(Left to right): Leland Eliason, Bethel Seminary Executive Vice President and Provost; Randy MacFarland, former Seminary of the East Dean and current Provost and Dean of Denver Seminary; Doug Fombelle, Seminary of the East Dean and Executive Officer; and Jay Barnes, Bethel University President.

Past and present students, faculty and staff, alumni, and friends of Bethel Seminary of the East gathered at an April event at Faith Baptist Church in Auburn, Mass., to celebrate 25 years of God’s faithfulness in the seminary’s founding, growth, and increasing influence in the northeast United States. The evening’s program featured a welcome by Bethel University President Jay Barnes and a video presentation by Doug Fombelle, dean and executive officer of Bethel Seminary of the East, honoring the seminary’s history and highlighting its distinctives. Bethel Seminary Executive Director and Provost Leland Eliason, who will retire in August, shared about his life investment in seminary training. Keynote speaker Randy MacFarland, former Seminary of the East dean and current provost and dean of Denver Seminary, used Deuteronomy 31:1-8 as the basis for his address “Remembering the Past…Launching the Future,” echoing the event’s theme of looking back at God’s faithful provision and ahead with renewed purpose and vision.

History of Bethel Seminary of the East

In October 1979, church messengers to the Eastern Regional Meeting of Conservative Baptists unanimously approved the formation of a feasibility committee to consider the need for a new seminary. The committee presented its findings to messengers from 44 churches, who in March 1982 voted to begin a new seminary: Conservative Baptist Seminary of the East. It was incorporated in October 1983, and four teaching centers opened at churches in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York City, and metro Washington, D.C. In 1995, Seminary of the East entered into a management agreement with Bethel College & Seminary, and in June 2000, Seminary of the East was approved by the Association of Theological Schools to operate as an extension of Bethel Seminary’s accredited programs. In June 2002, Bethel Seminary of the East became a fully merged partner with Bethel College & Seminary, now Bethel University.

Today, Bethel Seminary of the East is a thriving center of theological education offering classes at four locations in the eastern U.S.: Dresher, Pa; Auburn, Mass.; Flushing, N.Y.; and Landover, Md. Classes are held in existing church facilities, enabling the seminary to invest its resources in developing people rather than buildings. The multiple locations make seminary education accessible and allow students to remain in their local ministry contexts and communities while earning a seminary degree.

Bethel Seminary of the East is moving toward the future with a clear sense of mission to train and prepare people who are both contextually sensitive to the needs of the region and biblically grounded and prepared to make a difference as leaders. The great diversity of this region demands that the seminary relate and respond in culturally relevant ways.

Holistic education has been the passion of Bethel Seminary of the East from its inception. Spiritual formation is a consistent focus, contextualized through ministry mentoring, and every course addresses a student’s development in theology and Bible (head); formative experienced and spiritual life (heart); and leadership and ministry skills (hands).

The renewal of the church, the revitalization of ministries, and service to the kingdom of God: these are the clear and compelling passions of Bethel Seminary of the East in moving forward boldly where God calls.