Messenger College is the national college of the Pentecostal Church of God located at 300 E 50th St., Joplin, Missouri. A Christian college with programs to serve many people, the institution is accredited through the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS) and eligible for all federal student aid programs. Degrees are offered in Pastoral Ministry, Youth Ministry, Intercultural Ministry, Biblical Exposition, Discipleship, Music and Business Administration. Distance learning is offered through Messenger College On-Line.

Messenger College was created in 1987 upon the foundation of two merged collegiate institutions. In November 1983, the Pentecostal Church of God, the sponsoring organization of two denominational colleges in the United States, elected to merge those institutions into one college in Joplin, Missouri, the host city of its international headquarters. Accordingly, Southern Bible College (Houston, Texas), an accredited institution with the American Association of Bible Colleges, and Evangelical Christian College (Fresno, California), authorized by the California Post-Secondary Education Commission, were closed and the resources moved to Joplin, Missouri, where Messenger College was opened in newly constructed facilities on 16 acres (65,000 m2) of wooded property across from the international offices of the church denomination.[citation needed] The College opened in September 1987.

Messenger College is a legal entity operating under the statutes of the State of Missouri and the aegis of the Pentecostal Church of God ecclesiastical denomination. The denomination consists of 1,186 churches in the United States. In addition, the denomination’s outreach to Third World nations include 5,400 churches and outstations, 89 schools and training centers, and numerous assistance programs providing food, clothing and related human care outreaches. Messenger College is the denomination’s national collegiate institution in the United States for the education of its ministers, missionaries, teachers, and other professionals to serve its constituency and others in the United States and abroad.