Seminario Evangelico de Puerto Rico (Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico)

A theological school in covenant with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

The Seminario Evangelico de Puerto Rico's primary purpose is the training of pastoral and lay leaders for service in the ministry and the mission of God's people in Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the United States of America. As a center for theological education, it has an inherent relationship of mutual responsibility with the cooperating churches. This relationship retains a margin of autonomy essential to creative theological work, faithfulness to biblical revelation, and a relevance to the contemporary world.

History and Location

Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico (ESPR), founded in 1919, was formed by the union of the Puerto Rican Theological Seminary (Presbyterian) in Mayaquez, the Grace Conway Institute (Baptist) in Rio Piedras, the Robinson Institute (Methodist) in Hatillo, and the Disciples of Christ Institute (Christian Church) in Bayamon. In 1930 the seminary acquired the three acres of land where classroom and administration buildings, a library, and faculty and student housing now stand in the bustling educational and trade center of San Juan.

Most of the pastoral leadership of Evangelical Seminary's founding churches received their theological education at ESPR. Under their leadership, Puerto Rican Protestantism has become an important element of the island's life. In addition, a significant number of ESPR graduates have served in Christian ministry in Cuba, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, El Salvador, Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Panama, Brazil, and Spain.

Many individuals return to ESPR year after year because they wish to prepare themselves adequately for the vocation to which they have been called. Thousands of men and women committed to Jesus Christ and the church have come from Puerto Rico and other parts of the world to the seminary to begin a pilgrimage that will permanently change the direction of their lives, as well as the lives of countless others. They come to the seminary because they become aware of a great truth: a transforming ministry cannot be improvised.

What programs does ESPR offer?

In August of 1980, in addition to the Master of Divinity degree for the education of pastoral leaders, the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico began offering the Masters of Arts in Religion degree. The seminary seeks to equip and enable students to:

1. think and live theologically;
2. visualize, understand, and internalize the broadness and complexity of the Christian tradition, highlighting the normative and definitive character of God's revelation in Jesus Christ;
3. participate creatively in doing Reformed theology, with special attention to the needs of Puerto Rican reality and the wider Hispanic world; and
4. skillfully utilize the practical skills needed to fulfill the demands of Christian ministry.