Bethel Seminary
Campus and Community Resources
Buildings and Facilities
In October 1965, Bethel
Seminary St. Paul moved to its present
campus in suburban Arden Hills. In September 1972, Bethel College
moved to its location on the new campus. The campus is situated
on 231 wooded acres with a 60-acre spring-fed lake. The seminary
complex has been arranged to take advantage of the natural beauty
of the site. Much study went into the design to achieve a community
feeling for the purpose of encouraging faculty-student relationships
that will best carry out the objectives of the school. The six
buildings in the complex are all interconnected by covered walkways
and glassed pavilions.
Campus Center
The setting has been designed for relaxation, dining, and fellowship where seminarians and faculty members mingle freely. The Scandinavian architecture is a reminder of Bethel’s Swedish heritage. Faculty and student mailboxes and a student lounge are also located in the campus center.
The Chapel
The chapel is designed to express two of the most important aspects in the life of the seminarian—the preaching of the Word and the worship of the Savior. The strength of the building in the simple but massive structure suggests the majesty and might of God and aids our experience of awe in worship. The interior focuses on three elements of our Baptist heritage—the baptistry, the pulpit, and the communion table. A sense of fellowship and corporate worship is strengthened by the seating arrangement and the lighting.
The lower level of the chapel is designed with a large communication center and a state-of-the-art preaching laboratory for instruction and experience in preaching.
Classroom Hall
The classroom building layout lends itself well to Bethel’s mode of theological pedagogy. The smaller classrooms and seminar rooms are designed to enhance learning. The same sense of intimacy is achieved in larger classrooms with elevated seating in a semicircle.
Faculty Hall
Faculty Hall is centrally located in the seminary complex and houses both the administrative and faculty offices. Traffic to and from the chapel and social center flows through the Hall, which opens to the main seminary entrance. A large skylight provides natural lighting for the spacious, friendly lobby, which opens off the thoroughfare. A balcony with faculty offices, each large enough to accommodate several students for discussion with a professor, surrounds the open shaft that extends from lobby to roof.
The Bethel Seminary Library
The Bethel Seminary Library makes every effort to effectively provide services and resources for the entire Bethel community at the St. Paul, San Diego, and Seminary of the East campuses. It strives to offer relevant, integrated, and transformational resources. To that effect, it houses print and non-print materials as well as electronic resources. The collection mainly supports the programs offered by the seminary, thus striving to be an integral part of the educational process of the institution. Due to the variety of delivery systems and campus locations, users are not confined to one place. The library serves the information needs of students and faculty throughout the United States and beyond. Additional information can be obtained by visiting the library’s website.
Bethel Seminary St. Paul Library is a member of CLIC (Cooperating Libraries in Consortium), MTLA (Minnesota Theological Library Association), and MINITEX Library Information Network. Daily courier service and reciprocal privileges among the previously mentioned institutions increase the resources available. As a member of OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) the library also provides ready access to millions of materials throughout the United States and the world.
The Carl H. Lundquist Library in St. Paul consists of more than 220,000 books; about 3,000 print periodical titles (610 currently received); 2,600 electronic periodical titles; and 12,000 non-print materials. Special collections include the Nelson-Lundquist devotional books, the Klingberg Puritan Collection, the Skarstedt collection of evangelical pietism, the Bethel University archives, and the Baptist General Conference History Center
Recreation Hall
The Recreation Hall serves many and varied needs ranging from individual and small group recreational sports to fellowship events. The facilities include a gymnasium, raquetball/handball court, weight room, and locker rooms with showers.
Student Residences
Bethel Seminary recognizes the needs of students and the varied arrangements that enhance learning. Residences for single and married students are carefully designed to provide both privacy and community life. Living in student residences is one way in which the community life can be an integral part of the educational experience for students, their spouses, and their families.
Community
Located in Arden Hills, the seminary is bordered by freeways that go directly to the heart of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and is on Highway 51, a direct route to the Midway district. This location facilitates convenient access to churches, industrial centers, and other institutions of learning, including the University of Minnesota, several liberal arts colleges, and three theological seminaries. The library resources of these educational institutions are available to seminary students, as are those of the public libraries of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Hill Reference Library in St. Paul. The Twin Cities area also offers many opportunities for cultural enrichment.
The Bethel Seminary Catalog is provided online as a convenience for those who desire course information in electronic form. The printed version of the Bethel Seminary catalog is the official version, and it will be treated as the document of record in all seminary business.