This Recommended Curriculum was approved by the Fifty-fourth General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church to serve as a guideline to ministerial candidates, presbyteries, and seminaries (FG, XXIII, 3). The elements in the Curriculum are not to be understood as additions to the constitutional requirements stated in FG (XXI, 3, 4; XXIII, 3, 6) regarding the preparation and evaluation of qualifications of candidates for the ministry of the Word. Seminary course work by itself may not ensure fulfillment of the Recommended Curriculum for candidates whose presbyteries use the Curriculum as a guideline; therefore presbyteries may expect supplementation of a candidate's seminary course work through individual guided study, supervised ministry experience, or other means.
GOAL: The candidate should have a thorough knowledge of the content of the English Bible and an ability to communicate it.
GOAL: The candidate should be able to exegete the Scriptures from the original languages in the preparation of sermons and Bible lessons, using lexical and grammatical tools.
GOAL: The candidate should understand the principles, procedures and problems involved in the interpretation of God's Word, and should demonstrate a growing proficiency in the faithful exposition of Scripture. He shall be able to read the Bible as God intended it, in its organic unity and its historical diversity. The centrality of Christ, the covenant and the kingdom in the Scriptures determines our understanding of the Scriptures as a whole and as individual texts. The Bible is the progressively unfolding history of the redemptive acts and words of God, climaxing in the coming of Christ and his kingdom, ushering in the new age, the last days.
Christ has accomplished this through his death and resurrection, and the sending of his Spirit to the church on the day of Pentecost. The Bible also holds out the blessed hope to Christ's church that this new covenant kingdom, which is not yet consummated, will appear in the fulness of God's glory with Christ's return on the last day.
GOAL: The candidate should be able to faithfully explain Scripture for the building up of God's people, moving from a careful study in the original languages through the interpretive process, and arriving at a clear exposition of the text's meaning and application for the church today.
A study of the history of the church since the New Testament period, in all eras, with particular emphasis on the heritage and uniqueness of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
GOAL: The candidate should understand the flow of history, the historical development of Christian theology and the influence upon it of secular history and philosophy, and the progress of ecclesiastical development; and he should have an awareness of the relation of the cultural context to the history of the church.
GOAL: The candidate should gain a sound intellectual basis for the positive presentation of the Christian faith from a Reformed perspective, and should be equipped to deal with anti-Christian systems of thought in their various contemporary manifestations.
GOAL: The candidate should obtain a knowledge of and commitment to the Reformed faith (including such distinctives as the inerrancy of Scripture, the sovereignty of God, covenant theology, the five points of Calvinism, etc.); and he should become proficient in communicating this faith. He should manifest an understanding of and commitment to a biblical lifestyle in both personal and social ethics.
GOAL: The candidate should gain an understanding of the biblical teaching on the nature and structure of the church, as well as a working knowledge of the contents and application of The Book of Church Order of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (containing the standards of government, discipline, and worship) and Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised.
GOAL: The candidate should learn how to develop his personal relationship to God through the study of Scripture and through prayer, and how to express his devotion to God through developing and maintaining godly relationships with those of his own household, with others in the household of faith and with those outside the faith. Growing out of this, the candidate should be guided in determining the genuineness of his sense of call to the gospel ministry.
GOAL: The candidate should understand the regulative principle of public worship and its application to the specific elements of a congregation's worship services, and the centrality of preaching within the biblical pattern of public worship. He should demonstrate increasing proficiency in preaching the Word and in leading a congregation in public worship.
GOAL: The candidate should be able to express the bearing of the Reformed faith on the practice of announcing the gospel to non-Christians. He should develop methods for bringing the message of Christ to others and should implement those methods by engaging in evangelism and by training others to do so.
GOAL: The candidate should gain an understanding of the issues and practices involved in the planting and extension of the church both within a single culture and cross-culturally, including such areas as linguistics, indigenization, the use of anthropological perspectives, the use of printed and electronic media, and the relation of missions to political and social reforms.
GOAL: The candidate should understand the biblical principles which govern his shepherding of God's people and should gain practical experience in counseling (e.g., through the use of case studies and through the observation of and/or participation in actual counseling sessions).
GOAL: The candidate should understand the biblical basis of Christian education and its historical development. He should gain proficiency in the development of a plan for Christian education in the home and in the church, in the training of Bible teachers for church-related ministries, and in the discerning and developing of spiritual gifts within the church.
GOAL: The candidate should understand the biblical principles of administration and leadership, such as planning and evaluation, strategy and oversight, the stewardship of time, the delegation of authority/responsibility and the harmonious employment of the spiritual gifts of the members of Christ's body (Ephesians 4:11-16).
This Recommended Curriculum may be amended by a majority vote of a general assembly.