Dwight Lyman Moody, a businessman and evangelist founded the Moody Bible Institute (MBI) in 1886. The journey began with the establishment of Chicago Evangelization Society with the objective to train and educate various types of Christian workers - teachers, missionaries, ministers and musicians to enable them to make known the Gospel of Jesus Christ effectively.
Moody gained his interest in the field of education when he met Emma Dryer who happened to be a principal and teacher of Christian Doctrine and Scripture at Illinois State Normal University. The Chicago Fire of 1871 devastated many lives in both physically as well as financially which impelled Moody to invite masses of people to his Bible Study Classes which was also attended by Dryer as the teacher. All these attempts just marked the foundation of an institute in the future.
The year 1883 was marked by the foundation of “May Institute” by Dryer to organize weekly meetings for the church members. These meetings enabled open discussions between the members who requested Moody to start a school to prepare future evangelists from among the youth of the Church. To address this concern, Moody arranged a formal meeting at Farwell Hall in 1886 and declared the foundation of the Chicago Evangelization Society which later came to be known as the Moody Bible Institute after Moody’s death. This was followed by the foundation of the Moody Publishers in 1894 which aimed in publishing books to reach the both the Christian as well as the non- Christian societies.
But the Institute got its identity not only as an educational institution and as a publishing house but also as the sponsor of first non- commercial Christian Radio Station in America which later grew to become Moody Broadcasting Network (MBN). Apart from owning and operating 35 commercial- free stations MBN also provides satellite programming to over 700 outlets.
The institute’s campus is located on the Near North Side in Chicago. The main purpose of this institute is education to train students for the ministries in churches and para-church organizations. Both Graduate and Undergraduate courses are offered in traditional as well as distance- learning modes. The funding of undergraduate school tuition fees are by means of outside donations. But the undergraduates have to take the responsibility to fund their room rents, certain fees and books. MBI is recognized by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, the Association for Biblical Higher Education, and the National Association of Schools of Music.
The primary degree in the Undergraduate division is the Bachelor of Arts (BA) and BA is offered in the subjects like Bible, Educational Ministries, Field Education, Communications, Pastoral Studies, Sports Ministry, Sacred Music, Theology, World Missions and Evangelism and Missionary Aviation Technology. The institute also offers a Bachelor of Science degree in Biblical studies and also a non- degree TESOL certificate.
The graduate courses are designed in a way to facilitate easy learning of those students who do not have an undergraduate background in Bible. The Moody Graduate School offers Graduation degrees, Master of Arts, Master of Ministry and Master of Divinity. The MA program is a two- year full time course while the Master of Ministry is designed for those individuals who are actively involved in ministry for a full- time. The Master of Divinity program is aimed to train students for full- time church ministry. The year 2010 is about to experience the staring of the Doctor of Ministry program.
The Student Life Guide (SLG) sets up rules and guidelines for the students of the Institute. Students are prohibited to consume tobacco or to drink alcohol. Even in 2006, the student body voted to ban viewing of DVDs in the dorms. But there is no restriction on the students to watch movies in the theaters or to attend other functions off- campus. The student communities achieve their outlets through the Moody Student Newspaper, the Arch yearbook and music groups.
Some of the sports activities both for the male and the female students include men’s soccer, volleyball, basketball, flag football, water polo and softball. The Brother/ Sister Floor Program is dedicated to increase interaction among the students with diverse backgrounds by way of city outings, shared meals, open house discussions and through common times of prayer and worship.
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