Apostolic Missionary Training Institute

The Apostolic Missionary Training Institute was a Canadian Pentecostal Bible school associated with the Evangelical Churches of Pentecost. It provided religious and missionary education during a period when several Canadian Pentecostal fellowships maintained their own training institutions for pastors, evangelists, missionaries, and other ministry workers. The institute is principally significant as a predecessor institution in the history of Eston College, rather than as a continuing independent educational brand. The institute operated alongside the Full Gospel Bible Institute, which had been established in Eston, Saskatchewan, in 1944 to serve the Full Gospel Missions Fellowship, later known as the Apostolic Church of Pentecost. The two schools reflected the separate organizational structures of their sponsoring Pentecostal fellowships. As discussions progressed toward a merger between the church bodies, their leaders also reassessed whether two separate Bible schools were necessary. This process culminated in a joint meeting in Eston on October 8, 1953. The governing bodies of the Full Gospel Bible Institute and the Apostolic Missionary Training Institute met for the final time and agreed that AMTI would close. Its students were transferred to the Full Gospel Bible Institute. The decision effectively ended AMTI as an autonomous institution while extending its educational work through the surviving school. The merger helped consolidate ministerial training for the related Pentecostal movement and contributed to the institutional lineage that later became Eston College. The Full Gospel Bible Institute continued operating in Eston for decades, expanding its campus, faculty, programs, and ministry activities. It later became The Full Gospel Bible College in 2005 and Eston College in 2007. In 2023, Eston College relocated from Eston to Regina, Saskatchewan, where it operates within Regina Apostolic Church. Because the available historical material is focused primarily on the successor institution, detailed information about AMTI's exact founding year, campus, curriculum, enrollment, faculty, and leadership is limited. The institute should therefore be understood as a defunct predecessor and merger participant in the development of Canadian Pentecostal higher education, not as another name for the modern college. Its legacy is preserved through the transfer of students and the consolidation of ministerial education into the Full Gospel Bible Institute.

The Apostolic Missionary Training Institute belonged to the network of Pentecostal Bible schools that developed in Canada to train ministers and missionaries for denominational service. It was connected with the Evangelical Churches of Pentecost, while the Full Gospel Bible Institute served the Full Gospel Missions Fellowship, the body that later became associated with the Apostolic Church of Pentecost. The surviving historical accounts provide substantially more information about the Full Gospel Bible Institute than about AMTI itself, but they establish AMTI's role in the consolidation of Pentecostal ministerial education. During the 1940s and early 1950s, the two fellowships maintained separate structures and separate Bible schools. The Full Gospel Bible Institute opened in Eston, Saskatchewan, on November 6, 1944, after a committee had been appointed at a 1944 Trossachs Camp meeting to organize a school for the fellowship. The school began with six students and subsequently became the principal institutional center for the movement's biblical and ministry training. AMTI operated during the same broader period as the training institution connected to the Evangelical Churches of Pentecost. The two church fellowships eventually entered discussions concerning a merger. In that context, their governing bodies also considered whether maintaining two Bible schools remained necessary. At a meeting in Eston on October 8, 1953, the governing representatives of the Full Gospel Bible Institute and AMTI met to complete the institutional decision. They determined that AMTI would close and that its students would transfer to the Full Gospel Bible Institute. This ended AMTI's independent operation and made the Full Gospel Bible Institute the continuing school for the consolidated Pentecostal constituency. The successor institution expanded over the following decades. Under G. S. McLean, who served as president from 1944 to 1983, the school grew from its initial six students to a reported peak enrollment of 187 in 1976. Its activities broadened beyond classroom instruction to include a press, a missions summer institute, a library, a Bible and science department, conferences, and other ministry gatherings. Later presidents oversaw campus development, new ministry opportunities, debt reduction, and preparations for formal accreditation. The institutional name changed several times. In October 2005, the Full Gospel Bible Institute became The Full Gospel Bible College. In May 2007, it adopted the name Eston College. The college developed degree-level offerings, including the Bachelor of Biblical Studies, and completed an accreditation process with the Association for Biblical Higher Education, receiving initial accreditation in May 2007. It later continued with certificates, diplomas, bachelor's programs, ministry minors, and discipleship education. AMTI's direct institutional history ends with the 1953 closure and student transfer. Its historical importance lies in the way its educational function was absorbed into a larger denominational school during a period of Pentecostal organizational consolidation. The later history of Eston College represents the continuing institutional line into which AMTI's students were incorporated. Eston College moved from Eston to Regina, Saskatchewan, in August 2023 and now operates within Regina Apostolic Church.

• 2023

  Successor relocates to Regina

  [1]Eston Collegeen.wikipedia.org

  Eston College relocated from Eston to Regina, Saskatchewan, continuing the educational lineage associated with the former Pentecostal Bible schools.

• 2007

  Successor becomes Eston College

  [1]Eston Collegeen.wikipedia.org

  The successor school adopted the name Eston College and received initial accreditation from the Association for Biblical Higher Education after an extended accreditation process.

• 2005

  Successor adopts the Full Gospel Bible College name

  [1]Eston Collegeen.wikipedia.org

  The institution that had absorbed AMTI's students changed its name from Full Gospel Bible Institute to The Full Gospel Bible College.

• 1953

  AMTI closes and transfers students

  [1]Eston Collegeen.wikipedia.org

  At a meeting in Eston on October 8, the governing bodies of AMTI and the Full Gospel Bible Institute completed arrangements associated with the merger of their fellowships. AMTI was closed and its students were transferred to the Full Gospel Bible Institute.

A denominational Pentecostal training institution focused on preparing students for missionary and church ministry service.

• Religious education

  Missionary training

  The institute's central purpose was missionary preparation within a Pentecostal church context. Available historical material does not identify a complete course catalogue, credential structure, or specific instructional sequence, but the institution's name and denominational setting indicate a focus on practical and theological preparation for Christian mission work.

• Religious education

  Biblical and ministerial education

  AMTI provided Bible-school education connected to the Evangelical Churches of Pentecost. Detailed program descriptions are not available in the supplied sources. Following the 1953 closure, students continued their studies at the Full Gospel Bible Institute, whose later curriculum developed into certificates, diplomas, bachelor's degrees, ministry minors, and discipleship programs.

• 1953

  Consolidation with the Full Gospel Bible InstituteM&A

  Background

  The Evangelical Churches of Pentecost and the fellowship served by the Full Gospel Bible Institute were discussing an organizational merger. Their leaders concluded that maintaining two Bible schools was unnecessary.

  Action taken

  AMTI was closed, and its students were transferred to the Full Gospel Bible Institute. The action was an institutional consolidation rather than a commercial acquisition.

  Aftermath

  The Full Gospel Bible Institute became the continuing educational institution for the consolidated Pentecostal constituency and later evolved into The Full Gospel Bible College and Eston College.

  Source

1. 1Eston Collegeen.wikipedia.org