Kentucky Mountain Bible College

Kentucky Mountain Bible College was initially established by Dr. Lela G. McConnell and Rev. Martha Archer in 1931[4] as an offshoot of the nearby Mount Carmel High School.[5] Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Pelfrey donated the land, which had been at one time used by a defunct coal mining company as a commissary, approximately three miles from the present site. Because of the "young people with the call of God upon them" who "felt the need of further training beyond the high school work in order to fit them better for missionary work",[5] the Kentucky Mountain Bible Institute, signed as the "Vancleve Church School," was established in order to train young people from the Appalachian foothills of Eastern Kentucky in the areas of ministry and missions.