Bethel Seminary
In 1977, Bethel Seminary broadened its ministry and opened a campus in San Diego, Calif. Using the facilities at College Avenue Baptist Church, Bethel Seminary San Diego began offering courses that would eventually lead students to degrees in the Master of Arts (Theological Studies), the Master of Arts in Applied Ministry, the Master of Arts in Christian Education, the Master of Divinity, and the Master of Arts in Marital and Family Therapy.
San Diego was chosen as the seminary’s location because it is a community of ethnic diversity, burgeoning growth, enormous spiritual need, and a large concentration of military personnel—factors offering unlimited opportunities for intercultural ministry experience. Proximity to Mexico offers another opportunity for cross-cultural ministry experience.
Currently, Bethel Seminary San Diego occupies a 20,000 square feet seminary building that houses offices, classrooms, a student center, and expanded library facilities with more than 80,000 volumes. Increasing enrollment over the years has resulted in the need to expand present campus facilities and offer more diverse programming to better serve its students and the surrounding community. Construction for a new 14,000-square-foot wing containing a 380 seat auditorium, additional classrooms, offices, and an expanded student center is under way and scheduled for completion in fall 2009.
The people of San Diego and Best Of, Inc., voted Bethel Seminary San Diego one of the 2002-03 winners in the “Best Of Colleges” category. The seminary was also named one of the 50 Best Christian Places to Work by Christianity Today magazine in April 2004.
The Bethel Seminary catalog outlines our academic programs, as well as the procedures and expectations for students at Bethel Seminary. Every student is to be familiar with and will be held responsible for the academic regulations, campus procedures, and Bethel community expectations as stated in the catalog.