Vision

Great Commission Theological Seminaryof America is dedicated to shaping the hearts, equipping the minds, and building the practical and academic skills of Spirit-filled leaders so they can effectively carry out the Great Commission through ministry.

We are achieving this mission by utilizing godly teachers and Christian leaders who encourage and motivate students through instruction and interaction, with concentration on the Bible (God’s Word), theology (God’s ways), and ministry (God’s work) in an environment that is inviting and open to the present-day dynamics of the Holy Spirit. Classroom instruction is enhanced by practical experience in the areas of the student’s gifting.

Integrated with GCTSA’s core values, mission, methods, and vision, these are commitments we have made to our institution and to our students. In light of the priorities below, GCTSA is devoted to shaping students in the following areas:

• God the Father: We want our students to be driven to pursue a deep, personal knowledge of God the Father, firmly grounded in His grace and love.
• Jesus Christ: We want our students to intentionally develop a holy, sanctified passion for Jesus Christ the Son, submitting fully and willingly to His Lordship in every area of life.
• The Holy Spirit: We want our students to pursue deeper fellowship and communion with the Holy Spirit, learning to recognize His leading, obey His voice, and depend on His power for victorious living and fruitful ministry.
• Humility: We want our students to see authentic humility modeled and reinforced by faculty and staff, and to grow into a ministry posture that exalts the Lord rather than the servant.
• Intercession: We want our students to embrace prayer and intercession as a foundational priority that strengthens and undergirds every other form of ministry.
• Learning Skills: We want our students to gain essential biblical knowledge and develop enduring learning skills that sustain a lifelong commitment to searching the Scriptures and applying biblical truth to their own lives and to others.
• The Church: We want our students to grow in love for and loyalty to the Body of Christ, especially by deepening commitment to their local church, recognizing their role in God’s work today.
• Godly Witness: We want our students to be filled with the Spirit’s power, to communicate God’s Word with cultural awareness and clarity, and to develop practical skills for effective witness—meeting people’s spiritual needs across every sphere of life.
• Theology & Ethics: We want our students to understand and practice sound doctrine and godly ethical standards, building a foundation for faithful living and effective service.
• Servant-Leaders: We want our students to become humble servants who can provide clear leadership in uncertain and morally confused times. True servant-leaders will demonstrate integrity, character, and faithfulness at home, at work, and in the marketplace, and will not be captured by the world’s false definitions of success.

GCTSA traces its historical beginnings to the Pentecostal movement. Consequently, the Seminary’s theological atmosphere reflects a deep and meaningful Pentecostal heritage. Because Pentecostalism emerged from a Wesleyan, Arminian, and holiness stream, GCTSA’s instruction regarding salvation is generally shaped by Wesleyan and Arminian convictions.

While GCTSA values and expresses this heritage through the formation and discipleship life of the school, faculty members are granted appropriate academic freedom in developing their own perspectives. At the same time, each faculty member understands the Seminary’s doctrinal commitments and agrees to honor them with respect and pastoral sensitivity in classroom teaching and in all interactions with students within the seminary community.

To support GCTSA’s general statement of faith and its core values, the following paragraphs clarify our terminology and express our conviction concerning “Spirit-filled” Christianity. We believe “Spirit-filled” Christianity should be the normal Christian life—something every believer is biblically encouraged to pursue—marked by a living, spiritual, and life-giving relationship with the Lord.

The word “Pentecostal” can carry different meanings and can provoke different reactions among both Christians and non-Christians. Though the points below are not intended to be exhaustive, when GCTSA uses the term “Pentecostal,” we mean that our ministry affirms and embraces the following:

• The baptism in the Holy Spirit is distinct from regeneration, bringing supernatural empowerment and spiritual gifts, with speaking in tongues understood as the normative initial physical evidence.
• Believers are commanded to continue being filled with the Holy Spirit repeatedly, again and again.
• All gifts of the Holy Spirit—and the accompanying signs and wonders—remain for present-day ministry in and through the Body of Christ, wherever and whenever needs arise.
• A genuine spiritual hunger and thirst should be evident, along with intentional openness to the Spirit’s work and movement in the believer’s life and ministry, including the corporate expression of the gathered church.
• “Pentecostal” identity is more than a worship style; it is designed to be an everyday way of life that permeates the Spirit-filled believer’s conduct in every area and at all times.
• The Holy Spirit is truly holy, and as believers walk in His fullness, they mature in purity, sanctification, and holiness—showing increasing evidence of the Spirit’s fruit.
• As a community pursuing the Spirit-filled life, GCTSA desires the Spirit’s presence and power to permeate faculty, staff, students, the classroom environment, and chapel gatherings.
• Genuine fullness of the Holy Spirit will also be seen in deeper submission to the Lord—greater self-control under His rule and an increased willingness to obey His will.

Anyone who studies the Word of God sincerely—along with the history of the Spirit’s outpourings—will notice meaningful similarities across seasons of revival and renewal. Although there is always a risk that human weakness can misdirect or distort a true move of God, we must remain careful and spiritually discerning. We should not reject what is authentic simply because of perceived or real imperfections, misunderstandings, or extremes that may accompany it.

GCTSA seeks to pursue the Lord wholeheartedly and to welcome His genuine work in our time—embracing “new wine” in “new wineskins”—while refusing to be distracted by human imbalance, exaggerated emphases, or practices that contradict Scripture.

The statement that follows expresses what GCTSA leadership believes is a biblically grounded and balanced approach to the ministry and moving of the Holy Spirit as we continue pressing forward into all that God has for us.

Great Commission Theological Seminary of America exists to cultivate hearts…