Event of 1839: Boston University is established as the Newbury Biblical Institute in Vermont.

Background. The Boston University School of Theology is recognized as the oldest theological seminary of American Methodism and the founding school of Boston University. Its origins trace to a decision by Methodist ministers and laymen in Boston, who elected to establish a theological school in 1839. A related development followed in 1840, when Baker, director of Newbury Seminary in Newbury, Vermont, started a biblical studies program at that seminary.

Establishment. On April 24–25, 1839, a group of Methodist ministers and laymen met at the Old Bromfield Street Church in Boston. During this meeting, they elected to establish a Methodist theological school. This decision initiated the institutional lineage that would eventually become the Boston University School of Theology, marking the beginning of its formal development as an educational entity.

Relocation. In 1847, a Congregational Society in Concord, New Hampshire, invited the Institute to relocate to Concord. The society made available a disused Congregational church building with a capacity of 1200 people. The invitation constituted an offer to relocate; the supplied passages do not record a completed move or the Institute's prior location.