About International Theological Seminary

 

We Are International

The students, staff, faculty, and board members of International Theological Seminary (ITS) are people from all over the world. No single national group predominates at ITS. The multi-ethnic and multi-national settings of ITS allow no one to have minority feelings based on race, sex, or even socio-economic status. This international aspect of ITS was well described by Dr. John H. Kromminga, the late President Emeritus of the seminary, when he once wrote about ITS as follows: “Where all are aliens, none are aliens.” ITS is proud that, from its founding in 1982 until now, it has faithfully maintained its commitment to the very first word in the school name “International.”
While some schools are proud of their historic buildings or technologically advanced libraries, ITS boasts its student body as the greatest asset of the school, which is composed by students from diverse countries. Although the students at ITS are diverse ethnically, it is important to emphasize that they are bound together by a common purpose. The ITS student body is a genuine epitome of the expression “Unity in Diversity.” Students accept one another in love, peace, and gentleness. “An Intercultural Experience” is not a subject of study at ITS but daily life.

We Are Reformed

ITS welcomes and admits students from different backgrounds representing a broad cross-section of denominational affiliations. The Seminary, however, teaches, follows, and guards the essentials of the Reformed faith, because the ITS community believes that the Reformed theology most accurately represents the teachings of the Bible. While emphasizing the tradition of the Reformed faith, ITS tries not to forget that the world is changing rapidly, and that there are so many diverse needs to be met in the churches today. In order to respond appropriately to the world and churches, ITS endeavors through spiritual and academic programs to combine the teaching of the inerrant Word to all matters pertaining to today’s Christian life.

We Are Mission-Oriented

The statement that ITS is a mission-oriented seminary is a perfectly correct description of the school. Nevertheless, it is hoped at the same time that no one would misperceive the Seminary as a place to train future missionaries. ITS is a traditional seminary, a graduate school to prepare qualified men and women biblically and culturally for the Lord and His churches worldwide. The curriculum of ITS is in the standard theological mode of Reformed seminaries. That ITS is mission-oriented is rather a philosophical description of the institution and its founding community. The key founding idea of ITS was a mission strategy to communicate the gospel in Third World countries by providing advanced theological education to students from the countries where such education was not readily available due to lack of adequate theological institutions or official policies. This mission strategy was the driving force in founding the seminary, and it still remains as the same force in the background of the school operation. In an effort to achieve its goal more effectively, ITS requires all students from Third World countries to pledge to return to their countries upon completion of study so that they may serve the Lord there. This requirement affirms that ITS is strongly and uniquely mission-oriented.

We Are Independent and Multi-denominational

ITS is an independent multi-denominational and multi-ethnic theological institution, which determines its own educational, admissions, and doctrinal standards, and has its own Board of Trustees. ITS is authorized under Federal law to enroll non-immigrant alien students.

We Are Small-Sized

The following description of ITS may sound apologetic for being small, but its intention is to provide an accurate understanding of the school operation. Some seminaries remain small for various reasons. A more common reason for small seminaries would be the low influx of new students each year. ITS is clearly one of those small seminaries in the U.S. but not because of the small number of applications it receives. In recent years, more than one hundred applications are annually received by the Admissions office. These applications come from a wide variety of nationalities and several continents, seeking admission into one of the four degree programs (M.A., M.Div., Th.M., and D.Min.). In comparison to the average size of ITS student body (about 100), the number of annual applications should be considered astounding.
Although it is an incongruous notion that an international institution remains small, ITS has to keep the size of its student body small to maintain an equilibrium between the quality of its teaching and financial assistance for students. It is truly remarkable that, being almost entirely dependent upon the generosity of donors from its beginning, ITS has produced more than 700 graduates who are currently serving the Lord all over the world as pastors, teachers, missionaries, evangelists, Christian leaders, and in other capacities.
Due to the school policy to maintain a small-sized student body, the Admissions committee is forced to be highly selective in the annual application review. As for admission, three aspects of an applicant are considered important to receive priority in admission. They are spiritual maturity, ministerial experience, and potentials to be an effective church leader.