A Pilgrimage Of Faith, J.B. Toews, 1993

im- plicit to more explicit (though still unwritten) Mennonite Brethren theological orientation.46 The second generation administration and faculty of the Bible college continued to struggle to retain constituency con- fidence. The population shift from the Prairies to the West, which produced a critical mass among the Mennonite Brethren churches in British Columbia, added to the distance between the college and major church constituencies. The quest for survival of the Bible institutes-Winkler, Bethany and Columbia, which in many areas are duplications of the original Bible col- lege program-contributed to the tension. The change of Co- lumbia Bible Institute to a Bible college placed it on equal aca- demic level with the Mennonite Brethren Bible College. To deal with the situation of four institutions at the post- high school level, the Canadian Conference appointed a task force to study the educational needs of the churches and chart a course toward coordination. Its report to the 1987 conference described the critical effects of such proliferation in the field of education. Under the heading "Compelling Is- sues," the report stated isolated eight compelling issues: 1. Theological and polity fragmentation. A major factor in- fluencing denominational education is an increasing theo- logical and polity fragmentation within our brotherhood. A weakening of denominational identity strikes deeply at the 183 A PUGHIMAGE OP FAITH heart of our education programs, and makes it difficult to enunciate a vision for Mennonite Brethren higher education. 2. Program articulation. For some years, three levels of higher education were offered among Mennonite Brethren-Bible institute, Bible college, and seminary. More recently, some of the distinctives among these insti- tutional types have become blurred and costly duplication has developed. 3. Institutional planning. Institutional developments seem to be based upon expediency rather than a definitive mas- ter plan. Without systematic planning, programs have de- veloped that overlap with those offered elsewhere and, consequendy, institutions compete for the same students. 4. Attendance at non-M.B. schools. An increased number of students attending non-MB institutions has heightened the competition for students among our institutions and increased the theological and polity fragmentation within the denomination, 5* Declining demographics. Demographic data suggest a stabilization, if not an actual decline, in the potential stu- dent population. The enrollment in our schools follows closely the population trends in society, and unless we re-