St John's College: Faith and Education in Western Canada

Paul G. Thomas is the Duff Roblin Professor of Government at the
University of Manitoba, the author of Parliamentary Reform Through
Political Parties, and the co-author of Canadian Public Administration:
Problematical Perspectives.

Readers of this review are entitled to know that the reviewer is a
Fellow at St. John’s College, where he has spent more than half of his
30-plus years as a professor at the University of Manitoba. The long
history, traditions, and even the struggles to survive have created a
distinctive culture and atmosphere at the college compared to the wider
environment of the university. With roots going back to the Red River
settlement of the 1850s, St. John’s College is the oldest Anglican
institution in Western Canada. Its history reflects the shifting
fortunes of the Anglican church, of Winnipeg’s Anglo-Celtic elite, and
of the wider society in Manitoba and beyond.

Jack Bumsted, a distinguished Manitoba historian, has written what he
calls a “biography” of an institution, which draws on the rich
archives of the college as well as on interviews. The main focus is on
the internal dynamics of the college, and its relationship with the
church and with the university. The leadership and personalities of the
people who have guided the college over its 150 years are vividly
described. During that period, the college has been forced by
circumstances to redefine itself several times. From its beginnings as
primarily a theological college, it evolved into a co-educational
liberal arts college and was one of the four founding colleges of the
University of Manitoba. Since then it has faced and overcome challenges,
both financial ones and in maintaining its independence and identity.
The full narrative stops in 1980 when the author joined the college, but
he includes a brief epilogue that brings the account up to 2005. The
integrating theme of the narrative is the indomitable spirit of the
college and its leaders.

While primarily of interest to members of the college and the Anglican
Church, the book will also provide an enjoyable and informative read for
people interested in education in Western Canada, including how small
colleges fit within the mega-universities of today. Even this reviewer,
who lived through part of the college’s history, discovered in this
fine book many things he did not know.