Called or Curious?

“Is there not room for a missionary training college in every great church in this land where young men may prepare at home for foreign work and the languages in which they expect to preach the gospel?”  A.B. Simpson

Our founder, AB Simpson had a burning desire to seethe gospel go to all corners of the world, but as people responded to fulfill this desire, he quickly came to see the need for theological education to equip them.  

In 1882, he implemented the first Bible college in North America, right in the heart of Times Square.  Fifteen years later the school was moved to Nyack on the Hudson River – that’s the main building in the photo, and over the years it has served as a college and seminary, as the national headquarters for the C&MA, and Simpson is buried there. I had the chance to visit the location as a young man – it was the fountainhead for all things Alliance in the day.  

This initiative sparked the bible college movement in North America.  Five Alliance schools were in New York, St. Paul Minnesota, Georgia, Redding California and Regina Saskatchewan – now in Calgary.  In addition, Alliance people started other schools like Prairie Bible Institute in Three Hills Alberta (L.E. Maxwell was an Alliance guy), and Peace River Bible Institute in Sexsmith Alberta where our own JT McNair was a professor.  So many pastors and missionaries came out of these schools, including me as an alumnus of Canadian Bible College.  In addition, there are around 180 Alliance Bible colleges and Seminaries around the world.

But things have changed on this theological training scene and Bible colleges are having very tough days – for a few reasons:

-The loss of denominational distinctives.  We have been in an anti-denominational time, so there is no longer much loyalty to any one movement.  

-The cost of residential education.  It’s increasingly hard to justify spending$25k a year to live in a dorm and take classes when your pastoral salary upon completion will be low.  

-Baby boomer parents don’t want their kids taking a theological degree when they could take a secular degree and make money to get ahead in the world.  So they send their kids to an overseas short-term institute to get a bit of bible.

-Governments tend to stick their nose into private school affairs and make it difficult to operate.  I saw this when I was on the Board of Governors for Canadian Bible College.

-The internet has changed the landscape for so much of the world – in house biblical education included.  The phrase ‘on line’ has turned things upside down.

-Covid has been a killer for many institutions, including Nyack College – the first Bible college in North America, which closed permanently in 2022 after 140 years of operation.  

So as these training places face difficult times, the need for pastors and missionaries remains high. The Canadian Alliance recently voted to double our reach as a movement by the year 2035.  Along with the mass retirement of Boomer pastors and the projected need for new workers, we estimate a need for about 3000 people by that date.  An enormous challenge.  Mennonite Brethren leadership is wrestling with this same issue.  How do we remain true to our statement of faith at the same time as once large denominations have gone woke and are crumbling to dust? How do we deliver quality theological education that is accessible to students?

My son Chris has recently stepped into a national role that is seeking to address these issues. He is challenging people who feel a call to pastoral/missionary work to take steps in that direction.  He is calling it “Called or Curious.”  This is for young people, for second career people and for former pastoral people who wish to reenter the ministry.  Chris will be with us at Chilliwack Alliance on January 18.  Maybe the Lord has something in mind for you?  Give it some thought and prayer.

As this is the last blog of the year, I want to thankyou my faithful reader for following along with my weekly blog and seeking fresh encounters with the Lord.  Let’s stay fresh with Him – growing until our last day!  Happy New Year to you all!

Pastor Leon Throness

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