Ralph D. Winter

Ralph Dana Winter (December 8, 1924 – May 20, 2009) was an American missiologist and Presbyterian missionary who helped pioneer Theological Education by Extension, raised the debate about the role of the church and mission structures and became well known as the advocate for pioneer outreach among unreached people groups. He was the founder of the U.S. Center for World Mission (USCWM, now Frontier Ventures), William Carey International University, and the International Society for Frontier Missiology.

His 1974 presentation at the Congress for World Evangelization in Lausanne, Switzerland – an event organized by American evangelist Billy Graham – was a watershed moment for global mission.

It was during this presentation that Winter shifted global mission strategy from a focus on political boundaries to a focus on distinct people groups. Winter argued that instead of targeting countries, mission agencies needed to target the thousands of people groups worldwide, over half of which have not been reached with the gospel message.

Billy Graham once wrote: “Ralph Winter has not only helped promote evangelism among many mission boards around the world, but by his research, training and publishing he has accelerated world evangelization."

In 2005, Winter was named by Time magazine as one of the 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America.

Early adulthood and works Winter grew up in the Los Angeles area. His father, Hugo, was a self-trained engineer who ended up leading a division of the L.A. planning department with 1,200 engineers under his leadership and was instrumental in the development of the greater L.A. Freeway system. When World War II broke out, Ralph was too young to enlist, so he studied for just two and a half years at Caltech and earned his B.S. degree, in order to join the U.S. Navy's pilot training program. Before he finished that training, the war ended and he was discharged, but his service in the Navy helped pay for his further education. He then went on to earn his MA at Columbia University, and PhD at Cornell University, and then a B.Div. at Princeton Theological Seminary. With childhood friend Dan Fuller (son of revival preacher Charles E. Fuller), he also studied at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif., the first semester the school was open in 1947. He would later teach there. Winter was one of the Donald McGavran, the founding Dean of the Mission School, early faculty hires. It was during Ralph’s era at Fuller Theological Seminary that he created the E-Scale evangelism which was one of his greatest contributions to global missions as this change the missionary outlook from focusing on countries to people - groups within nation-states.

In 1951, Winter married his first wife, Roberta Helm, with whom he would later establish the USCWM in Pasadena. The couple, along with their four young daughters, served as Presbyterian missionaries to Guatemala from 1956 to 1966.

It was in Guatemala where Winter (with Paul Emery and others) helped further the idea of getting theological training to rural pastors.Theological Education by Extension (TEE) program is the precursor for modern-day theological distance education programs and the multi-campus models used by schools and seminaries today. Winter and later Ross Kinsler, promoted TEE globally.

The idea behind TEE was to make it easier for local church leaders to learn and be ordained as ministers without relocating them and their families for years to the capital city to attend seminary. These students could continue their ministry while studying at extension campuses near their town or village. Then, once a month, they would go to the seminary in the capital city to study.

Recognition In 2005, Winter was named by Time magazine as one of the 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America.

Death Winter died on May 20, 2009, at the age of 84 from multiple myeloma and lymphoma. All four of his daughters are involved in mission activities. At the time of his death, Winter had 14 grandchildren, two great-granddaughters and one great-grandson. He had two brothers, David K. Winter, president of Westmont College for many years, and Paul Winter, structural engineer. His parents were Hazel Clare (Patterson) Winter and Hugo H. Winter, also known as "Mr. Freeway" for his role in the early development of the freeway system in Los Angeles County.

Mottos in life "Never do anything others can do or will do, when there are things to be done that others can't do or won't" – Dawson Trotman (founder of The Navigators, a big influence on Winter in his youth)

“Risk is not to be evaluated in terms of the probability of success but by the value of the goal" – Dr. Ralph D. Winter

"If it is worth doing, it is worth doing poorly" – a slight variation of a quote from G. K. Chesterton "If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly."

"You can get a lot done if you don't care who gets the credit" – Dr. Ralph D. Winter