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The Mennonite Seminary was founded in 1735 by the Mennonite Congregation of Amsterdam as a private institute with the intention to provide the Dutch Mennonite congregations with academically trained pastors.

With the foundation of the Dutch Mennonite Conference in 1811 the education and training of pastors for the entire Dutch Mennonite community became the formal task of the Mennonite Seminary. The Mennonite Seminary has always sought institutional cooperation within a wider academic context. From 1735 until 2001 the Seminary was embedded within the University of Amsterdam (until 1877 the “Athenaeum Illustre”). From 2003 on the Mennonite Seminary has embedded its academic training within the Faculty of Theology of the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam http://godgeleerdheid.vu.nl/en/index.aspx . All academic training offered by the Seminary is located within the faculty and leads to (international) bachelor and master’s degrees.