(RNS) — After three decades of independent operations, Phoenix Seminary is set to be acquired by the Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. The acquisition will elevate Talbot as the second-largest interdenominational seminary in the country and, with campuses just outside Phoenix and Los Angeles, the leading site of theological education within the two largest metropolitan areas west of the Rocky Mountains.
Founded in 1988, Phoenix Seminary is a nondenominational conservative evangelical Christian educational institution. Located in Scottsdale, Arizona, the institution’s faculty includes professor emeritus Wayne Grudem, who is best known for his seminal work, “Systematic Theology,” and for co-founding the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, which promotes a complementarian approach to marriage and gender.
Ed Stetzer, the dean of Talbot School of Theology located in La Mirada, California, told Religion News Service that Phoenix Seminary’s board of directors reached out to Biola University to initiate the acquisition of its assets in early January. Biola University’s board of trustees unanimously approved the plan.
In a comment to Christianity Today, Phoenix Seminary chairman Ron Ogan emphasized that the move resulted not from crisis but instead from “prayerfully considering” the merger for over a year. Ogan added in a statement released by Biola University that the acquisition will extend and strengthen the legacy of Phoenix Seminary.
Chris Meinzer, senior director of administration and chief operating officer of the Association of Theological Schools, told RNS the decision “reflects two schools with shared commitments who believe they hav …