Northwestern Bible School - Scroll Yearbook (Minneapolis, MN)

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outstanding laymen. He announced, therefore, in connection with inauguration of this new school, that one of the objectives would be to provide men equipped to hold these small town and coun¬ try pastorates. In the beginning, Dr. Riley called upon his assistant pastor, Rev. William Francis, a splendidly equipped and consecrated man, to share the teach¬ ing with him. With the increase in numbers the conception of the school also expanded. The presi¬ dent began to think of having other teachers and independent property for the school. Up ro this time the classes had been held in a side room of the First Baptist Church, just underneath the pas¬ tor ' s study. The next important step was taken to secure the services of Dr. A. J. Frost of C alifornia, a nationally famous Bible teacher. He accepted the call and was made Dean of the school, a position which he held until he had to retire bv reason of Jiou?ed office, irmpupep t) cl spppwrn. P 39t Out . a Old Piz Prnlf} thet ! i J- fend mem- o d timers

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The ' Deans’ centered around ihi9 one office. Dr. Riley said later that his conviction as to the necessity of such a school came from several cir¬ cumstances. First of all he believed that the north¬ west was in dire need of Bible indoctrination. When he arrived in Minneapolis in 1897 he found among the city pastors only one who believed the pre-millennia] teaching. However, for this new en¬ terprise, Dr. Riley leaned most heavily on 5 or 6 prominent, consecrated laymen, who were his im¬ mediate and faithful backers. Another vital reason for the inauguration of a Bible school was the fact that 90 of the 300 Bap¬ tist churches in Minnesota were without a pastor. They were small churches, some of them in rather out-of-the-way places, and at almost every meet¬ ing of the state board, another church building would be up for sale and the work at that point would be closed up. Dr. Riley was himself the product of a country church. He believed pro¬ foundly that the small country churches had con¬ tributed to the city professions their leading men and had sent into the city-church many of their

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Dr. Frost was a unique individual. He was about 6 feet, 1 inches tall, weighed 300 pounds, had a beard that extended down to his waist, had shoes that were number 12, so large that they had to be ordered specially, and when they came were put in the display window to attract customers. Soon after Dr. Frost came Thomas C. Horton, Charles H addon and Dr. j. H. Sam mis. It is inter¬ esting to note that these men later left North¬ western to found and build the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, commonly called Biola. Mr. Sam Robb served faithfully as treasurer from the in¬ auguration of the school. To begin with, the school was but a two-year course. The first graduate, Miss Annie Gooch went by appointment of the Baptist Women’s Board to India as a foreign missionary. As the school slowly increased in numbers from year to year, Dr. Riley ' s enthusiasm for it increased. I found in one of his books the following: If 1 were a man of the world and moved only in the social round or commercial realm and was com¬ pelled to face from day to day the bloodless, worn- out society of which John Watson speaks, I should well nigh lose confidence in all spiritual things. My soul renews its youth when I stand in the midst of the young men and women now studying in the Northwestern Bible and Missionary ' Brain¬ ing School, none of whom are far removed from the day of their regeneration and consecration, and the most of whom are what Gordon once called raw material, ready to be handmade for God. ' When they pray Fm carried on the wings of their petition into the divine presence, and when they speak or sing Fm illumined by the very sparkle in their eyes and the joy of their faces—and in that illumination I see God.” Yes, so convinced was Dr. Riley that just teaching about the Bible in schools and seminaries was not enough to prepare for real Christian service that he put his whole heart into it, calling men of remarkable ability to open the Word of God itself to these inquiring students. Of course the emphasis in training was on the fundamentals of the Christian faith. But Dr. Riley often said, I never sought to plan a school—God did it. With the vision that commonly characterized his endeavors, he entered upon this enterprise of the Northwestern Bible and Missionary Training School cramped by no narrow notions. To start with, he had to utilize the side room in the church as his classroom, but he never intended that the school should be a First Baptist Church adjunct. This was indicated by his first organization which elected a Congregationalist but a fundamentalist and pre-mi Hen narian as president of his board, and he divided the other offices among the five de¬ nominations. Since it was not to be a First Baptist school it was desirable at the earliest possible mo¬ ment to acquire for it irs own property where an independent and undenominational character would be evident. In the same block and to the northwest of Dr. Riley ' s church there was a piece of property owned by Mr. Harvey Abrahams which was for sale. It was learned that it could be secured for $10,000. This matter was taken to the school board, but the cost looked prohibitive to a com¬ pany of people who up to that time had had to defray no expense of any sort. Dr. Riley and his associate pastor had taught without salary, and the students had paid no tuition. However, the young pastor and school president was persistent and kept the matter before his board. Real estate began to move up in Minneapolis and the next thing he knew this Abraham property was priced at SI 5,000. Upon it stood four houses, containing about 45 rooms in all. Dr. Riley believed that Minneapolis real estate would continue to rise and such rise would be rapid, so he went back to his board and finally induced them to vote favorably. The purchase was made and the school moved into