Who We Are

There exists a wide gulf between Sunday School and Seminary. Sunday School is enriching. Seminary is vital for the health of the Church. But Sunday School can be scatter-shot and Seminary is too expensive for an average layperson.

Warfield Summer Institute exists to stand in this gap. We desire to equip Christians in a structured and lively learning environment for deeper knowledge of God’s Word, greater love of Jesus our Savior, and steadier commitment to serve Christ’s kingdom.

Our mission is to build up the body of Christ in its knowledge of the faith and love for the Savior (Eph. 4:12-13) by equipping Christians to rightly handle God’s Word for themselves, the Church, and their neighbors.

Our vision sees men and women increasing in their knowledge of the inspired Word of God to grow in an “enlargement of heart, elevation of spirit, and adoring delight in the Maker and Savior” (B.B. Warfield, The Religious Life of Theological Students) for kingdom service, mission, and further learning.

Our approach provides learners with a structured program of study in a classroom environment. Our program will move learners through three stages: Foundation, Construction, and Expression. Courses in the Foundation stage will teach the grammar of the discipline. Courses in the Construction stage will connect the dots and dive a little deeper. Courses in the final stage, Expression, will provide ways to apply learning in the context of the Church.

...building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ...
— Ephesians 4:12-13

Why Warfield?

We are named for Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield (1851-1921) the “lion of Princeton.” B.B. Warfield, as a Professor at Princeton Theological Seminary from 1887 to 1921, fought diligently for the inspiration and authority of the Bible when so many adapted their belief to the growing modernism of the day.

A great theologian of “Old Princeton,” his theology began in thorough exegesis of the scriptures and was applied to the concerns of the Church. His lively confessional theology was also illustrated in his care for students, teaching his classes to the very last day of his life, and his care for his invalid wife, caring for her faithfully to the last day of her life.

B.B. Warfield is just a man, but a wonderful example to us of one who knew the faith, loved the Savior, and served the Kingdom. Learn more about B.B. Warfield here.

Faculty and Staff

  • John Canavan

    EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND INSTRUCTOR IN THEOLOGY

    Rev. Canavan serves full-time as the Chair of the Bible Department at Westminster School at Oak Mountain in Birmingham, AL. He is ordained as a Teacher of the Word in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. John has served churches and schools in Pennsylvania, Missouri, Virginia, and Alabama. He was raised at the historic Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia where he also led college ministry. John holds a B.A. in English Literature from Temple University and a M.Div. from Covenant Theological Seminary. He is currently working on his Th.M. at Covenant on Paul’s Pastoral Work Ethic in the Corinthian Correspondence. John and his wife Sharon have two precocious daughters, Emma and Sophie. They attend Third PCA in downtown Birmingham.

  • Luke Gossett

    INSTRUCTOR IN BIBLICAL STUDIES

    Rev. Gossett is native to Birmingham and presently serves as Church Planter of Ascension Presbyterian Church (OPC). He is ordained in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and formerly served as Associate Pastor at Christ Reformed (URCNA) in Washington, D.C. Luke earned a B.A. from Southeastern Bible College in Birmingham, an M.A. from Westminster Seminary California, an M.A. in Semitic Languages from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C, and he is currently working on a Ph.D. in Semitic Languages from Catholic University. He and his wife Jennifer have three wonderful children.

  • David Grubbs

    INSTRUCTOR IN GREAT BOOKS

    Dr. Grubbs serves full-time as a Humanities and Rhetoric Teacher at Westminster School at Oak Mountain in Birmingham, AL. Previously, David taught humanities in Christian college settings in Kansas and Texas. David earned a B.A. in Biblical Studies and Humanities at Southeastern Bible College, an M.A. in English Literature from University of Alabama at Birmingham, and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Georgia. David’s Ph.D. dissertation observed Patristic Theology in Beowulf. David is married with four children and attends The Church at Brook Hills.

Board of Directors

  • Chad Walker, President

    Rev. Walker is Associate Pastor of Adult Ministries at Oak Mountain Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Birmingham, AL. Before seminary, Chad worked in finance and then ministry with Campus Outreach in Alabama, also serving as a Ruling Elder in his local PCA congregation. Chad then attended Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis earning his M.Div. in 2017. After seminary, Chad moved back to Alabama to work at Oak Mountain Presbyterian Church. Chad and his wife Emily have been married for almost two decades and have four boys, Keller, Owen, Lawson, and Shepp.

  • Chris Pursell, Vice-President and Treasurer

    Dr. Pursell is Professor and Chair of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Samford University in Birmingham, AL. Before joining Samford’s faculty, Chris was a chemistry professor at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, for 26 years. He is the author or co-author of numerous articles in his field. He has a B.S. from California State University-Sacramento and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Chris has been married to Kathy for nearly four decades. They have three married children and seven grandkids. Chris also serves as a Ruling Elder at Third (PCA) in downtown Birmingham.

  • David Smith, Secretary

    Rev. Dr. Smith is Pastor of Covenant Fellowship ARP Church and Dean of the Upper School at Bradford Academy in the Greensboro, NC area. He has pastored churches and taught High School in various states, and served on numerous presbytery and denominational committees. He is currently an adjunct professor at Erskine Seminary. He completed his M.Div. at Covenant Theological Seminary and his Ph.D. in historical theology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. His doctoral dissertation on B. B. Warfield was published in the Evangelical Theological Society’s Monograph Series and he is co-author of Old School, New Clothes: The Cultural Blindness of Christian Education. He has been married to his wife, Tracy, for nearly three decades and they are the parents of three young adults, Gresham, Isaac, and Katherine.

 FAQs