Charles Henry ("C. H.") Phillips convened classes October 3, 1932 with Roscoe E. Hollister and, later that school year, eight other students in an unfinished church basement in a classroom sectioned off by a curtain.

Phillips came from an Anglo-Caribbean plantation family, born in London, England, according to one account, who immigrated to Saskatchewan as a 24-year-old.

As that young man, he came to Canada "utterly disgruntled" with the brand of Christianity that perpetuated unbearable inequalities between the clergy and the poor.

"C. H." was exposed to the Restoration Movement by the pioneer Disciples of Christ preacher R. J. Westaway, and he went to study at Eugene Bible University (now, Northwest Christian College) in Oregon.

With A. G. Spaeth who donated a building and land in Calgary at 2720 Centre Street North, J. W. Jenkins, the Hovises, J. H. Dean, and several others, Phillips and Breakenridge laid ABC's institutional foundations.

Breakenridge marshalled the resources of Disciples in southern and central Alberta to create the new school's financial and physical infrastructure.

Breakenridge was supported in teaching responsibilities by other recent ABC graduates and senior students until he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in spring, 1943.

Breakenridge served as principal for the next twelve years, reshaping the curriculum along the lines of liberal arts programs of the time.

The college was technically in receivership except for the patience of its main creditor, the Church of Christ Development Company led by John Bergman, an ABC alumnus.

Over the next seventeen years, Lammiman ("Mr. L") and the faculty and staff upgraded academic standards and created the "Christian Service Lab" and internship practicum.

With Miss Aileen Case, Lammiman instituted predictable administrative process for the school's academic year.

Mr. Lammiman guaranteed that what had been built under his leadership would serve as a foundation for more things to come when he collaborated with the trustees to recruit a successor and to plan for an orderly transition.

Fraser as president and Doug Dietz as chairman of the academic committee led the school in enrolment expansion, faculty and staff development, creation of a degree-completion program, and in a capital building campaign.

At approximately the same time, Dr. Ron Fraser asked the Board of Trustees to initiate a transition in view of his intention to retire as President of Alberta Bible College.

In May, 2015, after an extensive search, the Board of Trustees called Dr. Stan Helton to be President of Alberta Bible College, effective July, 2015.

[citation needed] ABC students organized new churches beginning in 1939 in Calgary, and alumni have since organized churches in Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.

Early ABC graduates – Tom and Leota Rash, Bill and David Howell Rees, Edna Hunt, and Frank and Marie Rempel – were pioneers in the direct-support missions movement.

[citation needed] From its inception Alberta Bible College sought to be a catalyst for unity in the Stone-Campbell tradition in Canada.

The "classical English Bible curriculum" remains the core of the College's ministerial training program, but as resources have allowed, other majors have been added.