A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

e freedom of conscience, and the active application of love to the whole of life, including the promotion of peace and nonresistance, missions, relief, mutual aid and voluntary service These lofty aspirations are worthy of emulation by any Christian school! — Much credit for the development of the unified program of higher education in the United States Conference must go to E. J. Peters, chairman of the Board of Education for seventeen years (1954-1971). His wise leadership has been of major significance in the unification and promotion of the entire program. Whether a small conference with a membership of less than 20,000 can support two senior liberal arts colleges over a longer period of time, is a question which only future history will be able to answer. The Mennonite Brethren Bible College The role of the Bible college in Christian higher education may be differentiated from that of the liberal arts college as well as from that of the theological seminary. S. A. Witmer defines a Bible college as "an educational institution whose principal purpose is to prepare students for church vocations or Christian ministries through a program of Biblical and practical education." 110 Its purpose is thus broader than that of a seminary, which prepares students primarily for the pastoral ministry; it is narrower than that of the liberal arts college, since it seeks to prepare students primarily for church-related ministries. The need for such an institution was felt by many leading brethren in the Canadian M.B. Conference in the late thirties. Official expression of this need was given by the late J. A. Toews in his report on Christian education to the 1939 Canadian Conference meeting in Coaldale, Alberta. 51 Although the challenge presented by Toews found a favorable response in the brotherhood, no definite steps were undertaken until 1943 (largely due to war conditions) when a recommendation was accepted by the conference to found a Bible college in Canada, to be controlled and financed by the conference, and that such a college be centrally located. The college board, which was elected by the conference, took immediate steps to open the school in Winnipeg in the fall of 1944.™ A. H. Unruh, veteran Bible teacher and educator, was elected by the conference to serve as first president of the Mennonite Brethren Bible College. Thus in the same year when the Pacific Bible Institute was founded in Fresno, a similar school was established in Winnipeg. Among TRAINING FOR I.IKE AND SERVICE 277 :17. M.B. Bible College administration building. A. H. Unruh. first president the board members who rendered valuable services in the establishment of the college, C. A. DeFehr, H. P. Toews, and B. B. Janz deserve special recognition. To relieve Unruh of administrative duties the conference extended a call in 1945 to J. B. Toews, a man with teaching, administrative and pastoral experience, to assume the res