CBIA-The Servant People: The History of Canadian British-Israel Leadership
Our organization began in September, 1956 with an organizing convention
held in a convention center in the city of Winnipeg. We have been blessed
through the years by a series of leaders who have exemplified the principles
of honesty, faithfulness,
dedication and caring. Each very rightfully earned the love and trust
of those who have had the priviledge of knowing them in person.
Here we see a picture of the first President of CBIA-The Servant People, Mr. Cubby Gladwin of British Columbia, who served from 1956 until his death in 1973.
Cubby was often seen with his signature pipe (in the days gone by when that was practically expected of men!), and did much to help structure and grow the organization.
Cubby held office for almost two decades, and helped steer the organization with wise leadership and a steady hand. He was much loved and appreciated by all who knew him.
On our history page are photographs taken from the early years of our organization, and on the conventions page are pictures from various conventions across Canada through the years. We hope that you enjoy this look back through the years with us.
If you have any other photographs that you would like to share with the members, please let us know!
This is Mr. W.H. (Howard) Bennett, prolific author of two books
and dozens of interesting tracts, during his lifetime of Christian service
to the organization. Many of these tracts are still in print, and you
may order them from us for a donation. Take a look at the list found
on this website under "research."
Howard Bennett held several jobs before joining the Canadian Customs Service in 1932, from which he retired in 1964. He subsequently devoted the rest of his long life to his work with the Canadian British-Israel Association. He served as President of the Windsor Branch from 1935 to 1990, and President of the CBIA from 1974 to 1988. He also served as President of the British-Israel-World Federation (Canada) for some time prior to 1956 when the Canadian British-Israel Association was formed.
Mr. Bennett made many speaking trips to the local branches across Canada over the years as well as a six-week lecture tour to Britain in 1976. He also wrote a weekly column for the Church page of the Windsor Star Newspaper for 16 years (1942-1958.)
Here is a picture of Mr. Firth Hubbell, who served as President from 1990
until his death in 2001 at the age of 87. Firth oversaw many new projects,
including the website and reorganizing our computer systems. He was a
man of many interests and varied talents, with a garden nursery business,
accounting practice, and leadership and lecturing on behalf of CBIA.
Firth Hubbell authored a steady stream of articles for our organization newsletter during his tenure, and we have included on this website his insightful study, "A British-Israel Primer," which may be found on our "Special Studies" page under "Research." Firth was a man always on the go, with many projects going on at the same time. He continued in active leadership until death overtook him at the age of 87, yet up until the very end he often referred to himself as young at heart.
Here is our current President, Mrs. Mary Bennett, widow of our late
esteemed President, W.H. Bennett. She has served in this leadership capacity
since the death of Firth Hubbell in 2001. Mary directed the moving of
our offices and many other projects over the past decade and has been
a vital and much appreciated leader of the organization over these years.
Mary grew up in a British-Israel family, and attended conventions as a teenager, so she has had the privilege of knowing personally many of the members, past and present. Mary has thus formed many close friendships through the years with members from one end of Canada to the other, and has made two trips to attend BIWF conferences in Great Britain as well, so she is well-known on both sides of the Atlantic.
We appreciate Mary's guiding hand and wisdom based upon many years of labor in the Lord's Vineyard. We pray that she will continue in her leadership role for many years to come!
Here we see Mary greeting the leaders of the British-Israel-World Federation
of the U.K. On the left is Pastor David Aimer, Secretary, and on the right
is Mr. Michael Clark, President of the organization in Great Britain. A warm
bond of friendship and cooperation has long existed between CBIA and our
parent organization in Britain.
We hope that you have enjoyed learning more about the leadership of CBIA,
and invite you to consider joining with us in our continuing efforts to proclaim
the unchanging truths of Scripture to a new generation. Please see our Membership
page for more info.
