Westminster Selects Fourth President, Dr. Peter Lillback
After nearly one year of searching, Westminster Theological Seminary board members found their fourth president on April 20, 2005.
Dr. Peter A. Lillback, will assume presidency on July 1, 2005 as President Samuel T. Logan, Jr. will take the role of chancellor and serve the Seminary full time, supporting the institution and its new president, according to seminary press release.
Westminster Theological Seminary's Board of Trustees voted, with the endorsement of the Faculty, to appoint Lillback, who will continue in his pastoral ministry at Proclamation Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
"The legacy of Westminster Theological Seminary is undisputable," said Lillback. "The Westminster Confession, the foundational creed of the Seminary, forms the basis of both the Presbyterian Church in America and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church as well as churches in many countries worldwide.
"Its faculty, both past and present, is world-renowned. Its excellent scholarship is thoroughly acknowledged, its publications read globally," Lillback continued. "By any standard, it is the crown jewel in Reformed theological instruction.
"My vision is that God might not only preserve this heritage but that through our faithful and cooperative commitment, he might graciously broaden its impact for the glory of our God and for the advancement of the Kingdom of Christ."
Lillback, who has also been appointed professor of historical theology, identified his goals for Christian ministry in five main points:
To glorify our Triune God in the educating of Christians (young and old) in a biblically consistent Christian world and life view through pastoral ministry and academic programs
To communicate the gospel in a relevant fashion to our generally non-Christian culture, so that the Kingdom of Christ might be built through faithful evangelism and discipleshi
To discipline myself to be productive in writing materials that will enhance the work of others in the work of Christian education, and that will display and defend a consistent philosophy of the Christian faith
To encourage faithful stewardship of Christian talents and wealth for the building up of biblically-based churches and academically-sound and biblically-based institutions of higher education
To be active in the expression and defense of Christian values in contemporary culture
After earning his Th.M. at Dallas Theological Seminary and Ph.D. at Westminster Theological Seminary, he began serving at Westminster in 1980. Two years later, his ministry career began with Bethany Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Oxford, Pennsylvania where he served from 1982-1988. Then he served as an associate pastor of Evangelical Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Newark, Delaware from 1988 until 1991, when he took up the ministry at Proclamation.
His published works include The Practical Calvinist: An Introduction to the Presbyterian and Reformed Heritage (editor) and The Binding of God: Calvin's Role in the Development of Covenant, as well as numerous booklets and articles. In addition, he serves as executive director of The Providence Forum and is speaker on the radio and Internet broadcast, Proclaiming the Word.
Dr. Lillback and his wife, Debra, reside in Wayne, Pennsylvania.
