History

The history of Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary is the history of a strong vision and pioneering efforts at cooperation between its two founding denominations: the General Conference Mennonite Church and the Mennonite Church.

Mennonite Biblical Seminary, one of the two seminaries in the history of AMBS, comes from a rich tradition of theological education. When the General Conference Mennonite Church formed in 1860, one of its three primary goals was “founding an educational institution to train ministers and missionaries.” In the late 1800s, several efforts emerged, including Wadsworth Institute, Wadsworth, Ohio; Mennonite Seminary in Halstead, Kan., which became Bethel College; and the Bluffton (Ohio) College Bible department, called Witmarsum Theological Seminary. In 1945, the General Conference Mennonite Church founded Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Chicago, which related closely with Bethany Theological Seminary (Church of the Brethren).

Meanwhile, Goshen College began as the Elkhart Institute in 1894. In 1933, the college established a four-year Bachelor of Theology curriculum. The Bible depart-ment continued to gain strength and in 1946 became Goshen College Biblical Seminary, later called Goshen Biblical Seminary—the first seminary of the Mennonite Church.

A vision for inter-Mennonite theological education began to grow, and in 1954, GBS and MBS held their first joint summer session in Goshen. Several years later a decision was made to join efforts in Elkhart, Ind., and AMBS began. In 1958, MBS moved to a new campus only ten miles from GBS. The Elkhart campus housed the MBS program, the AMBS library, and the Institute of Mennonite Studies. At first, joint classes were held only two afternoons a week.

Under the leadership of Ross T. Bender, who became dean of both seminaries in 1964, the curricula of the two seminaries were gradually brought together. In 1969, GBS moved to the Elkhart campus.

Another milestone was the appointment of Marlin E. Miller as president of both seminaries. He had previously become president of GBS in 1975; in 1990 he also became president of MBS. His leadership until his death in 1994 brought AMBS to the step of incorporating as one seminary.

Through the association of the two seminaries, pastors, missionaries, church educators, and other church leaders from both supporting groups have learned together, and learned to know each other by eating meals together, living together in campus residences, and perhaps most importantly, worshiping together. This helped the General Conference Mennonite Church and the Mennonite Church reach a decision to become one denomination, which became a reality in February 2002 with the formation of Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada.

With the new century come new developments in the way AMBS serves its sponsoring churches and its students. Online courses have taken AMBS learning to students around the world. In addition, the development of the conference-based theological education program in central Kansas as an extension site—and similar developments in Manitoba—make it possible for students to take advantage of AMBS programs from a distance. Video teleconferencing also will make it possible for AMBS to extend its classrooms beyond the Elkhart campus.

All of these efforts, plus the strong campus-based theological education program, are aimed at the primary goal of the seminary: to help the next generation of pastors and other ministers of the church become immersed in the Scriptures and learn to become effective, faithful leaders serving God throughout the world.