For 100 years, Providence University College and Theological Seminary has been serving Manitobans and people around the world with high-quality Christian secondary education.
"It all began in January 1925, in a house on Spence Street in Winnipeg," says Kenton Anderson, President of Providence. "Back then there was a group of nine or ten students who gathered together as part of what was then known as Winnipeg Bible Institute. It began very humbly when our founder, H.L. Turner, wanted to establish a training institute for people who had some kind of calling to Christian ministry."
In the 1970s, the college was looking to expand and that's when it found the location in Otterburne, a former Roman Catholic school for boys.
"We moved here to have greater opportunities and some elbow room to grow into what it is today. We've recently gone back to the city with some of our programs, particularly serving international students, so now we have two campuses."
Over the past 100 years, Providence has seen 12,000 students come and go. The University College will be celebrating its centennial year throughout 2025.
"We'll be doing some storytelling along the way," says Anderson. "Our plan is to do a major celebration the first weekend in September. We're planning a gala event in Winnipeg at the RBC Convention Center. On the Saturday of that weekend, we hope to have a festival here on campus where we'll be bringing alumni, current students and friends from all over the place to come back to Providence to enjoy a day of celebration, an opportunity to experience various aspects of what we do here. We are planning a major worship concert that night. On Sunday, it will be more oriented around prayer and worship and committing ourselves to to the next 100 years."
Anyone interested in finding out more about Providence, to attend in the future, or for the centennial celebrations, can find all the details here.
"What has stayed the same over the past 100 years? Our commitment to being a Christ-centered institution where we're training people to understand their gifting and calling in a changing world from a Christ-centered perspective."