Humble, inspired & intertwined
Across the United States and Canada, the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) has carried a consistent vision for biblically grounded, evangelical education for over a hundred years. That vision has shaped pastors, missionaries, scholars, and leaders around the world. It ultimately gave rise to two institutions whose paths have long run side by side and, through decades of prayerful imagination, have now converged.
In the late 1950s, in British Columbia, the EFCA created a committee with a vision of founding a Christian liberal arts college in B.C.’s Fraser Valley. The college would prepare graduates to serve Christ faithfully across church, culture, and society. After seeking God’s wisdom and guidance, the committee purchased a dairy farm in Langley, B.C., and plans for the college began to take shape.
Helping guide the committee was David Enarson, after whom TWU’s gymnasium is named. Enarson, a Christian educator and church leader, envisioned something even greater—a fully accredited Christian university. Little did he know how much God would bless that step of obedience, which would shape Christian higher education in Canada for generations
When the time came to identify a founding president for the college, they turned to a young pastor and missionary whose life had already been shaped by obedience, resilience, and a deep love for Christ. The EFCA appointed Dr. Calvin (Cal) B. Hanson as founding president in June 1961—before there was even a campus or a student body. Cal Hanson led with a conviction formed by his often-quoted belief that “If Jesus Christ is Lord, nothing is secular.” Under his leadership, Trinity Junior College opened in 1962 with 17 students, grew steadily, and became known as Trinity Western College in 1971.
In 1984, under the leadership of TWU’s second president, Dr. R. Neil Snider (1974–2006), Trinity Western stepped into full recognition as a Canadian university. A year later, its founding act was updated to match this new reality—bringing to life the vision Enarson had first imagined in the 1950s.
A deeper history
But this story reaches back long before the ’50s. It really began in 1897 in America’s Midwest, when early Free Church leaders organized ministerial training in a simple church basement. Their purpose was to prepare faithful gospel workers through serious study of Scripture and a mind shaped by Christ.
That modest program grew over time to become Trinity College and Seminary and found a permanent home in Deerfield, Illinois, in 1961. In 1963, the seminary was renamed Trinity Evangelical Divinity School—widely known as TEDS. Over the following decades, leaders such as theologian and educator Dr. Kenneth Kantzer helped establish TEDS as a centre of evangelical scholarship committed to both doctrinal fidelity and academic rigour. Kantzer envisioned TEDS as a “love gift to the worldwide church of Christ,” and his specific desire was to see TEDS equip students within a larger Christian university setting.
In TWU’s fledgling years, God was already paving the way for these two sibling institutions to come together. TEDS recognized Cal Hanson with a Doctor of Letters in 1968, and he later served on the TEDS faculty as Director of Internship and Field Education from 1978 to 1995. From the beginning, a relational and theological connection existed between the two schools, leading to future conversations about collaboration within the wider Free Church family.
When Trinity Western began as a two-year junior college, it was initially envisioned as a place where students could begin their studies before continuing theological education at Trinity institutions in the United States—namely, Trinity College and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Even in those formative years, the educational missions of what would become TWU and TEDS were already intertwined.
As early as the mid‑1980s, leaders discussed the possibility of a “TEDS Canada.” While those plans didn’t advance at the time, the institutions continued in conversation, connected by people, purpose, and a common confession within the EFCA and its Canadian counterpart, the EFCC.
A family reunion
Four decades after the idea of “TEDS Canada” was first formed, two longstanding institutions of Christian higher education have come together, with TEDS now serving as the divinity school of TWU. After nearly three decades as the divinity school of Trinity International University and months of prayerful discernment, the TEDS transition to TWU is shaped by gratitude for the past and anticipation for what lies ahead.
This transition rests on the confidence that TEDS’ 128-year legacy will be honoured and will flourish within a university built on the same Christ-centred commitments. Former Trinity International University President Kevin Kompelien reflected on this common heritage when the transition was first announced, noting, “As universities founded by the Evangelical Free Church of America, we embody a shared theological foundation and a shared calling to provide exceptional Christian education.”
TWU President Todd F. Martin expresses a similar sense of continuity and purpose. “We are privileged to continue a longstanding legacy of evangelical scholarship and expand the impact of a global Christian education,” he says. “We are driven by the same heartbeat for the gospel, and together, we can do even more to serve the Church and societies worldwide.”
One can’t help but notice
God’s direction in this fascinating story cannot be missed, down to the names of the three institutions involved: Trinity Western University, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and Trinity International University. In his great sovereignty, God even purposed the shared name “Trinity,” reflecting the theological centre both institutions have held in common, allowing TEDS to join TWU without losing the recognition and value of its well-known name.
Looking back to 1962 and 1963, when Trinity Western and TEDS were established, or even to 1897, when the vision for an Evangelical Free seminary first emerged, we see the providence of God guiding the story, with his plan unfolding over decades. God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—the Trinity—was the one orchestrating events and writing the history that would lead to the remarkable fulfillment of something first envisioned long ago.
As this new chapter begins, the plot remains in God’s sovereign, providential, and trustworthy hands. We thank him for his faithfulness and guidance throughout this incredible story.
About Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Founded in 1897, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School is one of the world’s leading evangelical divinity schools, known for its commitment to Scripture, rigorous scholarship, and global ministry impact. Now part of Trinity Western University, TEDS continues its mission of forming faithful servant leaders for the Church worldwide.
About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is a global Christian liberal arts university dedicated to equipping students for life. Uniting faith and reason through Christian teaching and scholarship, TWU is a research institution offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in the humanities and sciences as well as in several professional schools. It has campuses in Canada in Langley, Richmond, and Ottawa. Learn more at www.twu.ca or follow us on Instagram @trinitywestern, Twitter @TrinityWestern, on Facebook and LinkedIn. For media inquiries, please contact: media@twu.ca.