A CLOSER LOOK OF MY RALPH
Barb R. Winter
RALPH D.
WINTER December 8, 1924 - May 20, 2009
Ralph spent his boyhood years in South Pasadena and was nurtured in the
Christian faith by devout parents and from 1938 at Lake Avenue Church where he was active in Christian Endeavor. Later he joined the Navigators.
He pursued a degree in civil engineering at Caltech, joined the navy and was
training as a pilot when WW II ended. He earned an M.A. at Columbia University in teaching English as a second language and a Ph.D. at Cornell University in structural linguistics, with minors in cultural anthropology and
mathematical statistics. While in seminary at Princeton, he served as a
pastor of a rural New Jersey church.
He married Roberta Helm in 195l while at Cornell. Roberta's expert help in
research, writing and editing, among many other gifts, made her a valuable
partner. Following her death in 2001 after nearly 50 years of marriage,
Ralph married Barbara Scotchmer, July 2002, who brought him much joy and
facilitated his continuing ministry.
After Ralph's ordination in 1956, the Winters joined the Presbyterian Board of
Foreign Missions working for ten years in Guatemala among the native Mayan
people (Mam). Along with the development of 17 small businesses for bi-vocational
pastoral students, Ralph joined others to begin an innovative,
non-residential approach to theological studies known as Theological Education
by Extension (TEE), which has since been reproduced in countless mission contexts
around the world.
In 1966 Dr. Donald McGavran invited Ralph to join the faculty of the new School of World Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary. Between 1966 and 1976 he
taught more than a thousand missionaries, but he claimed to have learned much
more from his students. During these years he founded the William Carey
Library, a specialized publisher and distributor of mission materials, and the
Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship (PFF). He also co-founded the American
Society of Missiology, helped in starting Advancing Churches in Mission
Commitment (ACMC) and inaugurated what is now the Perspectives Study Program
(first called the Summer Institute of International Studies).
Many of the accomplishments of Ralph Winter's long career as a missionary,
mission professor and "mission engineer" stemmed from his conviction
that Christian organizations accomplish more when they cooperate in strategic
ways. It was at the Lausanne International Congress on World
Evangelization in 1974 that he presented a seminal address with his innovative
analysis and advocacy that has redirected evangelical mission energies ever
since. Building on McGavran's emphasis on people groups while gleaning
insights from his interaction with students and faculty, Ralph underscored the
necessity of pioneer, cross-cultural missionary outreach to thousands of
"hidden peoples," later known as "unreached peoples."
His statistics and careful reasoning stunned all who had previously assumed
that "near-neighbor evangelism" by existing churches would be
sufficient in world evangelization.
To facilitate creative outreach to unreached peoples, Ralph and Roberta founded
the U.S. Center for World Mission (USCWM) in 1976, and in 1977 the related
William Carey International University (WCIU), mobilizing evangelicals to pay
for the acquisition of the $15 million campus through a series of campaigns
that culminated in 1988 and that emphasized mission vision more than fund
raising. A community of workers in Pasadena and other locations, now
known as the Frontier Mission Fellowship (FMF), has grown to sustain an array
of cooperative mission projects. Ralph served as General Director of the
FMF until two weeks before his death.
At 84 Ralph continued to work full time, finding satisfaction in addressing a
wide range of new challenges and perplexing questions. He was busy
dictating into his last days believing that retirement is not Biblical.
Ralph is survived by his wife, Barbara; by his and Roberta's four daughters
(all of whom are active in Christian mission), Elizabeth Gill (Brad), Rebecca
Lewis (Tim), Linda Dorr (Darrell) and Patricia Johnson (Todd); by 14
grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. He is also survived by his
older brother, Paul H. Winter (Betty), a graduate of Caltech and a well-respected
structural engineer; by his younger brother, David K. Winter (Helene), former
president of Westmont College for more than 25 years; by nephews, nieces and
numerous friends and colleagues worldwide.
''TO GOD BE THE GLORY---GREAT THINGS HE HATH DONE."
Barbara R. Winter - Friday, June 19, 2009
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Memorial gifts may be made
to the Roberta Winter Institute, c/o Betty Leung, 1605 Elizabeth Street, Pasadena, CA 91104.
You may read about the Institute at http://www.uscwm.org/rwi/index.html.
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Published in the July 2009 issue of the multi-lingual online journal www.GlobalMissiology.org