A Brief History of an Era

WINKLER, MAN.

At the recent closing of Winkler Bible Institute, the phrases "beauty for ashes" and "after a funeral comes a resurrection" were heard. Perhaps these phrases also describe the beginning of Winkler Bible Institute.

When the Tschongraw Bible School in the Crimea was closed in 1924, A.H. Unruh, who had instructed at the school since 1920, made the comment about a resurrection. Mr. and Mrs. Unruh decided to emigrate to Canada in 1925. Shortly afterward came fellow instructors Gerhard J. Reimer and Johann G. Wiens also emigrated. Wiens had founded the Tschongraw Bible School at the request of the church in Russia in 1918 and had served as founder and principal until the closure in 1924.

Unruh immediately began organizing a Bible school in Winkler in 1925, and when the other two families arrived, they were enlisted to help with the school. All three men were well educated, having studied at various schools in Russia. Reimer had also studied at the University of Kiev for four years, and Wiens at the Hamburg (Germany) Seminary for Ministers. Wiens had worked in India as a missionary for a number of years. Thus, the Winkler school was seen as the resurrection of what had died at Tschongraw.

Acceptance of the school grew rapidly. The name "Peniel" (meaning "Face of God") was chosen, because, as stated in the constitution, "to search the Face of God is to be the leading motif in the building and expansion of the School".

Winkler, Manitoba was a natural site for the Bible school. When the MB Church was begun there in 1888, it became the first MB church in Canada. However, it should also be noted that Winkler Bible Institute was not the first Bible school in Canada. The groundwork for a Mennonite Brethren educational program was launched in Hillsboro, Kansas with the founding of Tabor College in 1908. This led to Rev. J.F. Harms starting a Bible school in Herbert, Sask. in 1913.

Winkler Bible School was founded on the Scriptures. G.D. Pries, in A Place Called Peniel, wrote that the Scriptures "are accepted as the only rule of life and faith. Every teacher is required to subscribe to the origin, inviolableness, authority and the all sufficiency of the Word of God. . . ." Even though the Doctrinal Statement of the school was rewritten a number of times, the focus on Scripture did not change.

WBI was established as a private institution, governed by a directorate made up of the faculty plus advisory members from the community. When members were added to the faculty, they also become members of the directorate. However, during World War II many Christians became denomination conscious, and in 1944 the school was placed under the jurisdiction of the Mennonite Brethren Conference of Manitoba. The conference immediately elected a nine-member board of directors. The bank account of the school, when it was transferred from private to conference ownership, was $.05.

Program of studies

For most of its early years, WBI was a four-year, and even a five-year school. The basic course consisted of classes in biblical studies, church history, doctrine, elementary anatomy and physiology and the German language. Added to that were the Christian service course (apologetics, theology and personal work), the Sunday school course (pedagogy, child study, Bible reading and spelling), the music course (sight reading, hymnology, and voice lessons), and the course for Public Christian Service, which was the "fifth class" (homiletics, psychology, youth ministry, department specialization, and music). The roster of students included in the fifth class during the years 1933-1944 reads like a who's who in Canadian Mennonite Brethren Church history. When Mennonite Brethren Bible College was founded in 1944, the fifth class was dropped in favour of the college.

In 1961 the program was reduced to a three years. In 1968, it was further reduced to two years, with majors in sacred literature, Christian education and church music. Evangelical Teacher Training Association diplomas were also offered between 1932 and 1971.

The first graduates of WBI were H.G. Bartsch, P.D.Loewen, F.E. Peters and A.A. Unruh. By 1930, there were free female graduates, and the school had its first female valedictorian, Anna Neufeld.

Over the years more students came to the school, until it reached its high point in the mid-1970s.

Missions

Mission activity was a high priority during the early days of WBI. Henry G. and Anna Bartsch from Dalmeny Sask. had been students at WBI before they went to the former Belgian Congo (now Zaire) to do mission work. They founded an independent work at Bololo without an organization to support or direct them. Former fellow students then organized the Africa Mission Society in order to direct funds to the Bartsches. This society functioned until the work in Bololo was accepted by the Board of Foreign Missions of the Mennonite Brethren Conference.

Other missionaries followed. Missionary conferences became a regular part of the school year, and many students participated in summer ministries each year.

Winkler Bible Camp also was an outgrowth of the mission spirit evident at WBI. The camp was founded in 1949 by the faculty of the school.

The school started in 1925 in two rented rooms in the Cornelius Warkentin residence. By the fall of 1926, however, the school had its own building with three classrooms, a staff room and a foyer.

Other buildings were added as need dictated, until at its closing the school had adequate classroom space, dormitories, a gym and dining facilities.

Over the years, Winkler Bible Institute has seen thousands of students go through its doors. The impact the school has had on these students is evident in the ministry they continue to have in our churches and conferences. The loss of the school will be keenly felt for years to come.

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