A Cloud of Witnesses

J. C. Wenger (1910-95) was a teacher of historical theology in the Goshen Biblical Seminary, a member school of the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries, Elkhart, Indiana. Born on December 25, 1910, at Honey Brook, Pennsylvania, he is a son of the Lancaster Conference, but he removed with his parents to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, as a boy, and was later baptized in the Rockhill congregation of the Franconia Conference.
He studied at Eastern Mennonite and Goshen colleges, and holds degrees from both American and European universities. He was ordained successively as a deacon (1943), a minister (1944), and a bishop (1951) in the Mennonite Church, and served on the executive committees of both the district and general conferences, as well as on the Presidium of the Mennonite World Conference. He was also a member of the executive committee of the Mennonite Historical Society and of the Institute of Mennonite Studies. He taught at Union Biblical Seminary in India and at Eastern Mennonite Seminary in Virginia. He also served on the editorial boards of the Mennonite Quarterly Review and of the book series Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite History, as well as The Mennonite Encyclopedia.
He was a member of the Committee on Bible Translation, which prepared the New International Version of the Bible. He was deeply concerned to see his church seek renewal and greater faithfulness to Christ and His Word.