Peace River Bible Institute

Peace River Bible Institute

Motto	A College for Life
Type	private bible college
Established	1933
Affiliation	Christian
President	Waldie Neufeld
Students	227 (2006-2007)
Location	Sexsmith , Alberta , Canada
Colours	black      and Red
Affiliations	CHEC
Website	www.prbi.edu
PRBI Logo

The Peace River Bible Institute is a degree-granting college recognized by the province of Alberta. PBRI's Bachelor of Religious Education course was recognized after its establishment in the 1980s by the American Association of Bible Colleges. The Bible college is located in Sexsmith, Alberta, Canada.

Mission Statement: "To conduct a Bible College, the training of students in a thorough knowledge of the Word of God, Holy Scriptures, and the training of students to become ministers, whether at home or abroad."

Vision Statement: To train believers to become disciple-makers who know God, model His character, and are able to build into others the life-changing principles of God's Word.

History

The Peace River Bible Institute (PRBI) was founded in 1933 in Berwyn by Walter McNaughton, a graduate of the Prairie Bible Institute, who moved PRBI to its present location in Sexsmith two years later. PRBI's first director was Hattie Kirk, whose work was celebrated in an exhibition at the Grande Prairie Museum devoted to women's role in the history of the Peace region. The college's student numbers have risen rapidly since 1993, with the number of enrolments rising from 60 to 200 over the 10 years leading up to 2007.

Programs

Courses offered by PRBI range between two and four years in length, and cover religious education, church music, pastoral studies and mission work. The college's four-year Bachelor of Religious Education course in "Church Ministry and Community Service" can include fire fighting certification, with training provided through a partnership with the Sexsmith fire department. Some of the students who take these courses become pastors, but others seek employment in other professions.

Discipleship

PRBI is a self described discipleship-focused school. Its website states that "we are in the process of creating a transferable model of disciple-making to be observed and practiced within the student body." As part of their discipleship model PRBI encourages one-on-one discipleship relationships as well as facilitating mandatory discipleship groups called "Care Groups" which are led by various Care Leaders. Care Leaders are selected from upperclassmen who apply and are affirmed by Student Life for the following school year. Resident Leaders are also considered part of the discipleship model, as they oversee the spiritual and material needs of the various dormitories.

Recognition

A 2004 water balloon fight at PBRI involving 800 participants and 8,000 balloons was recognised by The Guinness Book of World Records as the largest yet conducted. The record was exceeded at Sint-Michielscollege Brasschaat in Belgium in April 2005.

Staff and faculty

The current President of PRBI is Waldie Neufeld, who was promoted from academic dean to become the college's president in 2007. His forerunner was Rod Masterson, who had left the position for ministerial work in Southern Alberta. Before seeking a career in education, Neufeld had worked in agriculture and construction. Neufeld teaches the class Disciple Making, one of PRBI's core classes, and co-teaches Family Studies with his wife Sharon.

Department Leaders:

• Brad Cowie - Chairman of Christian Ministries Department
• Kim Cairns - Vice President, Chairman of Global Ministries Department.
• Warren Charlton - Chairman of Pastoral Department.
• John Bell - Chairman of Music Department.

Student Life:

• Darryl Schmidt - Dean of Students.
• Shane Dell - Dean of Men.
• Sharon Gerber - Dean of Women.
• Autumn Teele - Associate Dean of Women.

Historical list of staff and faculty

Year	President	Vice President	Chair of Christian Ministries	Chair of Global Ministries	Chair of Pastoral	Chair of Music	Dean of Students	Dean of Men	Dean of Women	Assistant Dean of Men	Assistant Dean of Women
2005–2006	Rod Masterson	?	?	Darrell Gerber	Warren Charlton	John Bell	Darrel Schmidt	Dean Yurkewich	Debbie Higgs	Ryan Campbell	Brandi Hall
2006–2007	Waldie Neufeld (Interim)	?	?	Darrell Gerber	Warren Charlton	John Bell	Darrel Schmidt	Dean Yurkewich	Judy Sandiford	Ryan Campbell	Brandi Hall
2007–2008	Waldie Neufeld	Darrell Gerber	Darrell Gerber	Darrell Gerber	Warren Charlton	John Bell	Darrel Schmidt	Mark Weiderick	Judy Sandiford	Samuel Minatara & Simon Ghali	Brandi Hall
2008–2009	Waldie Neufeld	Darrell Gerber	?	Darrell Gerber	Warren Charlton	John Bell	Darrel Schmidt	Mark Weiderick	Sharon Gerber	Samuel Minatara	Brandi Hall
2009–2010	Waldie Neufeld	Darrell Gerber	?	Darrell Gerber	Warren Charlton	John Bell	Darrel Schmidt	Mark Weiderick	Sharon Gerber	N/A	Autmn Teele
2010–2011	Waldie Neufeld	Darrell Gerber	Brad Cowie	Darrell Gerber	Warren Charlton	John Bell	Darrel Schmidt	Mark Weiderick	Sharon Gerber	N/A	Autumn Teele
2011–2012	Waldie Neufeld	Kim Cairns	Brad Cowie	Kim Cairns	Warren Charlton	John Bell	Darrel Schmidt	Shane Dell	Sharon Gerber	N/A	Autumn Teele

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| 2012–2013 || Waldie Neufeld || Kim Cairns || Brad Cowie || Kim Cairns || Warren Charlton || John Bell || Darrel Schmidt || Shane Dell || Sharon Gerber || N/A || Kendra Ford |}|}

External links

• PRBI's official website