Thank you for your interest in Shepherds’ Seminary Africa. Seminary training must be academically rigorous—anything less would betray you, the faithful student, and also the church to which you will one day be called. However, seminary training should also never be merely theoretical or academic: it must prepare a man for the spiritual vigour, Christ-like character, exegetical proficiency, and practical skills necessary to shepherd the flock of God. Therefore, at Shepherds we have adopted a “train like you fight” approach to preparing men for ministry.

The week-to-week labours of a pastor involve studying God’s Word, the writing and preaching of expository sermons, counselling, working both with and under other elders, discipling prospective leaders, supplying wise guidance in difficult church situations, and providing an appropriate level of administrative leadership for the church. Our commitment at Shepherds is, through both extensive personal mentoring and classroom instruction, to prepare you for all those important ministry responsibilities.

Because we believe so enthusiastically in the transforming power of the Word of God, we’ll focus especially on preparing you to be a capable and effective expositor of the Scripture. But while we do that, we won’t sell short those other areas of responsibility. As the Scottish pastor Robert Murray M’Cheyne famously said, “A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.” Our goal is to help you become just that: a sharp sword used powerfully by God to divide accurately the Word of truth, to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to shepherd Christ’s people with razor-edged effectiveness. If those are your desires, then we invite you to apply to Shepherds’ Seminary Africa for a life-changing course of study.

Dr Joel James
Academic Head
Pastor-teacher at Grace Fellowship Pretoria