William Bell Riley

Dr. William Bell Riley, leading fundamentalist pastor of First Baptist Church, Minneapolis, and president of the Northern Baptist Convention and the North Western Bible Institute, delivered on a Sunday morning the dedication address of the newly-built Wheaton College chapel in 1925. With Dr. Charles Blanchard sitting beside him on the platform, Riley stood in the pulpit and preached from Micah 4:1-7, discussing "The Future Kingdom of the Messiah." He stated that the Hague, socialism and all the secular university presidents could not prevail against Divine Power. Concluding his address, Riley emphasized the need for institutes of higher learning that would be Christian in entirety.