Asbury Seminary opens in the Fall with three official students, with HENRY CLAY MORRISON as president while he was also president of Asbury College; adopts the motto: “The Whole Bible for the Whole World.”
Asbury Seminary’s first graduate
Morrison resigns as president of Asbury College to become full-time president of Asbury Seminary
Asbury Seminary welcomes first international students, one each from China and Japan
Wall Street crash triggers the Great Depression
Asbury Theological Seminary Articles of Incorporation signed
World War II breaks out
Asbury Seminary leases the Talbott Hotel (now Larabee-Morris Hall) across the street from Asbury College
Asbury Seminary exchanges Talbott Hall for Morrison Hall on the Asbury College campus
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor; America declares war the next day
Death of H. C. Morrison
J. C. MCPHEETERS becomes president while pastoring Glide Memorial Methodist Church in San Francisco. He commutes for 6 years.
WW II ends September 2
Ministers’ Conference program begins
Asbury Seminary fully accredited by the (then) American Association of Theological Schools (AATS) (now tATS)
McPheeters first proposes a school of missions and evangelism
Cold War begins, lasting until 1991 when the Soviet Union dissolves
Henry Clay Morrison Administration Building completed; McPheeters prayed for lumber, which was scarce due to the war, and a fully loaded lumber truck broke down in Nicholasville; the Seminary bought the entire load and finished the building.
Talbott Hall renamed Larabee-Morris Hall
Asbury Seminary racially integrates the student body; first Black student admitted
Asbury Seminary loses its accreditation due to faculty theological controversy
Board member T. Delos Crary brings two gingko tree saplings from China to be planted in front of the Administration Building
Estes Chapel construction begins
Frank Bateman Stanger hired as Executive Vice President and tasked to help restore accreditation
Asbury Seminary receives reaccreditation
J.T. Seamands added to faculty as head of Missions Department
Campaign to build Crary-McPheeters missions building.
Frank Bateman Stanger becomes President.
40th birthday celebration
Civil Rights Act passed
Department of Prayer and Spiritual Life created
Department of Church in Society created
B. L. Fisher Library opens
First Ichthus gathering in Wilmore
50th birthday celebration
Stanger among seven seminary presidents who establish the Fellowship of Evangelical Seminary Presidents
Asbury Seminary begins the Doctor of Ministry program
Entire Seminary faculty signs the Lausanne Covenant
Consultation on a School of World Mission and Evangelism; Eunice Jones Mathews grants permission to use E. Stanley Jones’ name
Asbury Seminary becomes one of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability’s 150 founding members
Asbury Seminary applies for regional accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)
Asbury Seminary approved by University Senate on yearly basis for training United Methodist pastors
J. T. Seamands named founding director of what will become the ESJ School
Stanger retires; DAVID L. MCKENNA elected President
Death of J. C. McPheeters
E. Stanley Jones School opens
Frank Bateman Stanger Hall completed
McPheeters Center completed
Death of Frank Bateman Stanger
Center for Wesleyan-Holiness Studies begins; later named the Center for the Study of World Christian Revitalization Movements
First meetings with Willliam Conger, executor of Ralph Beeson’s estate
Asbury Seminary acquires a portion of the Zorniger farm, including Rose Hill
McKenna forms High-Tech Task Force to work on “virtual campus” – he calls this initiative “ATS 2000”
Rosa Foster Beeson Manor (now Asbury Inn) opens
Ralph Beeson dies in October
In November Asbury Seminary announces the Beeson estate gift
William House and Elizabeth House completed, Orlean House built next
Beeson Center constructed; while digging the foundation two natural springs discovered – nicknamed “McKenna’s lake” they have been tapped for the campus watering system (free water!) to keep us green
Beeson Pastor Program begins
John Wesley statue erected
McKenna retires, MAXIE DUNNAM elected President
Rose Hill becomes official president’s home
McKenna Chapel dedicated
High-tech campus completed
Francis Asbury statue erected
Wesley Village opens on Asbury Seminary land that was part of the Zorniger farm
Asbury Seminary launches its “virtual campus”
Board of Trustees votes to launch a Florida campus
Florida campus opens with 65 students and five professors
Hispanic Initiative begins on Florida campus
Dunnam releases his “White Paper” to introduce the “Marketplace Leadership Initiative”
International Leaders Doctor of Ministry degree established
Dunnam retires, Board votes to name Florida campus the “Florida Dunnam Campus”
JEFFREY GREENWAY elected President
Board of Trustees votes Charles Wesley’s “And Can It Be” as Asbury Seminary’s official song
Greenway resigns in October; ELLSWORTH KALAS named president
Biblical Studies Ph.D. program begins
Cooperative Ph.D. program with London School of Theology begins
Latimer Foundation gift designated for new Kalas Scholarships
Ph.D. in Wesley Studies begins in partnership with Nazarene Theological College (University of Manchester, England)
Asbury Cluster Education (ACE) begins
Board of Trustees adopts new mission statement
TIMOTHY C. TENNENT elected President
Doctor of Ministry program developed for Florida Dunnam Campus
Kalas Village Phase 1 construction begins (family housing)
Florida Dunnam Campus reorganized as “School of Urban Ministries”
Florida Dunnam Campus mortgage note burned
Ethos Statement revised
Phase 2 of Kalas Village begins construction
Galloway Village Construction Begins
Asbury Institutes launched
Justo Gonzalez Resource Center opens on Florida Dunnam campus
Larabee-Morris Hall renovation completed
Seedbed launched to resource the Wesleyan world
Board of Trustees unanimously adopts 2023 Strategic Plan
Harry Hosier Institute opens on Florida Dunnam Campus
90th birthday celebration for Asbury Theological Seminary
Global Church Planting Initiative launches
Church Planting Partnership test model launches in the Fall
“Garden of the Nations” (community garden) opens
Charles Wesley statue dedicated
New Room Conference launched, becomes one of the largest Wesleyan conferences in the world
Community House at Kalas Village completed
Bishop Sundo Kim named first Honorary Board Chair
Hundredfold Comprehensive Campaign launched
Corrie Ten Boom clock dedicated
Asbury Seminary Global Partnerships begin, now include OMS, Langham Partnership USA, and several others
Asbury Seminary Writing Center opens
Extension sites begin – currently in Memphis, Tulsa, Colorado Springs, and Orlando
Publication of The Asbury Hymnal
Renovation completed for Estes Chapel
World Health Organization declares COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic
Asbury Seminary acquires former Wilmore Daycare building
Asbury Seminary achieves highest enrollment in its history with over 1,800 students
Renovation of Fletcher Chapel completed; Asbury Seminary meets its goal of training 1,000 church planters
Seedbed becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Asbury Seminary
Van Tatenhove Counseling Center dedicated
School of Counseling becomes 6th academic school at Asbury Seminary
Hundredfold Comprehensive Campaign ends with $100 million goal exceeded
Asbury Seminary Global Launches
Dedication of the Global Alumni Center
100th birthday celebration
