In 1906 a young men 's Bible class was organized in the Immanuel Presbyterian Church by Rev . T. C. Horton, Bible teacher of the church. This class soon took on larger proportions and was named "The Fishermen 's Club." A short time later Mr. D. H. Steele, an elder of the same church and manager of a department store, re qu ested Mrs. Horton to open a Bible class for the, young women of his store, offering a large room for the purpose. The class grew to large numbers by the coming in of young women from other stores, and was named "The Lyceum Club." From such young people the first students of the Bible Institute were recruited. In the Fall of 1907, Mr. Horton secured the cooperation of Rev. A. B. Pritchard, pastor of Central Presbyterian Church, and some day classes were held in the lecture room of that church. It soon became clear that a building was needed, and several weeks were spent in search of proper quarters. A location was secured on South Main Street, not an ideal location, but the best then offered. On February 25, 1908, a meeting was called to effect a permanent organization. At this meeting the following persons were elected as officers: Lyman Stewart, Presi dent; A. B. Pritchard, Vice-President; T. C. Horton, Superintendent; R. A. Hadden, Associate Superintendent; B. C. Atterbury, Secretary; and Leon V. Shaw, Treasurer. There was a rapid development of the school. Messrs. Horton, Hadden, and Pritchard formed the Faculty and took up the teaching work. From the beginning, the school was evangelistic in character. Shop meetings were taken over and conducted, Bible Women's work was organized, a work among Jews was commenced, as was also Spanish Mission work and work among the men of the oil fields, and Extension classes were organized in the city and surrounding towns . In 1911 the Board of Directors decided upon an advance movement and called Dr. R. A. Torrey as Dean. Dr. Torrey entered upon his duties in January, 1912. In order to rrieet the enlarging needs and to provide a more suitable 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 which was broken on June 22, 1912, and the building was dedicated the following year. Dr. Torrey continued as Dean until 1924, when he again entered the evangelistic field. Owing to the growth of the school and the increase of re sponsibility thereby entailed, a reorganization was effected and the work divided: a President to care for the administrative aspect, and a Dean to handle the educational phases, working under the Board of Trustees. Dr. Louis T. Talbot is the present President of the school and Dr. S. H. Sutherland, Dean. Legally known as The Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Incorporated, this ins titution -with true pionee r spirit-has taken forward steps in the field of Christian education by strengthening its courses materially. In 1936 the Institute applied for and received State authorization for the c onferring of certain degrees. Three four-year courses were then organized leading to the degrees of Bachelor of Theology, Bachelor of Christian Education, and Bachelor of Sacred Music. In 1943, under authority of the State of California, the Board of Trustees of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles e stablished the Bible Theological Seminary of Los Angeles. This move was made in order to provide proper recognition for those s tu dents who are d o ing work of seminary level. In 1945, in an effort to extend the missionary training program of the Bib le Institute, the school of Missionary Medicine was brought in to being. This on e year post-graduate course is o ff e red as a practi cal supplemen t to th e miss ionary traini ng program in Bible schools, seminaries, and colleges. It is open to graduates of any schoo l providi ng the graduate qua lifies in the spiritual, intellectual and missionary requirements that are outlined. This e xpansion doe s not mean any departure from the theological a nd spiritual standards of this institu tion . The statement of fa ith to whi ch th e, founde rs of the school sub scribed is still rig idly adhe red to in e very detail. (See pag e 3.)
-4-
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker