Boston Baptist College has, for more than three decades, been equipping men and women for church ministry both in the United States and abroad. Under the leadership of Dr. A.V. Henderson, who served as the first President, and Dr. John Rawlings, then President of the Baptist Bible Fellowship International, Boston Baptist College (originally Baptist Bible Institute East and later Baptist Bible College East) was established in Shrub Oak, New York in 1976. Out of a deep concern for the mammoth population centers along America's northeastern seaboard, churches and church leaders from across the country joined together to raise up a college that would emphasize the historic fundamentals of the Christian faith. Coupled with that doctrinal commitment was a resolute mindset to build a college that would recognize the biblically ordained role of the Scriptural church in God's redemptive plan. Soul winning and Baptist church planting were at the very core of the founder's design. Within a year of its inception, the school was designated as an approved training facility by the Baptist Bible Fellowship International.