Administrative Offices

Section: 1:5, About Bethel College

Last Updated:10/05
Applies to:Administrators, Faculty, Staff
Related Policies: Equal Employment Opportunity

Bethel College is a Christian community of scholars and learners dedicated to building lives of commitment and leadership for the Church, the nation, and the world. Bethel provides liberating programs to challenge the mind, to enlarge the vision, and to equip the whole person for lifelong service.
Bethel College was founded in 1947 as a Christian liberal arts college by the Missionary Church, a denomination with roots in both the Mennonite and Methodist traditions.

In 1944, at the Indiana Annual Conference for the then United Missionary Church, a resolution was passed to the effect that a denomination college be organized. After considering sites in Michigan, Ohio and Iowa, in 1946, the current campus was purchased in Mishawaka, Indiana.

The name Bethel College was selected by J. A. Huffman, longtime education advocate of the Missionary Church, because of its biblical meaning (House of God) and consistency with the publishing arm of the denomination (Bethel Publishing). In 1950, the Nebraska Conference voted to join the other districts in support of Bethel College.

During the 1950-51 school year, the Administration Building was completed, the first major building project of the college. Over the next four decades, six building were added: Shupe Hall (1958), Goodman Auditorium (1959), Hall of Science (1964), Oakwood Hall (1966), Campus Center (1978), and the Bowen Library (1984). In 1993, the nursing wing was added to the Hall of Science; in 1994, the addition and renovation to the Campus Center was completed; in 1996, the Everest-Rohrer Chapel/Fine Arts Center was completed; in 1997, the Wiekamp Athletic Center was completed in 1999, the Vernon R & Doris Sailor Residential Center was completed; in 2000 the Academic Center was completed; and in 2004, the Bethel College Bookstore was opened.

In March 1966, Bethel College was granted “Candidate Status” by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. For the next five years the college engaged in a self-study process, culminating with its first accreditation on March 31, 1971. In 1969, the United Missionary Church and the Missionary Church Association concluded a church merger, which formed the Missionary Church, USA. In 1973, The General Conference of the Missionary Church took action to place authority and responsibility for conducting the affairs of the college with its Board of Trustees. The college continues to maintain a close affiliation with the Missionary Church and in 1992 became the sole college of the denomination.