Terry Winter

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Prominent Canadian evangelist and broadcaster, Terry Winter passed away suddenly December 10, 1998 of a brain aneurysm.

Winter gained national prominence in 1975 as host of his award-winning Christian television program, The Terry Winter Show. Presently airing on 26 major Canadian stations, including VisionTV, the show has featured interviews with leading international Christians such as Billy Graham, Charles Colson, Michael Green, John Stott, Tony Campolo and Brian Stiller. Over one million people in Canada and northern US view this program weekly. For more than 30 years, Winter conducted city-wide evangelistic crusades across the country. Holding a doctorate in pastoral theology from Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, Calif., he was a frequent speaker at evangelistic banquets, denominational conferences, theological schools and seminaries. He participated in the Lausanne Conferences on world evangelism and the Billy Graham Conference in Amsterdam, as well as several North American conferences, including the Canadian MB Conference in July.

Winter was raised in Naniamo, B.C. in the Brethren Church; he and his family attended St. John's Shaughnessy Church, a large evangelical Anglican church.

Said Charles Colson, chair of Prison Fellowship International, "Terry Winter was one of the great leaders of our faith in North America. He had a tremendous mind. Of all the people who interviewed me, I enjoyed Terry the most. This is a tremendous loss."

Brian Stiller, president of Tyndale Bible College and Seminary, remarked, "There are few Canadians who present the Christian faith with stature as has Terry Winter. As a colleague in public witness he has been at the forefront of calling Canadians to consider Jesus Christ as Lord. I will personally miss this dear loving friend."

Long-time friend, W. Ward Gasque, president of Pacific Association for Theological Studies in Seattle, Wash., said, "Terry was a humble servant of the Lord. He was aware of his personal inadequacies, but wanted to do all he could to help others like himself find meaning in Jesus. He was an evangelist to the non-believer who was open to considering the claims of Christ without emotional pressure."

Gary Walsh, president of The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, lamented, "Genuine sorrow has swept across the evangelical movement at the news of Terry Winter's passing. Christians everywhere identified with his authentic witness and ministry. From grieving hearts, we thank God for the profound contribution Terry made to Kingdom work."

Terry Winter is survived by his wife Joan; son David; daughters Carolyn, Susan and Janice; his father Tim; and sister Kathryn. A memorial service for Terry Winter was held Dec. 18 in Broadway Church in Vancouver.

Source: Evangelical Fellowship of Canada; W. Ward Gasgue; Vancouver Sun


Terry Winter (1942–1998) was an independent evangelist of Plymouth Brethren background, based in British Columbia. He had his own television show which was seen across Canada on Vision TV. Winter had a B.A. from the University of British Columbia and a Doctorate in Pastoral Theology (a predecessor of the D.Min.) from Fuller Seminary.


Terry Winter graduated with a BA in 1964 from the University of British Columbia.



In interviews I conducted for my Doctor of Ministry thesis, Winter was one of the very few evangelists with whom I spoke who thought that his seminary experience had actually enhanced his evangelistic ministry. During doctoral studies at Fuller Seminary, he had in Paul Jewett a sympathetic supervisor who saw beyond the modernist dichotomy between evangelism and scholarship. In a taped interview, Winter states:
"I happened to like systematic theology, so I did my doctorate in systematic theology and evangelism… My Professor, Paul Jewett, [said,] “Terry, we want you to be a better evangelist, so let’s study systematic theology with an evangelistic application. We need more systematic theo- logians who are evangelists or evangelists who are systematic theologians.”

Source: 1 McMaster University


Congard Grebel University College has an article in their historical archives called "The Christian Church in Canada, A Survey of Protestant Churches and Organizations" compiled by Charles A. Tipp & Terry Winter, Aug. 1970.

Source: http://grebel.uwaterloo.ca/mao/Manuscript%20Collections/HM1.26-PI%2060.htm