Pillsbury Baptist Bible College was an

independent Baptist Independent Baptist churches (some also called Independent Fundamental Baptist or IFB) are Christian congregations, generally holding to conservative (primarily fundamentalist) Baptist beliefs. Although some Independent Baptist churches refuse af ...

college in

Owatonna, Minnesota Owatonna () is a city in Steele County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 25,599 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Steele County. Owatonna is home to the Steele County Fairgrounds, which hosts the Steele County Free Fair i ...

, United States (1957–2008). Pillsbury described itself as a " biblical arts college." It offered a four-year program leading to the degrees of

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

and

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in Bible, as well as several

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

s and a Bible certificate program. The campus was previously home to the Pillsbury Military Academy, Pillsbury Academy, and Minnesota Academy. In 1987 a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

of five campus buildings was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

as the Pillsbury Academy Campus Historic District. It was nominated because of its local significance in architecture, education, and religion, because it was the only 19th-century

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

institution of higher learning in Minnesota, and because of its association with benefactors

Mark H. Dunnell Mark Hill Dunnell (July 2, 1823 – August 9, 1904) was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota from 1871 to 1883 and from 1889 to 1891. Biography Born in Buxton, Maine, Buxton, York County, Maine, York County, Maine, h ...

and

George A. Pillsbury George Alfred Pillsbury (August 29, 1816 – July 17, 1898) was a businessman and miller associated with the formation of the Pillsbury Company. He was also a Republican Party (United States), Republican politician active in both New Hampshi ...

History

The Minnesota Baptist State Convention opened the school as Minnesota Academy on September 10, 1877, as a

college-preparatory school A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher education ...

. The name was changed to Pillsbury Academy in 1886 in honor of one of its major donors,

, former mayor of Minneapolis and a member of the First Baptist Church of

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. In 1920 it was renamed the Pillsbury Military Academy. In 1957, after a dispute resulted in a change in Baptist Convention control from

American Baptist American Baptist may refer to: * American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA), formed (as the Northern Baptist Convention) in 1907 * American Baptist Association, formed 1924 * American Baptist College, Nashville, Tennessee, formed 1924 by the National B ...

to fundamentalist Minnesota Baptist, the Academy was abruptly closed and reconstituted as a 4-year biblical arts college, Pillsbury Baptist Bible College. The older structures on campus were placed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 22, 1987, as the Pillsbury Academy Campus Historic District. The five

contributing properties In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

are Old Main (built 1889), Music Hall (1892), Jefts Hall (1910–11), Lindsay Hall (1913–14), and a heating plant (1893). PillsburyBaptist

In February 2005, Pillsbury received

accreditation Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

by the

Association for Biblical Higher Education The Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE), formerly The Accrediting Association of Bible Colleges (AABC) is an evangelical Christian organization of bible colleges in the United States and Canada. It is a member of the International Co ...

(ABHE). Pillsbury also had membership in the

American Association of Christian Colleges and Seminaries American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

. Enrollment at the school had dropped from a high of about 800 in the years 1967-68 to 142 in its final semester. Pillsbury announced in October 2008 that it would permanently close at the end of the year and that its campus would be sold. The college closed on December 31, 2008. Pillsbury's transcripts are now held by

Maranatha Baptist University Maranatha Baptist University is a private Baptist university in Watertown, Wisconsin. History The institution was founded in 1968 as Maranatha Baptist Bible College by B. Myron Cedarholm. The college was named for the Aramaic phrase ''Marana ...

in perpetuity. In April 2014, the campus was purchased and revamped as a summer camp called Camp Pillsbury, which opened in June 2014. In addition to the camp programs that will be offered, a technical

charter school A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of auto ...

operated by the Technical Academies of Minnesota will be housed on campus.

Athletics

Athletic teams were called the Comets. The school had football, baseball, wrestling, cross country, soccer, and basketball for men and volleyball, cross country, softball, cheerleading, and basketball for women. Pillsbury Baptist Bible college was an NCAA division III institution. It was a member of the

Upper Midwest Athletic Conference The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) is a college-level athletic conference. The UMAC is a conference of NCAA Division III since the 2008–09 season. Prior to that, it was a non scholarship conference affiliated with National Association ...

until 1988. They were the men's golf champions of their conference in 1995.

References

External links

Pillsbury Baptist Bible College
— Official from

archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Pillsbury College Prep

Camp Pillsbury
{{Authority control 1957 establishments in Minnesota 2008 disestablishments in Minnesota Association for Biblical Higher Education Independent Baptist universities and colleges in the United States Buildings and structures in Steele County, Minnesota Defunct private universities and colleges in Minnesota Education in Steele County, Minnesota Educational institutions established in 1957 Educational institutions disestablished in 2008 Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota National Register of Historic Places in Steele County, Minnesota University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota

History

Athletics

See also

References

External links