now have four ERSU graduates earning additional degrees in the Netherlands, and we are already using several of our graduates as professors and class facilitators! This move to nationalization has been our dream! We’re thankful for God’s provision of more coworkers in God’s field!

In spite of having to let a number of inactive students go, we now have 32 very active seminary students – from Croatia to Poland to Kentucky (?!). Yes, Ben, an American student from KY, has been assigned to ERSU seminary to prepare for the ministry. Ben has a Belarusian wife and is serving the Presbyterian churches in Kiev as he finishes his MDiv studies. It has been a great year for ERSU, with serious work and pleasant cooperation among the students. The students even organized a student council, and the presbytery and synod appointed fresh members to the seminary Board of Directors.

ERSU Session Spring 2017

In addition to Clay speaking in the “Reformation 500” Conference in Nikolaev in March, ERSU has cooperated in sponsoring a book on Reformation Theology. Sadly, many Protestants here don’t even understand the basic doctrines of the Reformation, so these Reformed teachers and leaders have written a book to be presented on Reformation Day -- exactly 500 years since Martin Luther’s “95 Theses.”  Clay had the honor of writing the final chapter for the book, showing the Practical Application of the doctrines of the Reformation.  

On that day, Reformation Day, ERSU Seminary is sponsoring a conference and seminar at Dragomanov University. The President of Ukraine, Pyotr Poroshenko, declared 2017 “The Year of the Reformation”, which has raised interest and helped open doors for these events. We pray that the GRACE of the Lord Jesus will be kept in focus, preaching our ONE and glorious Gospel, and not simply glorifying our past.

At the request of the Ukrainian Presbytery, Clay also wrote a 30-page History of the Presbyterian Church in Ukraine. So, 2017 has been a busy year so far!

Theology of the Reformation

After failing to bring negotiations to a close three times, we are a bit gun-shy as we come to the closing on yet another property. But we are also hopeful and excited. Last year, we had found TWO suitable properties, and when one fell through, we were so discouraged that we did not immediately go after the second. But we are now hoping this may be the future home of the seminary. Please PRAY, as we hope to close in the next two weeks, setting a new direction for the seminary’s communal life.

 

Fall session of ERSU was held in October with help from a former student (Andrei Dilyuk of Minsk, Belarus) and our former Academic Dean, Jos Colijn (now at Kampen Univ., Netherlands). Students studied Greek and Church History, as well as taking various exams. We enjoyed both sunshine and snow. Shown here is the church history class.