Biola_Catalog_19380101NA

BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH 1906 a young men 's Bible cl ass was organi zed in the Immanuel Presbyterian I N Church by Rev. T. C. H orton, Bibl e teacher of the Church. Thi s cl ass soon took on larger proport ions and was named "The Fi shermen's Club. " A short time later Mr. D. H . Steele, an elder of the same church and manager of a department store, requested Mrs. H orto n to open a Bible cl ass fo r the young women of hi s store, offer­ ing a large room for the purpose. T he cl ass grew to large numbers by the coming in of young women from other stores and was named "The Lyceum Club." F rom such young people the fi rst students of the Bible Insti tute we re rec ruited. In the Fall of 1907 Mr. Horton secured the co-operation of Rev. A. B. Pritchard , pasto r of Central Presbyteri an Church, and some day classes we re held in the lecture room of that church. It soon became clea r that a building was needed, and several weeks we re spent in sea rch of proper quarters. A loca tion was secured on South Main Street, not an ideal location, but the best then offered . On Feb ruary 25, 1908, a meet ing was ca ll ed to effect a permanent organi zation. At thi s meeting the fo ll owing persons we re elected as offi cers: Lyman Stewa rt , Presi­ dent ; A. B. Pritchard , Vice-President; T. C. Horton, Superintendent ; R. A. Hadden, Associate Superintendent ; B. C. At terbury, Secretary, and Leon V. Shaw, Treasurer. T here was a rapid development of the school. Mess rs. H orton, H adden and Pritchard fo rmed the Faculty and took up the teaching work. F rom the beginning the school was eva ngeli sti c in character. Shop meetings we re taken ove r and con­ ducted, Bible Women 's wo rk was organ ized , a work among Jews was commenced , as was also Spani sh Mission wo rk, and wo rk among the men of the oi l fiel ds, and Extension classes we re orga ni zed in the city and surrounding towns. In 1911 the Boa rd of Directors decided upon an adva nce movement and call ed D r. R. A. Torrey as Dean. Dr. Torrey entered upon his duti es in January, 1912. In order to meet the enl arging needs and to p rovide a more suitabl e and perma­ nent home for the school, a new site was purchased at Sixth and Hope Streets and a building was put up, ground for whi ch was broken on June 22, 1912, and the building was dedicated the following year. Dr. Torrey cont inued as Dea n unt il 1924, when he aga in entered the eva ngel isti c fi eld . Early in the yea r of 1925, Dr. John M. Maclnni s entered upon hi s du t ies as Dean of the Institute, in which capacity he se rved until the close of 1928. In the spring of 1929 Dr. Will iam P . White was elected Pres ident of th e Institute, and Dr. Elbert L. McCreery was appointed Dean of the Faculty. On the resignat ion of Dr. Whi te in the Fa ll of 1932, Dr. Louis T. Talbot, pastor of the Chu rch of the Open Door, was elected as President and se rved unt il the com­ ing of Dr. Paul W . Rood, who was install ed as Pres id ent in September, 1935. Legall y known now as T he Bibl e Inst itute of Los Angeles, Incorporated, thi s institution-wi th a true pionee r spirit- has taken a fo rwa rd step in the field of Chris­ tian educa t ion . First, it has strengthened its courses materi all y; and , in the second place, the Institute has applied fo r and has received State authori zation fo r the con­ fe rring of certain degrees. At the prese nt time, courses are offe red which lead to the degrees of Bachelor of T heology and Bachelor of Christia n Ed ucat ion. Recently, a four-yea r music course has been planned and authori zed, and this course will lead to the degree of Bachelor of Sacred Music. Thi s forwa rd step does not mean any departure from the theological and spiritual standards of thi s institution . We adhere ri gidl y to our statement of fa ith in eve ry detail.

5

Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker