A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

sis" of 1954 and the resultant conference reorganization has been briefly described. The reorganization affected especially the educational program. Under a unified board, the U.S. Area Conference was made responsible for operating Tabor College, Pacific Bible Institute, and the Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary. The board initiated the "Budgeted Giving Plan" which provided the economic basis for the expansion of the educational program. The full accreditation of Tabor College became a major objective. Under the experienced leadership of L. J. Franz, who had succeeded F. C. Peters as president, the college moved forward in the expansion of its facilities and in the improvement of its program. The first project, a modern library, was completed in 1957. In 1959 accreditation by the Kansas State Department of Public Instruction and by the University of Kansas was achieved. In 1962 the new student center-gymnasium building appeared on the campus. In that year also Roy Just succeeded L. J. Franz as president of Tabor College. Under his able administration the college has received further accreditation by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools (1965). One of the outstanding features of the college year at Tabor has been the annual Bible conference. It has brought to the campus prominent Bible teachers whose expository lectures and study of special topics have enriched the lives of all participants and made a significant contribution to the total college program. Through an annual missionary conference the college endeavors to promote a deepening interest in missions. Pacific College (Pacific Bible Institute) Pacific College, now located on a twenty-acre campus in the southeast corner of the city of Fresno, California, began its history as a Bible institute in a large residence at 1095 N. Van Ness in 1944. Pacific Bible Institute (as it was known until 1960) came into being in response to a longfelt need on the part of the Mennonite Brethren churches on the Pacific Coast "to have a Bible school where the young people might avail themselves of a sound Biblical training in an institution organically related to their own conference."" The school had a modest beginning with twenty-seven students and four full-time and two part-time instructors. S. W. Goossen served as first principal of the institute. An increasing enrollment made new facilities mandatory. In 1945 the Board of Education of the Pacific District was able to purchase a former Y.W.C.A. building at a nominal price. The school moved into this three-story structure at 2149 TRAINING FOR LIFE AND SERVICE 275 Tuolumne in 1946. For the first few years the institute offered training primarily in Bible, Christian education and music. As the student body increased and the ministry of the school enlarged, the curriculum was expanded. In 1947 G. W. Peters, a former principal of the Bethany Bible Institute at Hepbur