EPMC students - 2006

Ecclesiastical Program for Ministerial Candidacy

The Ecclesiastical Program for Ministerial Candidacy (EPMC) is designed for students who aspire to be ministers of the Word in the Christian Reformed Church and who are studying at a seminary other than Calvin Theological Seminary. All students enrolled at other seminaries and intending to seek candidacy in the CRCNA are required to meet the overall standards for candidacy that have been officially established by the Synod of the CRCNA for those who follow the regular course of study at Calvin Theological Seminary. [more...]

This program gives students an orientation to the theology, history, and ministry of the Christian Reformed Church, and walks with students on the final leg of the ministry formation journey to ministerial candidacy in the Christian Reformed Church.

Calvin Theological Seminary (CTS) is pleased to offer this program on behalf of synod and the Candidacy Committee (CC), a synodical standing committee that processes all candidacy recommendations to synod. This ecclesiastical program applies to students who are following the route to ministry outlined in Article 6 of the Church Order of the Christian Reformed Church. (Synod has adopted a Modified EPMC for persons aspiring to ministry of the Word in the CRC through the routes to ministry outlined in Article 7 (persons with exceptional gifts) or 8 (pastors coming from other denominations). Information on the Modified EPMC can be found at http://www.calvinseminary.edu/degrees/epmc/modified.php.

It is important for prospective EPMC students to acquaint themselves with program requirements and apply to CTS as early as possible in their M. Div. program, preferably after their first year. After being admitted to the program, students are asked to submit an unofficial transcript to Calvin Seminary once a year in the summer. This will allow us to monitor completion of admission requirements, provide a clearer idea of progress in Greek and Hebrew language studies; keep us informed of an expected date of enrollment and give us a foundation on which to encourage a student's candidacy application. At the end of a student's program, we require a final official transcript with the MDiv degree posted.

The Candidacy Committee has set a deadline of June 1 for enrollment in the EPMC fall semester at Calvin Seminary.


If you have any questions about the EPMC program, review the program requirements or contact Greg Janke, Director of Enrollment at (616) 957-7035.