St. John's College, University of Manitoba

St. John's College is a small Anglican college located on the University of Manitoba campus in Winnipeg, Canada. It is home to the Institute for Anglican Ministry, a ministry of the Diocese of Rupert's Land that seeks to train lay people.

The first Anglican cleric in the Northwest interior of Canada was the Reverend John West who, in 1820, established the first Anglican school in the Red River Colony. The growth of the Red River Colony led to the creation of the Diocese of Rupert's Land in 1849. The first bishop of the diocese was David Anderson. When he arrived at Red River he established the first school to bear the name "St. John's". For the school and the proposed theological college that would grow from it Anderson chose the motto which remains the college motto, "In Thy light we shall see light" (Psalm 36, verse 9). The new school provided both academic and missionary instruction to the people of the settlement and of the North. By 1859, declining enrollment and a lack of qualified teachers forced the bishop to close the school.

Robert Machray became the Bishop of Rupert's Land in 1865 and arrived in the Red River Settlement later that same year. He recognized the need for an Anglican college and set about finding the necessary funds to reopen St. John's. The buildings from Bishop Anderson's school were renovated and others acquired to house the boarders and faculty of the new school. The Reverend John Mclean came from London, Ontario, to become the college's first warden. When the school was reopened on 1 November 1866 (All Saints' Day) it had nineteen boys attending as either boarders or day students and three students enrolled in theology courses.

St. John's College, established in Manitoba has a strong Anglican religious affiliation. Bishop Robert Machray officially opened the College on 1 November 1866. Consolidation was a way to strengthen this small and financially insecure institution.

The University Of Manitoba was established in 1877 by combining three existing church colleges; St. Boniface College (Roman Catholic), St. John's (Anglican) and Manitoba College (Presbyterian).