For over 120 years, those who have walked the grounds of Point Loma Nazarene University’s campus have been searching for one thing: truth. In 1897, those attending the Theosophical Society’s laying of the cornerstone for their School for the Revival of the Lost Mysteries of Antiquity would have seen the words “Truth, Light, Liberation for Discouraged Humanity” inscribed in an arch around the stone, paving the way for an age of enlightenment on PLNU’s campus.
PLNU’s mission statement isn’t far from those words etched long ago into the arch – according to the university’s website, they strive to be “a learning community where truth is pursued, grace is foundational and holiness is a way of life.” This pursuit of truth, grace and holiness led Phineas F. Bresee to start this college. And according to Ron Benefiel, the director of the Center for Pastoral Leadership at PLNU, six people prayed for it to begin.
“Six [people], five women and a man, prayed,” Benefiel said. “And as they prayed, they approached Bresee and really impressed on him the need to start a Bible college – Pacific Bible College. And he wasn’t all that warm to it at first, but eventually agreed.”
As Pacific Bible College was established, Bresee became a chairman. But Bresee wanted it to be more than just a Bible college – he wanted it to be a “holiness university,” according to PLNU’s Viewpoint Magazine. This prompted the school’s name to change to Nazarene University in 1910, and by 1919, it became Pasadena College. From there, Pacific Bible College evolved into Pasadena College. Until Pasadena’s university president, W. Shelburne Brown, heard about an opportunity that could change everything for the school.
“Brown was more than interested: he was stirred,” Ronald B. Kirkemo wrote in his book “For Zion’s Sake: A History of Pasadena/Point Loma College.” When Brown heard that the Point Loma cliffside campus was for sale, he knew he needed to act upon it. Rick Kennedy, a professor of history and environmental studies at PLNU, said that Brown’s dream to move the college to Point Loma was entirely a call from God.
“There are places on earth where God apparently has ‘extra communication,’” Kennedy said. “I think we have a history that goes way back, as a type of site of spiritual communication and also desire to do education with that … the move down here [was] a response to a direct call.”
Brown had an undeniable calling to move the school, but first, he needed to get everyone on board with him.
“Brown believed that this [campus] had great potential,” Benefiel said. “He brought it to the board of trustees, and they said ‘no.’ The faculty was generally not in favor. They were all settled. Spouses had jobs. Children in school. They had their homes. The whole thing was just incredibly disruptive, so they said ‘no.’ [Brown] went away, as the story goes – maybe after an extended time of prayer – and came back saying, ‘I believe this is what God wants us to do.'”
Benefiel said that because Brown had such spiritual authority, the board of trustees decided to trust him and continue with the move to Point Loma.
The move wasn’t easy. Pasadena College’s move to the Point Loma campus meant that USIU Cal Western had to move out, and students weren’t happy about that. Benefiel said they caused damage to some of the buildings and put holes in the walls. But Pasadena College persevered, and it was all hands on deck as faculty and volunteers established their new home on the cliffside of Point Loma in 1973.
This move was an answer to Brown’s prayers and a dream brought to life. However, not everyone was able to make the move toward the coast. According to Benefiel, some professors and students left. Everything was changing – including their school name to Point Loma College – that the remaining students and faculty needed to find things they could hold onto, bringing a bit of Pasadena to the coastline.
The prayer chapel in Pasadena opened shortly before the move to Point Loma. It was fully funded by students, and Benefiel said that it was important to them to be able to bring this part of Pasadena to their new space.
“There’s all kinds of little stuff that they brought, but this was actually the big symbolic thing that we brought from the old campus that was here for almost 50 years,” Benefiel said. Although the old chapel was replaced by the new Prescott Prayer Chapel, the stained glass can still be seen around campus.
Sitting in Benefiel’s office, there’s an almost perfect view of Brown Chapel and the piece of stained glass that was once at the forefront of Pasadena College’s prayer chapel – a reminder of the school’s past, while still reflecting the morning sun and lighting the way for the future.
Both Kennedy and Benefiel agreed that as the university moves ahead, it’s important not to leave these things about the campus in the past. From the Theosophical Society to Cal Western and all the other institutions that occupied this campus before PLNU, they believe it’s important to make an effort to preserve the college’s history. According to Benefiel, that’s exactly what PLNU’s new president, Kerry Fulcher, is striving to do.
“President Fulcher has a remarkable commitment to and interest in the history and the mission,” Benefiel said. “He’s deeply committed to not just leading the school into the future but also honoring its past.”
“Truth, light, liberation for discouraged humanity.” Those were the words that shaped the Theosophical Society, and in a way, they’re still shaping Point Loma Nazarene University today. Despite the challenges and obstacles the school has faced, it has found a way to bring light and hope into every space it has occupied.
“It doesn’t matter what our little incremental differences are,” Kennedy said. “We always got to keep the big picture big. I think we’ve carried on that culture, which goes back to the Theosophists. They, too, wanted to be all-embracing. They did not want to reject Christianity, but they wanted to embrace Christianity into something much larger.”
PLNU’s campus has seen a lot of changes over the years. It looks much different than it did 100 years ago, and it continues to evolve as people come and go from this place.
“Jesus’s life and light – that’s what they were pursuing,” Kennedy said. “That’s what everyone seems to be pursuing up here on top of this hill.”
