GENERAL INFORMATION
HISTORICAL SKETCH
In 1906 " The Fisherman 's Clu b," whic h combined Bi ble stu dy and so ul winning, was organized for th e yo un g men of the Immanuel Presbyter ian Church by Rev. T. C. Hort on, ass istant pas tor. The fo ll owing year. Mr. D. H. Steele, an elder of th e same church and manage r of a department s tore, requested Mrs. Hort on to open a Bible class fo r the yo un g women employed in his store, offerin g a la rge room for the purpose . The g roup was named ' 'The Lyceum Club" and g rew to includ e oth er yo un g women bes ides th e employees of the one store. These two groups of yo un g people presented the cha ll enge of further study and training. The Bible In stitut e idea was not entirely new; as earl y as 1901 Mr. Lyman Stewart, a Chri sti an layman with a zeal fo r the Lord 's service and an almos t propheti c eye to th e futur e. had plann ed fo r such a school in Los Ange les . ow, in response lo an immediat e need, Mr. Stewart and Mr. Horton became co-founders of the Bibl e Institut e of Los Ange les. In the fall of 1907. through th e cooperati on of Rev . A. B. Pritchard , pastor of Central Presbyterian Church. some classes, whi ch were the fore runner of the Bibl e In stitute, were held in the lecture ro om of that church. On February 25, 1908, a mee ting was called to effec t a permanent organization. At thi s mee tin g th e foll owing persons were elec ted as officers: Lyman Stewart , Pres ident ; A. B. Pritcha rd , Vi ce-Pres ident ; T. C. Horton , Superintendent; R. A. Hadden, Associate Superintendent ; B. C. Atterbury, Secretary ; and Leon V. Shaw, Treasure r. Mess rs. Hort on, Hadden, and Pritchard formed the faculty. The re was rapid development of the sc hool. From the beginning its outreach was evangeli sti c. Shop mee tin gs were taken over and conducted . Bible Women 's work was organized, a wo rk amon g Jews was commenced, as was also Spanish Mi ss ion work and work among the men of th e oil fi elds. Extension classes were organized in the city and in surrounding towns. Within three years the schoo l had well outg rown the experimental stage, and a forward educati onal step was taken with the calling of Dr. Reuben A. Torrey to be Dean. On Januar y 1. 1912, Dr. T orrey began his twelve-year period of service in this offi ce. In order to meet the en larg ing needs and to provide a suitable and permanent home for th e schoo l, a new site was purchased at Sixth and Hope Streets and a new building e rec ted, gro und for whi ch was broken on June 22, 1912. This building, dedi cated the foll owing year, reflected the builders' hopes and faith for futur e g rowth. Legally known as The Bible Institute of Los Ange les, Incorporated, this institution acad emicall y has taken four distinc t forward s teps in the fi eld of Christian education. In 1936 the Institute appli ed for and received State authorization for the conferring of certain degrees. Three four- year courses were th en organized, leading to the deg rees of Bachelor of Theology, Bachelor of Christian Edu cation, and Bachelor of Sacred Music.
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