Meet PTS

Antawn Coleman was born and raised in the city of Pittsburgh, where he and his wife are now raising their own three children. But Antawn hadn’t always planned to go to seminary. “After working in the financial services industry for 10 years, I felt the urging of God to go into full-time ministry,” he says. So he began pastoring the West End church that he and his wife grew up in—before starting seminary.

“It has been a tremendous blessing to pastor my home church for the past year and a half,” notes Antawn. “And to take this congregation to the places where God is calling us to go, now is a great time to enroll in seminary and hone my understanding and leadership skills as a pastor,” he adds. Currently in his first year of the M.Div. program at Pittsburgh Seminary, Antawn is “extremely eager” to see what God has in store for him here. “I want to build not only my knowledge base but also a long-term networking pool of friends and mentors for mutual support in our various ministries now and into the future.”

Antawn has already shown that he begins his academic program with a good knowledge base in Bible—he recently received the Seminary’s Andrew Reed Scholarship for earning the highest grade on the competitive English Bible entrance exam. His commitment to theological education also earned him PTS’s Titus Basfield Scholarship, established in 1994 and named after the first African-American student to graduate (1842) from a Presbyterian Seminary in the United States—PTS’s antecedent school, Canonsburg Seminary. “A portion of the anxiety about attending seminary has been lifted by the receipt of these awards, and I thank God for these gifts of generosity shown in my behalf,” says Antawn.

Antawn views his experience in the Seminary’s enrollment process and the receipt of his scholarship as concrete evidence of “the good reputation of PTS and its staff and resources.” Now, as a student, he’s also impressed with the theological education he’s receiving in the classroom. “The diversity of teaching approaches has helped expand my theological perspectives,” Antawn observes.

“As God continues to lead and guide me through these next few years, I will always be mindful of the acts of grace I’ve received at PTS. And I pray God blesses all those connected to the Seminary who have been such a blessing to me, my family, and our church.”

Antawn Coleman was born and raised in the city of Pittsburgh, where he and his wife are now raising their own three children. But Antawn hadn’t always planned to go to seminary. “After working in the financial services industry for 10 years, I felt the urging of God to go into full-time ministry,” he says. So he began pastoring the West End church that he and his wife grew up in—before starting seminary.

“It has been a tremendous blessing to pastor my home church for the past year and a half,” notes Antawn. “And to take this congregation to the places where God is calling us to go, now is a great time to enroll in seminary and hone my understanding and leadership skills as a pastor,” he adds. Currently in his first year of the M.Div. program at Pittsburgh Seminary, Antawn is “extremely eager” to see what God has in store for him here. “I want to build not only my knowledge base but also a long-term networking pool of friends and mentors for mutual support in our various ministries now and into the future.”

Antawn has already shown that he begins his academic program with a good knowledge base in Bible—he recently received the Seminary’s Andrew Reed Scholarship for earning the highest grade on the competitive English Bible entrance exam. His commitment to theological education also earned him PTS’s Titus Basfield Scholarship, established in 1994 and named after the first African-American student to graduate (1842) from a Presbyterian Seminary in the United States—PTS’s antecedent school, Canonsburg Seminary. “A portion of the anxiety about attending seminary has been lifted by the receipt of these awards, and I thank God for these gifts of generosity shown in my behalf,” says Antawn.

Antawn views his experience in the Seminary’s enrollment process and the receipt of his scholarship as concrete evidence of “the good reputation of PTS and its staff and resources.” Now, as a student, he’s also impressed with the theological education he’s receiving in the classroom. “The diversity of teaching approaches has helped expand my theological perspectives,” Antawn observes.

“As God continues to lead and guide me through these next few years, I will always be mindful of the acts of grace I’ve received at PTS. And I pray God blesses all those connected to the Seminary who have been such a blessing to me, my family, and our church.”