Reformed Presbyterian Minutes of Synod 1997 - Rparchives.org

176 MINUTES OF THE 1997 SYNOD OF THE
Seminary. The proposal was forwarded to Westminster Seminary for con
of their Board of Trustees.
Business Affairs
We regret that 1995 was another year of deficit spending. Happily the deficit,
despite the expenses incurred with the changeover of administrations, was less than
in 1994, down from $78,000 to $36,000. To help with finances the Trustees
approved a 7% increase in tuition for the 1996-97 school year. In addition, we
also voted to charge full-time students next year for 12 hours, not 10. These
tuition changes bring us more in line with what we should be charging as a fully
accredited institution. Room and board charges are also being raised to reflect
more fully the actual cost of housing and feeding students.
President O'Neill has given attention to accounts receivable this year and
outstanding loans to Reformed Presbyterian students. Some of these are 15 years
old. President O'Neill has negotiated some accounts receivable, forgiven some,
and pushed for payment on some.
For the longer term the Seminary would like to begin planning to increase the
size ofits endowment. However, balancing the budget has immediate priority.
Nominating
After 12 years of faithful service, Pastor Jim Wright rotates off the Board. We
will miss this fellow laborer but know the Lord has other things for Jim to do. We
thank Jim for his service and look forward to his continued support of the work of
RPTS. Rich Johnston, a friend and colleague from Indianapolis, replaces Jim on the
Board. Rich's enthusiasm for the training of men will be an encouragement to us
all.
Development
Dr. Stewart has agreed to serve as our Director of Development. The title he is
using in approaching churches and corporationsis President-Emeritus and Direaor
of Development. He spends approximately one day each week working on this
assignment and is especially seeking to cultivate church giving, both inside and
outside the Reformed Presbyterian Church. President O'Neill has also been active
in representing the Seminary in many parts of the country, at RP churches and also
at colleges such as Geneva, Covenant and Grove City. He has twice been
interviewed on a Pittsburgh radio station about the Seminary.
One of the highlights of this year was the presence on campus in January of
three leaders from the Korean Revived Presbyterian Theological Seminary
(KRPTS).It was a pleasure to host them, and they went home with a very positive
impression of RPTS. Since KRPTSis an undergraduate institution, we hope to have
the opportunity to train a few of their students after they finishtheir studies in
Seoul. Dr. Stewart spent the last week of February in Korea speaking in two of
their churches and also speaking at their seminary.