Today’s Photo Friday image isn’t a photo per se: it’s a scan of an article from The Toronto Star (formerly The Toronto Daily Star), describing the Brethren in Christ Church’s Ontario Bible School, an educational institution in Fort Erie.
The writer of this 1950 article describes Ontario Bible School as a “school of brotherly love.” He or she also emphasizes the facts that (1) “students do all the work at the school, which hasn’t even a janitor” and (2) the school’s supporting denomination, the Brethren in Christ, “believe in immersion baptism and ascetic life which bars movies, dancing, smoking, [and] lipstick.”
Like others with a Brethren in Christ background, I am fascinated by the ways in which media outlets depict “plain” communities like the early twentieth century Brethren in Christ. (I’ve blogged on this topic before.) Now, thanks to blog reader Aubrey Hawton, who supplied today’s Photo Friday image and several other newspaper clippings, I have plenty of news articles to reflect on. Thanks, Aubrey!
Stay tuned for more on this topic…
I, too, was facinated by the media’s portrayal of the early BIC in Ontario. Some of the other articles I forwarded to Devin included a description of the 1908 General Conference in Gormley (Heise HIll BIC), and a couple of articles reporting on Heise HIll’s Love Feasts (“Feast of Love”, I believe one article called it!)
Fascinating reading. I can forward copies to anyone who might be interested.
Also, OBC was in Fort Erie, not Niagara-on-the-Lake. The site is currently occupied by Niagara Christian Community of Schools, enrolling students from JK/SK through OAC (the equivalent of Grade 12, if you’re not in Canada).
Aubrey: Thanks for that correction (I’ll be sure to fix my error ASAP). Thanks also for sharing these great articles! I would encourage interested readers to take Aubrey up on his offer and read these pieces. In the near future I’ll be posting some (but not all) of these articles and offering some of my own commentary/analysis. Stay tuned…
Aubrey, I’d like to see the 1908 Conference at Heise Hill. [email protected]
Thanks much.