Abstract:
This is the first academic study of the Wellington Pacific Bible College (WPBC), a distinctive adult educational institution in New Zealand, focussed on teaching the Bible in the languages of the Pacific. The thesis comprises: (1) a narrative history of WPBC based on primary sources and interviews; and, (2) a study of the College and its teachings by means of a questionnaire and follow up interviews of past and present students, staff and the Board. The thesis addresses the question of the contextualised meaning and significance of WPBC to its principal stakeholders and the major factors that have shaped its curriculum, ethos, and mission in its first decade.