Peniel College was a Nazarene college located in Peniel, Texas. It has since closed.
History Peniel College began as Texas Holiness University, founded by B. A. Cordell and E. C. DeJernett founded in 1898.Hunt County Historic Commission, Hunt County Historical Marker Descriptions: PenielA&M Commerce Libraries, Northeast Texas History and Genealogy Center, W. Walworth Harrison Library: Texas Holiness University catalogue and prospectus 1910-1911 It was then established on a 37-acre campus in 1899 by A. M. Hills and a small holiness community at Holiness, later called Peniel and now part of Greenville, Texas. It was sponsored by the Holiness Association of Texas, but the association disbanded in 1910 after many of its members united with the Church of the Nazarene."Why These Schools? Historical Perspectives on Nazarene Higher Education The school then became one of the first three "official" Nazarene educational institutions in 1908, supported by the Dallas District Church of the Nazarene, and the name was changed to Peniel College.Handbook of Texas Online: Texas Holiness College In 1920, the college merged with Oklahoma Nazarene College in Bethany, Oklahoma, which was then renamed "Bethany-Peniel College".
Peniel's presidents included A. M. Hills, Edgar EllysonA&M Commerce Libraries, Northeast Texas History and Genealogy Center, W. Walworth Harrison Library: Texas Holiness University faculty 1910-1911 (1907–1911), Roy T. Williams (1911–1913), J. B. Chapman (1913–1918), and A. K. Bracken, who took the presidency at Bethany-Peniel College in 1920.Yearbook of American Churches Covering the year 1916 by H. K. CarrollYearbook of American Churches Covering the Year 1917 by Clyde F. ArmitageYearbook of American Churches Covering the Year 1918 by Clyde F. Armitage
Legacy Founded in 1909, Oklahoma Holiness College, called Oklahoma Nazarene College when it absorbed Peniel College, took on the founding date of Texas Holiness University (1899).
Notes and references