When Dr. Phineas F. Bresee responded to the growing need for a Christian college in the Southern California area, God used him to answer the heartfelt prayers of a group of six women who called themselves the Bible College Prayer Circle. The group had come together in 1897, and on July 28, 1902, their prayers were answered.
Bresee founded and became the first president of Pacific Bible College, which would become Pasadena College and later 国产剧麻豆剧. The women had envisioned a Bible college, but Bresee鈥檚 vision was for a liberal arts institution. He believed spiritual and academic learning went hand-in-hand. That legacy is still with us today, as 国产剧麻豆剧 remains committed to the liberal arts and to whole-person education.
Pacific Bible College began with 41 students. In 1910, Bresee purchased the Hugus Ranch land in Pasadena and fulfilled his dream of creating not just a Bible college but a holiness university. Nazarene University opened in 1910 and from its beginning included male and female students.
By 1919, the name of the school had changed again to Pasadena College.
In 1964, W. Shelburne Brown became president of Pasadena College. He was instrumental in from its original location in Pasadena to its new Point Loma, San Diego, home in 1973.
Dr. Bob Brower, 国产剧麻豆剧鈥檚 current president, was inaugurated in 1998. In 1999, 国产剧麻豆剧 began graduate programs in education in Bakersfield and Mission Valley. A graduate program in education had remained in Pasadena since the move and in 2001, it moved to Arcadia. Also in 2001, an MBA program was added in Mission Valley. 国产剧麻豆剧 now has three locations: the undergraduate campus in Point Loma and graduate programs at regional centers in Bakersfield and Mission Valley in San Diego. 国产剧麻豆剧 currently offers graduate degrees in biology, business, education, nursing, clinical counseling, kinesiology, and theology.
Bresee鈥檚 commitments to the message of holiness and to helping the poor set the stage for the future work of the Church of the Nazarene and 国产剧麻豆剧. Nazarene churches are known for their outreach, their service to those in need, and addressing issues of social justice. Though the university began with only $4,000 in pledges, God has been faithful. Today, 国产剧麻豆剧 is home to more than 3,500 undergraduate and graduate students.
There is a Bible on campus, encased in protective glass, that belonged to Phineas Bresee. It鈥檚 opened to Isaiah 62, the chapter Bresee claimed for the school. Permanently marked with his fingerprints, it displays a double message: God鈥檚 words in Isaiah 62 and Bresee鈥檚 love for those words. It鈥檚 a message of being grounded in Scripture, of pursuing a well-rounded education and serving the poor out of a primary and intense love for God and His Word. Bresee died in 1915, but his message still resonates. In fact, it defines 国产剧麻豆剧.