One Christian Dad

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Question: I Was Training to be a Pentecostal Pastor, Now I want to be a Reformed Pastor…

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From Steve: I grew up in Armenian churches and was on path to become a pastor under Assemblies of God(Pentecostal). However to my recent exposure to all things reformed, i am intrigued by reformation theology and the call is still in my heart to be a pastor. Where do I get certified or licensed? I don’t want the easy way where they just stamp on a piece of paper. I want to be held accountable. Any advice you can give is appreciated.

Hi Steve,

I assume you mean Arminian? There are some major differences in the Assemblies of God and Reformed Theology.  I also came from a church that had Arminian influences. First and foremost – get yourself into a faithful, “Confessionally Reformed” Church that has a faithful and loving membership.  You can read all you want, and love the theology, but you must join a church. There are a number of faithful Reformed churches and I recommend looking at the  NAPARC churches:

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  1. The Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARPC)
  2. The Canadian Reformed Churches (CanRC)
  3. The Reformed Church of Quebec (ERQ)
  4. The Free Reformed Churches of North America (FRCNA)
  5. The Heritage Reformed Congregations (HRC)
  6. The Korean American Presbyterian Church (KAPC)
  7. The Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC)
  8. The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA)
  9. The Presbyterian Reformed Church (PresRC)
  10. The Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS)
  11. The Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA)
  12. The United Reformed Churches in North America (URCNA)

Not all these Churches are the same, but they are all confessionally Reformed, and would be a good place to start your search for “all things reformed.”  These churches will not just stamp a piece of paper and let you be a minister, they will definitely hold you accountable!  All of them require a seminary education and a Master of Divinity degree, which is a 3 to 4 year graduate degree depending on the seminary you attend.  The  Canadian Reformed Seminary  is run by my denomination.  Here is a list of other Reformed Seminaries:

Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary (Hamilton, Ontario)
City Seminary (California)
Covenant Theological Seminary (Missouri)
Erskine Theological Seminary (South Carolina)
Knox Theological Seminary (Florida)
Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary (Michigan)
Mid-America Reformed Seminary (Indiana)
New Geneva Theological Seminary (Colorado; Virginia)
Redeemer Theological Seminary (Texas)
Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary (Pennsylvania)
Reformed Theological Seminary (Various)
Westminster Seminary California (California)
Westminster Theological Seminary (Pennsylvania)

It is wonderful that God has led you to the Reformed faith, he is certainly a faithful father.  It is also wonderful that he has placed in your hear the desire to serve him in ministry.  Once you are in a church, the ministers there can help guide you further. I hope that this has helped you.

Blessings,

RS

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