# Pacific Bible Institute and the growth of Fresno Pacific

1944–1976: institute to Fresno Pacific College · Overview

Pacific Bible Institute opened in Fresno, California, in 1944 with twenty-eight students. The Pacific District Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches had appointed a school committee in 1941. Classes began in a house on Van Ness Avenue and moved in 1946 to a former YWCA building. A junior-college curriculum was introduced in 1956, followed by the Pacific College name in 1960 and a four-year program in 1963.

Building a campus required practical support from the church community. In 1955 the board bought fifty-three acres near Chestnut and Butler avenues, then sold residential lots to finance construction; the first classroom building was completed in 1959. The school adopted the name Fresno Pacific College in 1976 and subsequently became Fresno Pacific University. The chart’s later college name belongs to this same institution. Its development records an expansion from concentrated Bible instruction into broader Christian higher education, rather than a new Mennonite denomination.



- [Fresno Pacific University, institutional history](https://www.fresno.edu/about/history)
- [Kevin Enns-Rempel, Hiebert Library director, “Campus Homesites” history](https://news.fresno.edu/pacific-magazine/article/campus-homesites-made-todays-fpu-possible)

---

Page: https://history.truechristian.church/en/events/pacific-bible-institute-fresno/

[Contribute a correction or addition](https://github.com/trueChristian/history.truechristian.church/issues/new?title=Correction%3A+Pacific+Bible+Institute+and+the+growth+of+Fresno+Pacific&body=%23%23+Page+or+topic%0APacific+Bible+Institute+and+the+growth+of+Fresno+Pacific%0A%0APage%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fhistory.truechristian.church%2Fen%2Fevents%2Fpacific-bible-institute-fresno%2F%0A%0ARecord%3A+pacific-bible-institute-fresno%0A%0ADate+currently+shown%3A+1944%E2%80%931976%3A+institute+to+Fresno+Pacific+College%0A%0A%23%23+Correction+or+addition%0A%0A%0A%0A%23%23+Sources+and+evidence%0APlease+include+book%2Fpage+references%2C+archive+links%2C+or+first-hand+documentation.%0A%0A%0A%0A%23%23+Image+credit+%28if+applicable%29%0ACreator%2C+source%2C+and+permission+or+public-domain+basis.%0A%0A%0A%0ASubmitted+for+review%3B+this+issue+does+not+publish+changes+automatically.)