Evangel University

Evangel University is a private Christian university with an embedded seminary located in Springfield, Missouri. It is affiliated with the Assemblies of God Christian denomination, which is also headquartered in Springfield. The former Evangel College was renamed Evangel University on June 8, 1998. The campus sits on 80 acres (320,000 m²) that were originally part of O'Reilly General Hospital. Evangel's president is Dr. Carol Taylor. She began her tenure in May 2014 and was formally installed in an inauguration ceremony on October 8, 2014.

History

Evangel College (later University) was founded by the General Council of the Assemblies of God in 1955 as the first national Pentecostal school of arts and sciences. The denomination, led at the time by the Rev. Ralph Riggs, already had several Bible schools and wanted a college where students entering secular fields could study in a Pentecostal, faith-based environment. The college was established on the property of the former O’Reilly General Hospital, which had been established during World War II by the U.S. Army. In its five-year history as an Army hospital, O’Reilly served more than 100,000 patients. After the war, it briefly served as a veteran’s hospital before the Army declared it excess property. The property was acquired by the Assemblies of God in December 1954 for the use of Evangel College. The first day of classes at Evangel was September 1, 1955. There were 87 students. Evangel students lived and went to classes in the O'Reilly barracks for years. The first permanent structure built on campus was the Klaude Kendrick Library in 1963. In the decades since, Evangel has slowly replaced the barracks with permanent structures. The last Army barrack on campus was demolished in 2009. .