Greystone Fellowship & Learning Communities
theological formation as a whole-person and communal endeavor
At Greystone, we believe that true learning is a matter of the cultivation of the whole person, in the context of the Church as the field of God, over the course of one’s lifetime rather than a temporary endeavor. To this end, Greystone’s model is mentorship-based, in keeping with the old wisdom of the Christian tradition. Each Greystone student is apprenticed in theological and ministerial formation. This apprenticeship is directed by a qualified mentor at one of our Greystone Fellowship and Learning Communities.
Theology and Formation in Community
Theology and formation in community under the guidance of experienced and trained mentors is central to Greystone’s mission. We call these communities by three different terms in order to indicate the types of activities available throughout Greystone’s global network.
Greystone Fellowship Community (GFC)
A GFC is a site at which Greystone provides opportunities for (1) congregational education, (2) lay and clergy edification, or (3) training or support for key topics of current interest in various formats and with a measure of regularity. These may include local church leaders organizing study groups using Greystone resources, or Greystone personnel coming to the GFC to lead workshops, study days, study weekends, special lecture events, or micro courses. As a highly customizable arrangement, the frequency, subject matter, and level of instruction vary depending on the desire of the GFC and the role of Greystone in the church’s or organization's overall edification program. GFCs serve only to provide structured and varied forms of non-academic-program edification. A GFC ordinarily includes a congregation-wide Greystone Membership which provides unlimited access to the full range of Greystone educational resources and opportunities. For degree programs, students must connect with a Greystone Learning Community (GLC).
Greystone Learning Community (GLC)
A GLC includes all the features of a GFC and also serves as a location in which students may complete the Greystone academic programs. In keeping with Greystone’s degree program design, GLCs therefore serve as a context (during class sessions) for daily prayers, common mealtimes, and mentorship. Note that degree program students may still be required to take some classes at Greystone’s main campus in Coraopolis, PA (Pittsburgh area).
Greystone Learning Community Hub (GLCH)
A GLCH consists of multiple GFCs or GLCs, or a combination of the two, in a particular geographical region in which the participating GFCs or GLCs connect with one another to share fellowship and resources. The GLCH ordinarily has one central site at which most or all of the courses are taught for the GLCH. Students in a GLCH receive their mentorship either exclusively at their primary church location within the GLCH or through a combination of mentors who serve the GLCH as a whole.
Current Learning Communities
Connect with an existing Learning Community by clicking on their link and filling out the contact form on their page.
Join Us in Making Old Ways New
How does a theologian learn how to pursue theology for its own sake and for the good of the Church? What does it take for a man to be fit for pastoral ministry? The Church today has largely been displaced from the theological formation of her leaders who are now often expected to be formed in the classroom alone. But for the Church, from her early days through the confessionalization of the Reformation traditions, such outsourcing would be in tension with her commitments regarding how sanctification and theological formation are connected. At Greystone, we aim to recover the old with the best tools of the new. This looks like a theologically coherent and self-conscious program of embedded church-context mentorship that takes into account the whole person. This is the new old way of theological formation.
“Why should you turn from God when you turn to your books, or feel that you must from your books in order to turn to God? If learning and devotion are as antagonistic as that, then the intellectual life is in itself accursed and there can be no question of a religious life for a student, even of theology.”
- B.B. Warfield
Faithful Reformed churches of various confessional denominational identities may now apply to become Greystone Learning Communities and provide a Greystone “ecclesial ecosystem” for our programs. This means that students wanting rigorous academic training in a context of theological and personal cultivation no longer need to leave the church in which one’s congregational and pastoral roots have been planted. In addition, one can now move to a faithful Reformed church for such study, and thus avoid some of the unmanageable costs ordinarily involved in relocation to another, more expensive city. The Greystone Way sits alongside the traditional residential model of seminary to provide another option for students not able to pursue residential study and relocation—one which, in its own way, returns the core of theological formation to the context of the Church and not just the classroom. It is learning and devotion, study and prayer, within and for the Church. To ensure that students of Greystone receive whole-person formation, theological learning that is devotion, and hands-on service to the Church, every student is required to connect to a Greystone Learning Community where they will be mentored, trained, and guided in their work for the Lord Jesus Christ and his Church. This is how Greystone is humbly yet boldly working to make old ways new.
Becoming a GLC
Becoming a Greystone Learning Community is not for everyone, and Greystone does not approve all applicants. We are committed to a theological, historical, and—we believe—biblical model for the Church’s renewal and vitality that requires extensive “buy-in” from those we work with. Greystone Learning Communities are exclusive ecclesial or institutional ecosystems where the Greystone commitments to confessional Reformed catholicity, Reformed liturgy, courageous and self-sacrificial ministry, and the ordinary sources and paths of wisdom are illustrated and advanced. If your church or institution shares such commitments, we would like to speak with you about a potential partnership for the good of the Church.
Step One: (If you’re a student, ask your minister or church leader to complete the following steps.) If you’re a minister or church/organizational leader, click the “Take Step One to Become a GLC” button to fill out a brief, simple form.
Step Two: If requested to do so, complete a longer application form with information about the views, commitments, and practices of the proposed GLC and GLC Director.
Step Three: If requested to do so, complete an interview with Greystone.
Step Four: If approved as a GLC, the new GLC Director agrees to the following requirements in the training process:
Watch or listen to (audit) the entirety of the “Greystone Mentorship Workshop” lessons and read the “Greystone Learning Community Guide” at Greystone Connect within three months.
Complete the required reading list linked to the “Workshop” within six months.
Watch or listen to (audit) the entirety of the “Reformed Catholicity” and “Order of Reality” modules at Greystone Connect within one year.