Bethel University is a

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Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

university and

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

in Arden Hills, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1871 as a seminary and is affiliated with Converge. The university enrolls 5,600 students in

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...

, graduate, and

programs. Its main campus is situated on about 290 acres on the east side of Lake Valentine just south of

Interstate 694 Interstate 694 (I-694) is an east–west auxiliary Interstate Highway located in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area in the US state of Minnesota. The western terminus of the route is at its junction with I-94, I-494, and US ...

History

Bethel University has its origins in the Baptist Theological Union's Swedish Seminary ("Baptist Union Theological Seminary"), which was founded by Swedish

pastor John Alexis Edgren in

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in 1871. Edgren was a former mariner and Civil War veteran originally from Ostana, Sweden, and founded the school as a place for Swedish Baptists to enter the ministry. Edgren was pastor of the First Swedish Baptist Church of Chicago and worked with the Baptist Theological Union to found the seminary. The first woman, Elizabeth Johnson, matriculated in 1879. The school moved several times, first from Morgan Park, Illinois, to St. Paul, Minnesota, then to Stomsburg, Nebraska, and then back to Morgan Park in 1888. In 1914, the Baptist General Conference has become the school's main partner.Randall Herbert Balmer, ''Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism: Revised and expanded edition'', Baylor University Press, USA, 2004, p. 74 The seminary merged with "Bethel Academy" and relocated its campus to

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

. In 1931, the Academy became "Bethel Junior College". The addition of a four-year liberal arts college program created "Bethel College and Seminary" in 1947. The school relocated from St. Paul to Arden Hills, Minnesota in 1972. In 2004, the institution changed its name to "Bethel University".

Academics

The university offers degree programs through four different schools. The College of Arts and Sciences is its traditional undergraduate program, Bethel offers

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

s in 106 majors and emphases of study, 43 minors, and 11 pre-professional programs. The College of Adults & Professional Studies offers

associate degree An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree ...

bachelor's degrees A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Neo-Latin, Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and university, universities upon completion of a course of study lasting ...

, and a number of certificate programs. Through its

graduate school Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachel ...

, Bethel offers ten

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

s, including a

physician assistant A physician assistant or physician associate (PA) is a type of non-physician practitioner. While these job titles are used internationally, there is significant variation in training and scope of practice from country to country, and sometimes be ...

program, as well as a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in educational leadership. Bethel also offers a number of graduate certificate programs and licenses.

Seminary

The school's seminary, called "Bethel Theological Seminary", is located primarily on the Arden Hills campus. It also has a location in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

and offers a number of fully online programs. It offers

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and ...

(M.Div.) and

Doctor of Ministry The Doctor of Ministry (DMin) is a doctorate in religious ministry. It often includes an original research component, and may be earned by a minister of religion while concurrently engaged in ministry. It is categorized as an advanced doctoral de ...

(D.Min.) degrees, along with several

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

(MA) and certificate programs.

Accreditations

Bethel has been accredited by the

Higher Learning Commission The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an institutional accreditor in the United States. It has historically accredited post-secondary education institutions in the central United States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa ...

since 1959. Its nursing program is approved by the Minnesota Board of Nursing. Bethel's business program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs.

Arden Hills campus

Academic buildings

There are six main academic buildings located at the center of Bethel University's main campus in Arden Hills, Minnesota. They run from southwest to northeast and are connected on the first three floors by weather-protected skyways and tunnels. Starting from the Southwest and running to the Northeast, the buildings are as follows (with abbreviations in parentheses): Benson Great Hall and Lundquist Community Life Center (CLC), Barnes Academic Center (BAC), Brushaber Commons (BC), Clauson Fine Arts Center (CC), Hagstrom Student Services Center (HC), and Robertson Physical Education Center (RC).

On-campus housing

Freshman residences

Bethel University from the main entrance, off Old Snelling Avenue in Arden Hills There are four freshman residence halls on campus. Three—Bodien Hall, Getsch Hall, and Edgren Hall—encircle a cul-de-sac just south of the academic buildings, informally known as Freshman Hill. The fourth, Nelson Hall, is the largest of the freshman residences, and located nearby on the north side of the academic buildings. It is the oldest building on Bethel University's current campus in Arden Hills.

Residences for returning students

Two residence halls, Arden Village and Lissner Hall, mostly house returning students. North Village, a collection of five buildings formerly used as housing for seminary students, houses returning students and offers a full kitchen in every suite. It is located at the far north end of the campus. Heritage Hall, opened in 1999, is a suite-style residence hall, housing juniors and seniors. Students enrolling after Fall 2019 must be 21 years of age prior to September 1 to live off-campus with the exception of those who commute from their parents' home.

Brushaber Commons

The Brushaber Commons, a $30 million, 106,000-square foot student commons area, opened in 2009. The Brushaber Commons is named after retired Bethel President George K. Brushaber. In addition to serving as a gathering point for students, the commons includes a dining center, coffee shop, restaurant, campus store, office space, public meeting areas, and an admissions center.

Benson Great Hall

Benson Great Hall, Bethel's performing arts center, is a 1,700-seat concert hall with a 4,000-pipe Blackinton organ located in the center of the Lundquist Community Life Center. This hall houses worship services, theatre productions, and can be rented by outside performers. Benson Hall has hosted a variety of events in the past, providing a venue for Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, a location for high school graduations, and the 2018 Super Bowl Gospel Celebration. Benson Great Hall offers a green room, backstage dressing rooms and bathrooms, custom sound dampening, lighting, and set design for special events.

Student life

The university

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...

is ''O God of Bethel, by Whose Hand'' by Philip Doddridge. A morning prayer chapel service is offered each class day, as well as

vespers Vespers /ˈvɛspərz/ () is a Christian liturgy, liturgy of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Catholic (both Latin liturgical rites, Latin and Eastern Catholic liturgy, Eastern Catholic liturgical rites), Eastern Orthodox, Oriental O ...

on Sunday evenings, but attendance is no longer mandatory.

Covenant for Life Together

All full-time students in the College of Arts and Sciences are expected to abide by the Covenant for Life Together. The Covenant is a lifestyle agreement that focuses on living a life of faith and personal morality. The Covenant emphasizes a respect for all persons and ethnic traditions and requires students to refrain from any sort of extramarital sex, homosexuality, pornography, gambling, illegal drugs, and tobacco in any form. Under the Covenant for Life Together, students in the College of Arts and Sciences were initially prohibited from dancing or consuming alcohol year-round, but the rules were eventually relaxed to allow alcohol consumption when classes are not in session. Alcohol consumption by full-time students in the College of Arts and Sciences is still prohibited during the academic year.

Publications

Bethel University has a student news publication, ''The Clarion'', which is printed during the school year and distributed on campus as well as online.

Affiliation

It is affiliated with Converge.

Athletics

100px, Bethel athletics logo The Bethel University athletic teams are known as the Royals. The university competes at the

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

level in 18 intercollegiate sports and is a member of the

Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC ) is an List of NCAA conferences, intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division III, Division III. All 13 of the mem ...

(MIAC).

Sports sponsored

Facilities

* Bethel University Arena is located at the

National Sports Center The National Sports Center (NSC) is a multi-sport complex located in Blaine, Minnesota. Its site includes a soccer stadium, over 50 full-sized soccer fields, a golf course, a meeting and convention facility, an eight-sheet ice rink (the Super ...

in Blaine, Minnesota and has been the home of men's and women's hockey teams since 2007. * Hargis Park, the home field of the Bethel University baseball team, opened in the spring of 2000. It features an entirely turf field, an outdoor turf batting cage, two clay bullpen mounds, major league length dugouts, press box, and inning-by-inning scoreboard in left field and capacity to over 500 spectators. * Ona Orth Athletic Complex opened for play in the fall of 2003 and is home to Bethel's tennis, softball, and soccer teams. The facility includes a fast-pitch softball park, six tennis courts, and a soccer practice/game field with branded team building. * Robertson Center Gymnasium has been the home of Bethel basketball and volleyball since 1972. * Royal Stadium, the home of Bethel's football team, was built in 1995 and renovated in 2001.

Notable alumni

Undergraduate

* Chad Anderson, Republican former member of the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the U.S. state of Minnesota's Minnesota Legislature, legislature. It operates in conjunction with the Minnesota Senate, the state's upper chamber, to write and pass legislation, whic ...

* Bjorn Olson, Republican member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2021-Present. * Leigh Finke, Democratic-Farmer-Labor member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, and first transgender member of the Minnesota Legislature * Robert Eric Frykenberg, emeritus professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison * Jeff Hayden, Democratic-Farmer-Labor member of the

Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Minnesota Legislature, Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any State legislature (Unite ...

; former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives * Abigail and Brittany Hensel, dicephalic parapagus twins, stars of TLC's '' Abby & Brittany'' * Joel Hodgson, creator of (and main character in) ''

Mystery Science Theater 3000 ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (abbreviated as ''MST3K'') is an American science fiction comedy television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on WUCW, KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on November 24, 1988. It then ...

'' * Randy Hultgren, Republican former member of

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

from

* Steven R. Jensen (1985), current Chief Justice of the

South Dakota Supreme Court The South Dakota Supreme Court is the highest court in the state of South Dakota. It is composed of a chief justice and four associate justices appointed by the governor. One justice is selected from each of five geographic appointment districts ...

* Randy Jessup, Republican member of the Minnesota House of Representatives * Mark Johnson, Republican member of the Minnesota Senate * Sheldon Johnson, Democratic-Farmer-Labor member of the Minnesota House of Representatives * Steve Johnson, college football coach * Peter Ludlow, professor of philosophy * Dawson McAllister, talk-radio host * Chris Meidt,

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

staff, 2007–2009 * Bob Merritt, Eagle Brook Church pastor and author * Bill Mounce, scholar of New Testament Greek * Jeff Nelson, professional baseball official * Doug Ohlson, abstract artist * Doug Pagitt, influential figure in the emergent discussion * Sophy Parfin, entomologist * Mary Pawlenty, former

district court District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations, some call them "small case court" usually as the lowest level of the hierarchy. These courts generally work under a higher court which exercises control over the lower co ...

judge and wife of former

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

and presidential candidate

Tim Pawlenty Timothy James Pawlenty ( ; born November 27, 1960) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served from 2003 to 2011 as the 39th governor of Minnesota. A member of the Republican Party, Pawlenty served in the Minnesota House ...

Linda Runbeck Linda Runbeck (born June 11, 1946) is an American politician who was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1989 to 1993 and again from 2011 to 2021. She was also a member of the Minnesota Senate from 1993 to 2001. Career Pri ...

, Republican member of the

; former member of the

* Kirk Stensrud, Republican former member of the

* Ron Tschetter, former director of the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...

* Pam Wolf, Republican former member of the

* Harvey L. Wollman, Democratic former Governor of South Dakota

Seminary alumni

* Joshua Becker, minimalist writer *

Gary Smalley Gary Thomas Smalley (September 16, 1940 – March 6, 2016) was an American family counselor, president and founder of the Smalley Relationship Center and author of books on family relationships from a Christian perspective. Among other issues, he ...

, prominent author, family counselor, and motivational speaker

Notable current and former faculty

* Leith Anderson, president of the

National Association of Evangelicals The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) is an American association of Evangelical Christian denominations, organizations, schools, churches, and individuals, member of the World Evangelical Alliance. The association represents more than ...

* Greg Boyd, theologian and pastor * E. Earle Ellis, professor of theology * Michael W. Holmes, professor of New Testament * Steven Keillor, adjunct professor of history * Alvera Mickelsen, former professor of journalism * Roger E. Olson, former professor of theology * Wayne Grudem, Theologian and New Testament Scholar * John Piper, theologian and pastor * Thomas R. Schreiner New Testament Scholar * Andrew Rock, varsity track and field coach

References

External links

*
Athletics website

Seminary
{{Coord, 45, 3, 30, N, 93, 9, 45, W, type:edu_region:US-MN, display=title Liberal arts colleges in Minnesota Universities and colleges established in 1871 Universities and colleges in Ramsey County, Minnesota 1871 establishments in Minnesota Private universities and colleges in Minnesota Council for Christian Colleges and Universities Baptist universities and colleges in the United States Converge (United States)