Biola University approves plan to merge with Phoenix Seminary

Two Christian schools in the Southwestern United States said they are consolidating to create the nation’s second-largest nondenominational seminary. Biola University in La Mirada, Calif., said Wednesday it will acquire Phoenix Seminary. Biola will rebrand the Arizona school as Talbot Seminary Phoenix. Both schools said the move strengthens their respective missions and legacies.

Pending regulatory approval, Talbot Seminary Phoenix will launch in the fall. Roughly 5,500 students currently participate in Biola’s 250 academic programs, the university said in a news release. Phoenix Seminary, which was founded in 1988, has around 300 students.

Why did the schools consolidate? Biola said Talbot Seminary Phoenix will serve as a regional campus, aiming to boost evangelical theological education across the Southwest. The decision to consolidate will allow Phoenix Seminary to continue its legacy of Biblically faithful education, said Michael Maples, a member of the Biola University Board of Trustees.

No specific crisis compelled the merger, Phoenix Seminary Board of Directors Chairman Ron Ogan told Christianity Today. Instead, the seminary has prayerfully considered the merger for more than a year-and-a-half, and ultimately decided it would be the best move for the seminary’s future. The school will continue to operate during the transition, the seminary said in a May statement.

Dig deeper: Read my report on a Reformed college in California that shut down.