Moody Bible Institute - Early Years

Early Years

In early 1886, D. L. Moody established the Chicago Evangelization Society, for the "education and training of Christian workers, including teachers, ministers, missionaries and musicians who may completely and effectively proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ".

In 1870, Dwight Moody was introduced to Emma Dryer. Emma was a principal and teacher at Illinois State Normal University. Dryer was also deeply devoted to teaching the youth of Chicago about Christian doctrine and Scripture. In 1871 after the Great Chicago Fire devastated much of the Chicago area, Moody began to simultaneously minister to the needs of those damaged financially and physically by the fire. Moody invited all the youth to his Church, and Dryer was invited to teach bible study to these masses of people, which fueled Moody's interest in education.

In 1883, Dryer, with the permission of Moody, organized and headed what was known as the "May Institute". These were weekly meetings in which church members would meet and pray. Most importantly however, would be the open discussions facilitated among the church members. Many of the church members began to request that Moody open up a new school. This school would serve as a training school for the youth of the Church, a place where future evangelists could learn the skills necessary to carry on in the Revivalist tradition. On January 22, 1886, Moody addressed church members with the following, "I tell you what, and what I have on my heart I believe we have got to have gap-men, men to stand between the laity and the ministers; men who are trained to do city mission work. Take men that have the gifts and train them for the work of reaching the people." This formal meeting, held at Farwell Hall, resulted in the group founding the Chicago Evangelization Society, which was later renamed the Moody Bible Institute after Moody's death.

Before 1900, Moody played a significant role in fund raising to support MBI. After he died, however, the Institute struggled financially James M. Gray, the president of the school, invited Henry Parsons Crowell to financially restructure the Institute. Under Crowell, the school was founded on business principles of productivity and performance. The MBI Executive Committee met nearly every Tuesday for the next 40 years. An administration building took years to complete, but when the building was dedicated, there was no mortgage, and only $50,000 left to pay.