Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary at Fresno

Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary opened in September 1955 following a mandate from the North American Mennonite Brethren convention of 1948. Its purpose was to prepare discerning church leaders through biblical and theological study shaped by the denomination’s Anabaptist and evangelical convictions. Although located beside Pacific Bible Institute’s developing campus, the seminary was a distinct institution. Cooperation included the shared ownership and operation of Hiebert Library.

Canadian Mennonite Brethren became partners in the seminary in 1975. The United States and Canadian conferences continued joint ownership after the binational General Conference’s ministries were reorganized in 2000. Ownership of the Fresno operation passed to Fresno Pacific University on July 1, 2010, and it became Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary. That change is an institutional transfer, not evidence that every Canadian Mennonite Brethren training program moved to Fresno. The founding and later transfer show how the churches organized advanced preparation for pastoral and other Christian service.