Westminster Seminary California 
The information on this page was last updated 2/29/2024. If you see errors or omissions, please email: [email protected]
Summary
Westminster Seminary California (WSC) is a Christian institution in the Reformed and Presbyterian tradition seeking to glorify God through graduate theological study.
Contact information
Mailing address:
Westminster Seminary California
1725 Bear Valley Pkwy
Escondido, CA 92027
Website: wscal.edu
Phone: 888-480-8474
Email: [email protected]
Organization details
EIN: 953457731
CEO/President: Joel Eunil Kim
Chairman: Ronald W. Prins
Board size: 18
Founder: Robert B. Strimple and Robert G. den Dulk
Ruling year: 1980
Tax deductible: Yes
Fiscal year end: 06/30
Member of ECFA: Yes
Member of ECFA since: 1992
Purpose
While its primary focus is to educate and prepare men for ordained pastoral ministry, especially in Presbyterian and Reformed denominations, WSC also provides theological education to women and men who wish to serve the broader Christian community and society at large so that the whole body of Christ may be enriched through the diverse gifts bestowed by God's Spirit.
Because zeal without knowledge or knowledge without zeal can only injure the church, WSC seeks to develop in its students a balanced combination of scholarship and Christ-like piety, where proper cultivation of the mind increases the devotion of the heart. Westminster Seminary California seeks to establish a pastoral and scholarly community that ultimately seeks to glorify Christ, promote His Gospel, and serve His Church.
Mission statement
Westminster Seminary California (WSC) exists to glorify Christ, teach his Gospel, and serve his Church through graduate theological study. WSC is a Christian institution that offers instruction in biblical, theological, and ministerial disciplines to both men and women in order to help them develop intellectually and spiritually as leaders.
Statement of faith
Doctrinal Standards:
Because theological unity is of critical importance in accomplishing the mission of WSC, all WSC faculty and Trustees must agree in signature to upholding the following Reformed confessions and catechisms as faithful summaries of Scripture before they are installed as professors and members of the Board:
Westminster Confession and Catechisms
Westminster Confession of Faith (1647)
Westminster Larger Catechism (1647)
Westminster Shorter Catechism (1647)
Belgic Confession (1561)
Heidelberg Catechism (1563)
Canons of Dort (1619)
The WSC faculty have authored two statements that express their unity in their understanding of important doctrines and theological issues: Faculty Statement on Justification and A Testimony to Our Time.
Donor confidence score
Transparency grade
C
To understand our transparency grade, click here.
Financial efficiency ratings
Sector: Colleges/Universities
| Category | Rating | Overall rank | Sector rank |
| Overall efficiency rating | | 916 of 1106 | 114 of 129 |
| Fund acquisition rating | | 564 of 1107 | 63 of 129 |
| Resource allocation rating | | 699 of 1107 | 86 of 129 |
| Asset utilization rating | | 1065 of 1106 | 128 of 129 |
Financial ratios
| Funding ratios | Sector median | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2016 |
Return on fundraising efforts Return on fundraising efforts = Fundraising expense / Total contributions | 10% | 9% | 9% | 5% | 10% |
Fundraising cost ratio Fundraising cost ratio = Fundraising expense / Total revenue | 2% | 5% | 5% | 4% | 7% |
Contributions reliance Contributions reliance = Total contributions / Total revenue | 22% | 63% | 59% | 81% | 73% |
Fundraising expense ratio Fundraising expense ratio = Fundraising expense / Total expenses | 2% | 8% | 6% | 7% | 10% |
Other revenue reliance Other revenue reliance = Total other revenue / Total revenue | 78% | 37% | 41% | 19% | 27% |
| Operating ratios | Sector median | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2016 |
Program expense ratio Program expense ratio = Program services / Total expenses | 84% | 80% | 84% | 79% | 74% |
Spending ratio Spending ratio = Total expenses / Total revenue | 96% | 69% | 89% | 50% | 70% |
Program output ratio Program output ratio = Program services / Total revenue | 78% | 55% | 74% | 39% | 52% |
Savings ratio Savings ratio = Surplus (deficit) / Total revenue | 4% | 31% | 11% | 50% | 30% |
Reserve accumulation rate Reserve accumulation rate = Surplus (deficit) / Net assets | 5% | 10% | 3% | 22% | 16% |
General and admin ratio General and admin ratio = Management and general expense / Total expenses | 13% | 12% | 10% | 14% | 16% |
| Investing ratios | Sector median | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2016 |
Total asset turnover Total asset turnover = Total expenses / Total assets | 0.51 | 0.19 | 0.20 | 0.16 | 0.35 |
Degree of long-term investment Degree of long-term investment = Total assets / Total current assets | 2.64 | 8.79 | 16.26 | 18.35 | 1.77 |
Current asset turnover Current asset turnover = Total expenses / Total current assets | 1.40 | 1.66 | 3.29 | 2.92 | 0.63 |
| Liquidity ratios | Sector median | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2016 |
Current ratio Current ratio = Total current assets / Total current liabilities | 8.60 | 11.24 | 6.26 | 0.46 | 27.52 |
Current liabilities ratio Current liabilities ratio = Total current liabilities / Total current assets | 0.12 | 0.09 | 0.16 | 2.18 | 0.04 |
Liquid reserve level Liquid reserve level = (Total current assets - Total current liabilities) / (Total expenses / 12) | 7.34 | 6.60 | 3.06 | -4.82 | 18.39 |
| Solvency ratios | Sector median | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2016 |
Liabilities ratio Liabilities ratio = Total liabilities / Total assets | 24% | 16% | 24% | 26% | 6% |
Debt ratio Debt ratio = Debt / Total assets | 11% | 15% | 23% | 14% | 4% |
Reserve coverage ratio Reserve coverage ratio = Net assets / Total expenses | 151% | 444% | 377% | 465% | 266% |
Financials
| Balance sheet | ||||
| Assets | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2016 |
| Cash | $2,432,517 | $1,366,598 | $1,288,303 | $1,856,569 |
| Receivables, inventories, prepaids | $217,050 | $268,865 | $254,825 | $148,791 |
| Short-term investments | $1,056,247 | $334,911 | $147,633 | $5,561,732 |
| Other current assets | $0 | $0 | $50,000 | $0 |
| Total current assets | $3,705,814 | $1,970,374 | $1,740,761 | $7,567,092 |
| Long-term investments | $3,636,987 | $4,226,606 | $3,748,650 | $0 |
| Fixed assets | $25,217,006 | $25,833,976 | $26,445,682 | $5,842,470 |
| Other long-term assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $17,900 |
| Total long-term assets | $28,853,993 | $30,060,582 | $30,194,332 | $5,860,370 |
| Total assets | $32,559,807 | $32,030,956 | $31,935,093 | $13,427,462 |
| Liabilities | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2016 |
| Payables and accrued expenses | $309,853 | $300,246 | $266,837 | $166,969 |
| Other current liabilities | $19,983 | $14,420 | $3,519,761 | $107,964 |
| Total current liabilities | $329,836 | $314,666 | $3,786,598 | $274,933 |
| Debt | $4,939,011 | $7,238,084 | $4,480,506 | $498,972 |
| Due to (from) affiliates | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Other long-term liabilities | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total long-term liabilities | $4,939,011 | $7,238,084 | $4,480,506 | $498,972 |
| Total liabilities | $5,268,847 | $7,552,750 | $8,267,104 | $773,905 |
| Net assets | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2016 |
| Without donor restrictions | $21,767,189 | $19,266,354 | $19,919,339 | $6,691,061 |
| With donor restrictions | $5,523,771 | $5,211,852 | $3,748,650 | $5,962,493 |
| Net assets | $27,290,960 | $24,478,206 | $23,667,989 | $12,653,557 |
| Revenues and expenses | ||||
| Revenue | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2016 |
| Total contributions | $5,636,515 | $4,328,914 | $8,275,087 | $4,948,684 |
| Program service revenue | $1,936,305 | $1,925,633 | $1,451,767 | $1,654,217 |
| Membership dues | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Investment income | $352,543 | $190,826 | $188,926 | $6,625 |
| Other revenue | $1,029,914 | $852,152 | $291,845 | $181,828 |
| Total other revenue | $3,318,762 | $2,968,611 | $1,932,538 | $1,842,670 |
| Total revenue | $8,955,277 | $7,297,525 | $10,207,625 | $6,791,354 |
| Expenses | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2016 |
| Program services | $4,925,862 | $5,423,966 | $4,007,300 | $3,526,429 |
| Management and general | $733,119 | $677,841 | $708,115 | $759,374 |
| Fundraising | $483,542 | $385,501 | $373,096 | $473,563 |
| Total expenses | $6,142,523 | $6,487,308 | $5,088,511 | $4,759,366 |
| Change in net assets | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2016 |
| Surplus (deficit) | $2,812,754 | $810,217 | $5,119,114 | $2,031,988 |
| Other changes in net assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total change in net assets | $2,812,754 | $810,217 | $5,119,114 | $2,031,988 |
Compensation
Compensation data for this ministry has not been collected.
Response from ministry
No response has been provided by this ministry.
The information below was provided to MinistryWatch by the ministry itself. It was last updated 2/29/2024. To update the information below, please email: [email protected]
History
Westminster Seminary California welcomed its first students in the fall of 1980. From the beginning, WSC committed itself to providing the finest in theological education with a particular focus on preparing men for pastoral ministry. The inerrancy of the Scriptures, the Gospel of Christ, the importance of the church and preaching, and the Reformed confessions have all guided the life and teaching of the Seminary.
From its inception WSC has attracted students from all over the United States and from many foreign countries. At the time of its founding, there was no Reformed seminary in the western part of the United States. WSC established a campus with an extensive library, a comprehensive curriculum, and a full faculty of teachers who were both experienced pastors and experts in their academic disciplines.
WSC traces its commitment to Reformed theological education back to the Reformation and especially to John Calvin's educational approach in his Genevan Academy. In America that educational heritage was maintained at Princeton Theological Seminary in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Old Princeton was devoted to the inerrancy of the Bible, outstanding scholarship, fine academic education, and service to the church in its preaching and missionary work. When in 1929 Princeton Seminary was reorganized to tolerate theological liberalism, several faculty members, led by the distinguished scholar J. Gresham Machen, left Princeton to found Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The new seminary preserved the heritage of old Princeton and passed it on to WSC. Westminster Seminary California was initially a branch campus of the Philadelphia school until 1982 when it became fully independent.
Dr. Robert B. Strimple and Mr. Robert G. den Dulk shared the administrative responsibilities for founding the Seminary, moving to California in 1979. Dr. Strimple became the first president of WSC in 1982, overseeing the movement of the Seminary from its temporary home in San Marcos to its beautiful, permanent campus in southeastern Escondido. In 1988, Dr. Strimple returned to full-time teaching and scholarship, while Mr. den Dulk became president, increasing the size and financial strength of the school. Dr. W. Robert Godfrey, who had joined the faculty in 1981 as professor of church history, became the third president of WSC in 1993. As the seminary's longest serving president at 24 years, Dr. Godfrey has guided the faculty and staff through decades of substantial growth, while preserving WSC's unswerving fidelity to Scripture as summarized in the Reformed confessions. In May of 2017, Rev. Joel Eunil Kim was appointed as the fourth president of Westminster Seminary California (WSC), beginning August 1, 2017.