J. Arvid Gordh 1922-1925

Editor, Principal, Preacher, and Teacher 

Gordh was the first seminary leader to obtain the formal academic credentials required in a school that was taking on new academic standards. Gordh’s formal education took place from 1893 to 1903. He studied at Gordon Bible School in Boston; the Morgan Park Seminary in Chicago; Bethel Seminary of Stockholm, Sweden; the Newton Center Theological Institution; and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. He received his doctor of theology degree from Southern in 1903.

During these years of preparation, Gordh preached in America and in Sweden. When he graduated from Southern, he was asked to be editor of the Swedish denominational paper Baneret. In 1905, the Swedish Conference asked him to become principal of the newly formed Bethel Academy in St. Paul, and he served in this role until he accepted the pastorate of the Swedish Baptist Church in Brockton, Mass., in 1912. Two years later, he moved to New York City to pastor the Swedish Baptist Church in Manhattan.

In 1922, Bethel called Gordh to return. The academy and the seminary had merged in St. Paul in 1914. In light of C. G. Lagergren’s resignation, Bethel needed someone with Gordh’s academic ability and strong conference reputation to head the seminary. He answered that call and led the seminary for three years as dean. In 1925, he stepped down as dean and took up duties as a full-time faculty member, serving on the faculty for another 15 years until his death in 1940.

One significant change to the seminary under Gordh’s leadership was the addition of the Bible and Missionary Training School. The purpose of this new two-year program was to prepare young people for Sunday school and missionary work, particularly in the local church. Some of the classes were given in the seminary and others in the academy. Lagergren had strongly opposed any weakening of the delivery of classes in the Swedish language, while Gordh supported the addition of this English language program.

The other significant change of Gordh’s tenure was the addition of a woman to the faculty. Esther Sabel had desired to be a missionary, but ill health kept her from that vocation. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago in 1920 and took further training at Moody Bible Institute and the Newton Theological Institution. In the fall of 1922, she became teacher and principal of the high school at Parkers Prairie, Minn. In 1924, Bethel called her to become the leader for the Bible and missionary training program. She continued as a teacher in that program as well as the college and seminary programs at Bethel for the next 34 years.