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Providence College is a Christian academic community in the evangelical
tradition that teaches people to grow in knowledge and character for leadership
and service. Providence College is committed to exploring both faith and life
through accredited undergraduate degree programs in the Liberal Arts and
Professional Studies. Providence is chartered by the Province of Manitoba to
offer degrees that serve as pre-requisites to post-baccalaureate degree programs
at the University of Manitoba and other universities around the world.
Individual courses also transfer to other university undergraduate degree
programs.
Providence is an interdenominational school governed by a
Board of Directors, elected from a Corporation that represents the supporters of
the School. Together with Providence Seminary, Providence College stimulates
over $19 million annually in economic activity in Manitoba. With 300 full-time
equivalent college students, 125 full-time equivalent seminary students, and 27
regular faculty members, Providence College and Seminary is the largest
self-standing Christian educational institution in the
Manitoba.
Providence alumni serve in the church and in society at large
in various occupations. Alumni of the college make an impact as public school
teachers, airplane pilots, operators of small businesses, media specialists, and
teachers of English to speakers of other languages in Canada and in other
countries. In addition to many employment opportunities, Providence College
graduates have gone on to study in institutions such as the University of
Manitoba, Gordon Conwell Seminary, Trinity Western University, Regent College,
and the C.G.A. program.
Providence began in Winnipeg in 1925 as Winnipeg
Bible Training School, the vision of Rev. H.L. Turner. The name was soon changed
to Winnipeg Bible Institute. Over the next 45 years it remained a small but
academically vibrant school. It received a provincial charter to grant
theological degrees in 1949 and was renamed Winnipeg Bible Institute and College
of Theology. In 1963 the college moved to a full degree-granting program and was
again re-named, this time to Winnipeg Bible College, a name it retained until
1991.
In 1970, Winnipeg Bible College faced a financial and enrolment
crisis. The building it was occupying in Winnipeg was slated for destruction and
the school needed a new home. That new home turned out to be St. Joseph's
College, a Roman Catholic high school in Otterburne which had been closed a few
years previously. The college moved there in the fall of 1970 with 70 students
enrolled for classes. Within a few years the school had grown to 300 full-time
students.
In 1972 a longtime dream became reality with the formation of a
graduate division called Providence Theological Seminary. Since that time, the
seminary has become one of Canada's most respected interdenominational
seminaries, with full membership in the Association of Theological Schools
(ATS).
As early as 1931, President Rev. Forsberg, stated that academic
excellence and spiritual vitality should go hand in hand. He envisioned
strengthening the school through the addition of liberal arts and his vision
continues. In the 1960s, Rev. Elmer Towns pushed Providence to greater
academic excellence while still maintaining a high level of Spirituality. More
liberal arts courses were added throughout our history and in 1991, a
transferability arrangement was achieved with the University of Manitoba. At
present, by far the majority of our College courses are transferable to public
university programs across Canada and beyond.
In 1992, in an effort to
more accurately represent both its theological roots and its broad academic
program, the school's name was changed to Providence College and Theological
Seminary. The name is steeped in tradition -- one of its buildings was named
Providence House -- and it also speaks of God's provision for the school over
its 80 years of providing the best in Christian education. |
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