In 1844, a pastor in Fort Wayne named Frederick C. D. Wynecken started teaching two men to be pastors. The next year, he became a pastor in Baltimore, and a pastor named Wilhelm Sihler continued teaching in Fort Wayne. The seminary officially started in August 1846, when eleven students and an instructor from Germany arrived in Fort Wayne. They were sent by a German pastor named Wilhelm Loehe. At first, classes were held in a nearby house.