Dear Pastors, Donors and Prayer Partners,
 
A friend once said to me, “Living things grow. Healthy things grow.” These words come to mind as I reflect on ITS in 2017. By God’s kind providence we have seen growth in every way imaginable this past year. We now have over 40 students from more than 30 churches. We have offered more classes and recruited more high-caliber professors than ever before. Our library outgrew its former space. We ran our first internships at local churches. We hired more employees and added more board members. And, as expected, our budget also grew. But there are a lot of unquantifiable stories that I’m thrilled to narrate here as well.

This past year I have been struck by the quality of not only our professors, but also our students. We have targeted professors who are specialists in their teaching discipline. While it has been logistically very difficult to bring in professors, the students have been the beneficiaries of our extra effort and commitment. Yet equal to the rigor of the education has been the diligence, intellectual curiosity, maturity, and commitment of our students. Many are already fit for ministry in a lot of ways, and bringing them together has only made them sharper. 

Dr. G. K. Beale of Westminster Theological Seminary was a guest lecturer in a theology class this past summer.

From its inception, ITS has always had the vision of working closely with local churches and other parachurch ministries for the practical side of this sort of education. We want out students to have real-world hands-on experiences under the tutelage of seasoned practitioners. We have, therefore, incorporated several internships into our curriculum, and we were thrilled to have seen the first of these begin in 2017. In all, five churches participated in these internships, and three more are already slated in this new year. This is a crucial component of our education and we are encouraged to see the fruit of them already.

One of our internships was run in concert with a Simeon Trust workshop. (Not all are ITS students, but ours are in there!)

In addition to the formal education, we also offered two public symposia through which we hoped to reach a broader audience. During the spring semester, Dr. Stephen Wellum of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary spoke and fielded questions on the unity of the Old and New Testaments as structured by covenants. It was riveting to reflect with him over the relationship between Adam, Israel, Jesus and the church, among other topics. In the fall Dr. Dieudonné Tamfu of Bethlehem College and Seminary spoke on the Christological nature of the Psalms and their integral place in the canon. I had been studying the Psalms since January and have to say that I learned more in the first hour of Dr. Tamfu’s lectures than I had all year!

Dr. Wellum at Castleview and Dr. Tamfu at Geist Community

These symposia were so well received that we intend to run them semiannually going forward. The next one will be this March 4^th at 5:30pm at Redeemer Presbyterian Church. Dr. Bryan Chapell, former president of Covenant Theological Seminary, will speak on the ongoing role of grace in our Christian walk. He will also speak the next day at the local Gospel Coalition chapter meeting. Information for these and an RSVP can be found on our website: www.indysem.org/news-events. 

Come hear Dr. Chapell speak on “Unlimted Grace” March 4^th and 5^th. Details on our website.

This past summer we also moved our library to the Kathryn Ulmer Library at Crossroads Bible College. The college has graciously given us space where our collection can grow. In the meantime, our students are able to use Crossroads’ holdings, and their students can use ours. As with local churches, we are encouraged to have this cooperation.

More resources and more room to grow!

This year we also received our 401(c)3 status, and we began our first fundraising campaign. Of course a ministry of this size requires many churches and individuals joining the team and contributing the funds necessary to execute our vision. If you have donated to ITS already, thank you. We are humbled by every gift and take our stewardship of God’s money seriously. If you are not a financial supporter yet, please prayerfully consider joining us in this way. We are calling this first campaign the “Founders Campaign” because giving at this time you will help us lay the foundation upon which we aspire to build for decades to come. All donations are tax-deductible and can be made on our website at www.indysem.org/donate.

We are grateful for all our “Founders.”

As we look ahead to 2018, our major objective is to start a new cohort this fall (the previous one started in the fall of 2016) which courses will accumulate into an M.Div. degree. This will mean approximately twice as many courses (with twice as much admin and overhead!). We are excited to see what students the Lord will bring our way. Please pass the word within your churches and personal circles. We love getting students who desire a full degree, but also anyone who is interested in single courses or to audit. Some classes worth highlighting that we will offer this fall, Lord willing, are: the Pentateuch; Greek; God & Scripture; and the History of Philosophy.

Dr. Watson taught our biggest class: Hebrew!

Growth in numbers is one thing; growth in strength is another. For those of us who understand the value and long-term effect of educational systems, this past year provided a lot of promising signs for the spread of the glory of God and the good of local churches. I am humbled and exited to be a part of it, and thankful to the board, our donors and professors who are all chipping in to take this work from dream to reality. God be praised that he is pleased to use us in this crucial endeavor! May Psalm 90:17 be our ongoing prayer: “Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!”