A Letter from Alumni President Pastor Matt Holst
Dear Alumni,
It is my great pleasure and honor to serve as the new president of the GPTS Alumni Association.
Many of us owe a great debt of gratitude to GPTS and its faculty for the training we received in preparation for the gospel ministry or for other Christian service. The Alumni Association exists to support, promote and hold accountable the work of Greenville Seminary, and every alumnus plays a part in that purpose whether they know it or not.
With that in mind, we might ask ourselves how should we, as alumni, achieve our goals? Supporting the work of the Seminary is chiefly a matter of prayer. Please lay before your congregations the need to pray for such institutions as GPTS which are so important in the training of men for the ministry. We are also able to support GPTS financially. You all have first-hand experience of the costly transition the seminary made in recent years into its new building. The costs for that transition are still not fully covered, and there is a continually need for daily operational costs. Encourage your sessions and missions committees to consider sponsoring GPTS. Additionally, as you feel led, please encourage interest in GPTS among prospective students. (For further details on supporting GPTS, please contact the Director of Development.)
We are also responsible to promote the Seminary’s good name. In our calling as gospel ministers and workers, we are living advertisements for GPTS. As desired a role as this may or may not be for many of us, it is an inevitable fact of life. Our conduct will not only reflect upon the gospel of Christ (Phil 1:27-30; Titus 2:10) but upon those with whom we are associated, especially those who trained us. One of our duties, where we are able, is to protect the good name of GPTS and its faculty. And so, where possible, we must live peacefully with all men (Rom 12:8). We are to conduct ourselves in all humility and grace within the various spheres of our lives.
Furthermore the Alumni Association is one of the many checks and balances upon the workings of GPTS. The Alumni have the duty to hold the Seminary to its Biblical and Confessional standards.
If you are a regular visitor to the GPTS website, you will have seen the wide variety of resources and information here. In addition, the seminary publishes an online journal, Katekōmen. Please consider contributing articles and book reviews to this publication. Katekōmen can become a value promotional tool for the Seminary. It is important that there are regular articles of a high standard published there, so please consider whether you are able to contribute. If you have not explored this website recently, take some time to browse the many resources. You’ll be surprised at how much more is available to us all.
Friends, if you have any questions regarding the role of the Alumni Association, or suggestions how to improve or develop the association’s role, please contact me or the seminary Development Office.
With warm regards to you all,
Matt Holst
To contact your alumni President please email: matholst@gmail.com.