Looking ahead to its future preparing evangelical leaders, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) is planning a move from its historic campus in the Chicago area. Earlier this year, TEDS announced that it had entered a commitment with Trinity Western University in British Columbia. TEDS will stay in Illinois through the 2025-26 academic year and then move to Canada.

While TEDS played a critical role in shaping American evangelical thought and scholarship in the 20th century, it has struggled for years with enrollment and finances. It has been tied with Trinity International University, which has an online undergraduate program and a law school in California. With the move to Canada, TEDS will be acquired by Trinity Western, the largest private Christian university in Canada, with more than 5,000 students. Trinity Western has both undergraduate and graduate programs.

The acquisition of TEDS is expected to increase Trinity Western’s theological footprint in North America. Both TEDS and Trinity Western have theological commitments rooted in the Evangelical Free Church of America.

What became TEDS started in 1897 in a church basement.

Trinity Western President Todd F. Martin said in a statement that the school is “privileged to continue” the legacy of “evangelical scholarship and expand the impact of a global Christian education.” Trinity International President Kevin Kompelien said in a statement that he believed “a school like TEDS will thrive best and accomplish our mission most effectively as part of a larger theologically and missionally aligned evangelical Christian university.”

Dr. David Pao, dean of TEDS, has been named interim president. The Evangelical Free Church of America said Pao will oversee the transition.