by 1665 the seminary appeared to be reliably enough established, and laval selected bernières for this office. he was to hold it for four terms: 1665–72, 1673–83, 1685–88 and 1693–98, a total of 25 years. the seminary began to develop in stages: first as a school of theology (1663), then it became a classical college (1668), after which it grew into a seigneurial corporation (1668), then a large corporation, supporting the clergy of the colony. as a frontier mission, sources of funding needed to be secured. the priests engaged in the ministry looked to the seminary for support, the seminary, in turn, relied upon the séminaire des missions étrangères in paris, by virtue of an agreement made by laval with his religious congregation in 1665, as well as upon donations from monasteries and individuals back in france who wished to support the catholic church's mission to the native peoples.