China Reformed Theological Seminary
Has God called you to partnership with us in theological education?
“Cor meum tibi offero Domine prompte et sincere”–I offer you my heart, Lord, promptly and sincerely.
History
In September of 1990 Dr. Whan Joon Liu, recognizing the need for a Chinese Reformed Seminary, with the help of a group of Taiwan pastors, established China Reformed Theological Seminary in Taipei. The Board elected Rev. Liu as the first president. There were seven students meeting for classes three nights a week. Under the leadership of the second president, Dr. Peter Tang, we opened classes moved to our present location (the former Christian Reformed Church Mission building). After Dr. Tang retired in 1998, the school was reorganized. We began a graduate program and day classes. Dr. Andrew McCafferty and Dr. Tim Yates became our first full time faculty. Dr. McCafferty served as the Academic Dean from 1998-2008. From 2008 until now, Dr. Yates has served as the Academic Dean and Dr. Luke Lu as the Acting President.
In 2022, we purchased a library building. Our original building houses our classrooms and administrative offices. The library building houses our library, faculty offices, and our student center. Our library began with 500 books in 1991, and we now have more than 30,000.
Students
Over the last thirty years we have steadily grown. We now have 160 degree students. We offer about 35 classes a year with an average attendance of 30 students in a class. Over the years we have also drawn more and more overseas Chinese students. In the early years, many of these came from Malaysia and Hong Kong. In 2012 the Taiwan government began granting us visas for students from China; and as a result, today we have 80 students from the mainland. Because of the Covid pandemic, most of these are now online students, but we expect that many will soon be able once again to come to Taiwan to study. We also have a sister Seminary in China.
Finally, since 2019, with the approval of the American Theological Society, we are partnering with PRTS (Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in the US) to offer the PRTS Th.M. degree on our campus.
Our Degrees
We offer our own Th.M. in Historical Reformed Studies, the Master of Divinity, M.A. degrees in Old Testament, New Testament, Biblical Counseling, and Christian Studies, and a B.A. degree in Christian Studies. Most of these degrees are also offered online. With the exception of the Th.M. degree, all of our programs are accredited by the Asia Theological Association, and we are in the process of applying for Th.M. accreditation. The language of all these programs is Mandarin Chinese.
Administration
At CRTS, in accordance with our Presbyterian tradition, committees of Reformed Pastors and Elders make all important decisions. We have three main committees. The Board of directors has 13 members. It is comprised of representatives from our six major supporting groups: the Taiwan Reformed Presbyterian Church Presbytery, the Taiwan Reformed Theology Association (RTA), our Alumni, the Presbyterian Church in America, Friends of CRTS, and Overseas Chinese Reformed pastors. The faculty, under the leadership of the Dean, is responsible for all academic decisions. Five local Reformed Pastors form our administrative committee. They make our financial and administrative staff decisions.
Our Faculty
Rev. Dr. Luke Lu, Acting President, Ph.D. from Westminster Seminary, Theology and Church History
Rev. Dr. Timothy Yates, Academic Dean & Deans of Biblical Counseling, Ph.D. from North-West University, M.Div. and D.Min. from Westminster Seminary
Rev. Dr. Andrew McCafferty, Vice President, Ph.D. from University of Pittsburgh, M.Div. Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
Rev. Dr. Moses Wang, teacher of Old Testament, Ph.D. from Westminster Seminary
Rev. Morgan Chee, teacher of Theology and Apologetics, Ph.D. candidate of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Th.M. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Rev. Dr. Toon H. Yeo (2 courses/yr), Practical Theology, Th.M. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, D.Min. and M.Div. from Reformed Theological Seminary
Rev. Dr. David J.H. Lee (2 courses/yr), D.Min. from Global Reformed Seminary and M.Div, United Hetong Seminary
Rev. Dr. James B.S. Huang (2 courses/yr), D.Min. from Evangelia University, Th.M from China Evangelical Seminary
Rev. Daniel E.S. Tsai (2 courses/yr), D.Min. candidate and M.Div. from China Evangelical Seminary
Rev. Henry Shi (2 courses/yr), Th.M. and M.Div. from China Evangelical Seminary
Finances
Our yearly budget is about USD $370,000 a year. With this, we pay the salaries of four full-time faculty members (including three missionaries each of whom receives half of a Taiwan salary), hourly stipends for our five part-time faculty members, the salary of four fulltime staff members, and all other expenses! About 50% of our income comes from tuition, 40% from local donations, and 15% from overseas.
The new library building puts us under some financial pressure. We purchased the library for USD $2.3 million, and we have paid $1.2 million. In 2023, we have a mortgage payment of USD $7,000 / month on the remaining USD $1.1 million. We hope to pay the entire mortgage in the next three years.
A Reformed Campus
The primary future need is the salary of new faculty members. We hope to hire three new faculty in the next five years.
Besides the Seminary, we have four other Reformed organizations on our campus. The Reformation Translation Fellowship (Taiwan) is the oldest and largest publisher of Reformed Books in Chinese. We have about 200 books in print, and almost all of them are translations of well-known Reformed Authors. Taiwan Reformed TV is the most well-known Reformed video ministry. We have over 20,000 followers on YouTube. In 2002, we started the Family Counseling Ministry. It is one of only a few Chinese Biblical Counseling ministries. And one of our oldest and largest Reformed Churches in Taiwan, the Hong En Tang, shares our main building with us.
Partnership
By the grace of God, CRTS has become an important Seminary for the Chinese Church and you can help. Please pray for us. If you speak Chinese, you can take one of our classes. You can tell your pastor about us; or if you are the pastor, we would be glad to visit your church. You are also welcomed to join the Reformed Theological Association (our Taiwan non-profit organization that supports CRTS, as well as the Family Counseling Center, the Reformation Translation Fellowship, and Taiwan Reformed TV).
If you would like to donate, you can donate directly to us in Taiwan; through our US non-profit–Friends of CRTS, or online.
Giving
Taiwan Donation information
International wire –
Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank Xisong Branch Taiwan
Swift Code: TPBKTWTP 530
Address NO.75-1 , SEC4, NANJING E. RD, SONGSHAN DIST., Taipei, Taiwan
Account number: 530102815180
Account Name: Reformed Theological Mission Corporation
Post Office –
Our Postal deposit number: 50145002
Our Postal Name：財團法人改革宗神學宣教會
Taiwan Bank Transfer (or ATM) –
Bank name: Taipei Fubon Xisong Branch (台北富邦西松分行)
Account number: 530102815180
Credit Card Donations – Please contact CRTS for a credit card authorization form.
Our PayPal account – crts.paypal@gmail.com
US Donations (with tax-deducible receipt)
Friends of CRTS, US
Please email Julie McDougal at juliemcd01@yahoo.com
If you do donate, please call or email CRTS to ensure that we received your payment and to tell us the type of receipt you need and where to send it.
By contributing to our US non-pro-fit, Friends of CRTS
- Please contact Julie McDougall
- Email：juliemcd01@yahoo.com
- Address：44857 Crestview Road Columbiana, OH 44408
- Website：www.friendsofcrts.org
Contact us
1F., No. 30, Ln. 75, Sec. 4, Nanjing E. Rd., Songshan Dist., Taipei City, Taiwan (R.O.C.) | +886-2-27181110 | CRTS@crts.edu
Last modified: 2023 年 1 月 3 日
