Draft:Bethlehem College and Seminary

Bethlehem College and Seminary is a private confessional college and seminary located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school was established in 2009 and is accredited through the Association for Biblical Higher Education. The current president is Brian Tabb, and John Piper serves as chancellor.

Fast Facts

• Type: Private
• Established: 2009
• Affiliation: Bethlehem Baptist Church, Treasuring Christ Together Network, Baptist
• President: Brian Tabb, Ph.D.
• Faculty Ratio: 1:7
• Students: 203
• Undergraduates: 140
• Postgraduates: 63
• Location: Minneapolis, MN (main campus)

History

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Bethlehem College and Seminary grew out of a series of training programs at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In Spring 1980, the congregation appointed Bethel Seminary professor John Piper as pastor. Under Piper’s leadership the church soon began offering various classes and programs for members interested in theological, cross-cultural, and ministerial education. Leading figures in this period included fellow Bethlehem pastors Tom Steller and Brad Nelson. These men drew inspiration from some of the same influences as Piper, such as the budding "World Christian Movement" under Christian missiologist Ralph Winter of the U.S. Center for World Mission and the "exegetical biblicism" of hermeneutics professor Dan Fuller of Fuller Seminary. Steller summarized the church’s goal in these early educational efforts as a desire "to supply like-minded mission agencies with well- prepared men and women to serve wherever God would lead them around the world" and to train pastors "to do passionate Bible teaching and preaching from a radically God-centered, Christian hedonistic, World Christian mindset." By 1989, the church streamlined many of these programs into the Bethlehem Institute and Training Center (BITC). BITC continued to offer courses in missions, hermeneutics, and systematic theology. In 1998, this vision was restructured and expanded as a seminary-style program called The Bethlehem Institute (TBI)—the direct precursor of Bethlehem College and Seminary. This two-year course of study aimed to provide academic, ministerial, and character training to men intending to become vocational elders. Around 70 apprentices from ten classes graduated from TBI. In 2009, the TBI program became present-day Bethlehem College and Seminary, with Piper as chancellor, Steller as academic dean, and University of Northwestern-St. Paul professor Tim Tomlinson as the school’s first president. Piper presented the original vision for the school in a 2008 message entitled, "The Earth Is the Lord’s: The Supremacy of Christ in Christian Learning." Under Tomlinson’s leadership, the school became a degree-granting institution offering a four-year M.Div. degree and undergraduate programs in Christian worldview, literature, cross- cultural studies, and theology. The school later added a B.Th. degree-completion program, a Th.M. degree, and an M.A. in Theology & Exegesis. Classes are conducted on the campus of Bethlehem Baptist Church. The seminary and college share a nearby library and faculty office building. The school obtained national accreditation in 2015 from the Association for Biblical Higher Education, which was renewed in 2020. It was most recently certified by Best Christian Workplaces in 2023. Bethlehem College and Seminary remains closely linked with Bethlehem Baptist Church and The North Church, as their governing churches, sharing staff members, building space, and similar vision statements. Written under John Piper, the church’s mission statement reads, "We exist to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ." The school views itself as an application of this mission to the sphere of academics, summarizing similarly: "Under the authority of God’s inerrant word, Bethlehem

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College and Seminary exists to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ by equipping men and women to treasure Christ above all things, to grow in wisdom and knowledge over a lifetime, and to glorify God in every sphere of life." Bethlehem College and Seminary launched an extension site in Yaoundé, Cameroon, established in 2019 under program director Dr. Dieudonné Tamfu. Today, Bethlehem College and Seminary has over 200 students and over 500 alumni. It intends to remain intentionally small with a max capacity of 250 students.

Undergraduate and Graduate Programs

• Bachelor of Arts, Theology & Biblical Studies
• Bachelor of Arts, Theology & Global Studies
• Bachelor of Arts, Theology & Letters
• Accelerated Master’s available
• Master of Arts in Exegesis & Theology
• Master of Divinity in whole-Bible exegesis, with concentrations in Church Planting &
• Revitalization and Worship
• Master of Theology

Alternative Education Programs

• Bachelor of Arts in Theological Studies

Degrees

College

• Theology & Letters
• Theology & Global Studies
• Theology & Biblical Studies
• Optional one-year

extension for M.A. in any of the three

Seminary

• M.Div. (4 years)
• Th.M. (academic master’s degree) (~1 year) ●

Nontraditional

• B.A. (2-year, evening)
• M.A.E.T. (2-year, evening, designed for working women and men)

Student Life

Cohort model Students in every degree program attend classes with a cohort of 15–20 other students. This allows for deep friendships and discipleship opportunities over the years of study.

House System

• Upon enrolling at Bethlehem, undergraduates are assigned to a non-residential, gender-specific House. The school currently has six Houses – Elliot, Lewis, Perpetua, Augustine, Dutton, and Edwards – each with its own crest, mission, traditions, and elected student officials. Students remain members of their House throughout their four years of study.
• Throughout the year, Houses meet regularly for discipleship and activities. Houses also compete against one another for points in the year-long House Cup tournament. Events include trivia nights, volleyball, a costume dodgeball game, and photo scavenger hunts. The centerpiece of these events is Interregnum, an annual January-term competition in speeches, visual and written art, music, and drama.

Conferences

• Each September the school hosts the Godward Life Conference. This event is the hallmark gathering of Christian Hedonists and features the school’s faculty and the teachers of Desiring God speaking on various subjects.
• Each January the school hosts Serious Joy: The Bethlehem Conference for Pastors. This event serves to encourage and equip pastors.

Presidents

• Timothy C. Tomlinson (2009–2021)
• Joseph J. Rigney (2021–2022)
• Brian J. Tabb (2022–Present)

Notable Faculty

John Piper, author and theologian Andy Naselli, theologian Brian J. Tabb, general editor of Themelios

Notable Alumni

• Stephen Witmer (2002), pastor and author
• John C. Beckman (2002), biblical scholar
• Justin Taylor (2001), Vice President of Book Publishing at Crossway
• Alex Chediak (2007), author and speaker
• Brian J. Tabb (2007), president of Bethlehem College and Seminary
• Wesley Hill (2006), author and speaker
• Marshall Segal (2012), President and CEO at Desiring God
• Steven Lee (2012), Pastor for preaching and vision at The North Church
• David Mathis (2012), Executive Editor at Desiring God
• Jonathan Jerez (2013), singer-songwriter
• Scott McQuinn (2013), Hebrew and Greek instructor at the Biblical Language Center
• Chris Powers (2014), artist at Full of Eyes
• Matthew Rowley (2014), historian and author

Affiliations

Desiring God Treasuring Christ Together Network BibleArc ABHE

References

https://bcsmn.edu/ https://desiringgod.org/