Somerset Christian College

Somerset Christian College, now known as Pillar College, is a private evangelical Christian college, formerly owned and operated by Pillar of Fire International, a religious denomination. The college was located in the Zarephath section of Franklin Township in Somerset County, New Jersey. Due to the flood caused by Hurricane Irene in 2011, the Zarephath campus buildings have been condemned, and all classes met at Stonecrest Church in Warren, New Jersey. The decision was made to leave the condemned Zaraphath site and relocate the main campus and administrative offices to the Newark location. A new extension site was opened in Somerset near the original college in February 2013. Pillar College is the only accredited evangelical college in the state of New Jersey.HistorySomerset Christian College was established in 2001 in the buildings and property formerly used by Zarephath Bible Institute, founded in 1908 and Alma White College, founded in 1921. Like SCC, these institutions were established by The Pillar of Fire Church, now Pillar of Fire International, as training schools for missionaries, preachers, and teachers. While both ZBI and AWC were either completely or mostly dormant for approximately three decades, in 2001, under the sponsorship of Pillar of Fire International, the same parent organization of ZBI and AWC, the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education issued the newly created Somerset Christian College a charter to grant the two-year associate degree in Biblical Studies. In 2006 the college was approved to offer four-year Bachelor of Arts degrees. Somerset Christian College became Pillar College in April, 2013.