Baptist Bible Fellowship International
Encyclopedia
The Baptist Bible Fellowship International (BBFI) is a separatist, fundamentalist Baptist
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...

 organization formed in 1950 by members who separated from the World Baptist Fellowship
World Baptist Fellowship
The World Baptist Fellowship is a separatist, fundamentalist Baptist organization. The organization was founded by J. Frank Norris of Texas, a southern fundamentalist leader in the first half of the 20th century.-Background:...

. It is headquartered in Springfield, Missouri
Springfield, Missouri
Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. According to the 2010 census data, the population was 159,498, an increase of 5.2% since the 2000 census. The Springfield Metropolitan Area, population 436,712, includes the counties of...

. In North America there are 4,500 congregations totaling 1.2 million members associated with it; an additional 10,000 churches are associated worldwide.

Founding and history

J. Frank Norris
J. Frank Norris
John Franklyn Norris was a flamboyant Baptist preacher, one of the most controversial figures in the history of fundamentalism.-Biography:...

 was the recognized leader of the WBF and the Bible Baptist Seminary of Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...

, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. In 1948, George Beauchamp Vick
George Beauchamp Vick
George Beauchamp Vick , known as G. Beauchamp Vick, was Pastor of the Temple Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, a founder of the Baptist Bible Fellowship International and Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri. He was an associate of J. Frank Norris, and is considered one of the fathers...

 (Norris' co-pastor in Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

) agreed to take the presidency of the school in Fort Worth. In May, 1950, Norris opposed Vick, ousted him from the presidency, and installed a new president. When the World Baptist Fellowship met, no solution could be found, and Vick officially resigned. Noel Smith, W. E. Dowell, Sr., Fred Donnelson, Dr. John Rawlings, Vick, and other pastors met in the Texas Hotel and laid groundwork for a new fellowship.

Approximately 100 pastors and missionaries were among the founders of the new Baptist group. They chose Springfield
Springfield, Missouri
Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. According to the 2010 census data, the population was 159,498, an increase of 5.2% since the 2000 census. The Springfield Metropolitan Area, population 436,712, includes the counties of...

 as their headquarters and started the Baptist Bible College
Baptist Bible College (Springfield, Missouri)
Baptist Bible College is a conservative Bible college affiliated and owned by the Baptist Bible Fellowship International, founded in 1950 and located in Springfield, Missouri...

, the Baptist Bible Tribune, a clearinghouse for missionary support. In the years that have passed since those early days, it has grown into the largest independent Baptist Missionary organization in the world.

Functions and Structure

There are three functions of the Baptist Bible Fellowship International. Worldwide missions, training, and communication.

A Missions Office at the Springfield, Missouri headquarters serves as a support base for the over nine hundred missionaries of the BBFI. Their primary task is to serve as a clearinghouse for missions support sent by thousands of BBFI-affiliated churches and distributed to the missionaries' accounts. During this past decade (2000-2009), over $385 million was sent through the BBFI Missions Office. The Missions Office is supported separately by the churches on a voluntary basis so that all the donations are dispersed to the field. Through the efforts of BBFI missionaries, well over 6,000 churches have been established, along with numerous schools, camps, orphanages, and feeding centers. The current Missions Director is Jon Konnerup.

Training takes place through the Fellowship's two owned schools and other approved, but separately owned and operated schools. Baptist Bible College
Baptist Bible College
Baptist Bible College is the name of two schools in the United States:*Baptist Bible College & Seminary, Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania*Baptist Bible College Baptist Bible College may also refer to:*Free Will Baptist Bible College, Nashville, Tennessee*Heartland Baptist Bible...

 in Springfield, Missouri, has been the flagship school since its founding in 1950, growing to become the world's largest Bible college at its apex in the mid-70's. It is accredited by the North Central Association, and the current president is Jim Edge. A second school was founded in 1976 in Shrub Oak, New York, later moving to Boston to become Boston Baptist College
Boston Baptist College
Boston Baptist College is a Bible college located between Hyde Park and Milton, Massachusetts.-History:Boston Baptist was founded in 1976 by A.V. Henderson and John Rawlings of Baptist Bible Fellowship International as Baptist Bible Institute East at Shrub Oak, New York. In 1981, the school moved...

. It is accredited by Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools
Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools
The Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools is a U.S. national educational accreditation agency for Christian colleges, universities, and seminaries...

, and the current president is David Melton. Two other schools are approved by the BBFI as recognized training centers for its missionaries, Pacific Baptist College in Pomona, California; and Louisiana Baptist University
Louisiana Baptist University
Louisiana Baptist University is an accredited theologically conservative Christian university, founded in 1973, located at 6301 Westport Avenue in Shreveport, Louisiana....

 in Shreveport, Louisiana. These schools are owned and operated by others, but are sanctioned to be eligible to receive funds through the BBFI Missions Office.

The Baptist Bible Tribune, published monthly, contains numerous opinion pieces, reports from the foreign mission field, reports from domestic churches, and light theological treatises. It is written by BBFI officers, pastors and missionaries and is the official voice of the BBFI.

The structure of BBFI consists of pastors rather than congregations. Affiliation is open to any Baptist pastor of a supporting Baptist church believing in and adhering to twenty articles of faith, outlined in a small booklet available from the Mission Office. Official recognition of that affiliation is contingent upon financial support of at least one of the three established functions described above.

The organizational structure includes President, Vice-Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer, and Directors, one from each state and elected by State Fellowships. Within this organization, there are State Fellowships in each of the fifty states of the United States. Some BBFI churches and pastors also affiliate with and support other fellowships, such as the World Baptist Fellowship
World Baptist Fellowship
The World Baptist Fellowship is a separatist, fundamentalist Baptist organization. The organization was founded by J. Frank Norris of Texas, a southern fundamentalist leader in the first half of the 20th century.-Background:...

. The BBFI is also one of three Fellowships---along with the World Baptist Fellowship
World Baptist Fellowship
The World Baptist Fellowship is a separatist, fundamentalist Baptist organization. The organization was founded by J. Frank Norris of Texas, a southern fundamentalist leader in the first half of the 20th century.-Background:...

 and the Southwide Baptist Fellowship
Southwide Baptist Fellowship
The Southwide Baptist Fellowship is made up of about a thousand churches. It is a member of the International Baptist Network.-Organisation:...

 which make up the International Baptist Network
International Baptist Network
The International Baptist Network began with a formal meeting September 27, 2004. The IBN was discussed in the Baptist Bible Tribune in 2003. All members hold to the Georgia Baptist Confession of 2004...

.

Although the current number of members is not public knowledge, most experts believe that membership in the BBFI has declined in the past 10 years. The Fellowship owns the original Baptist Bible College
Baptist Bible College
Baptist Bible College is the name of two schools in the United States:*Baptist Bible College & Seminary, Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania*Baptist Bible College Baptist Bible College may also refer to:*Free Will Baptist Bible College, Nashville, Tennessee*Heartland Baptist Bible...

, as well as Boston Baptist College
Boston Baptist College
Boston Baptist College is a Bible college located between Hyde Park and Milton, Massachusetts.-History:Boston Baptist was founded in 1976 by A.V. Henderson and John Rawlings of Baptist Bible Fellowship International as Baptist Bible Institute East at Shrub Oak, New York. In 1981, the school moved...

.

Association with Jerry Falwell

Jerry Falwell
Jerry Falwell
Jerry Lamon Falwell, Sr. was an evangelical fundamentalist Southern Baptist pastor, televangelist, and a conservative commentator from the United States. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia...

 was affiliated with the Baptist Bible Fellowship International since his graduation from Baptist Bible College in Springfield Missouri in 1956, and later also affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention
Southern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...

. Falwell retained his affiliation with the Baptist Bible Fellowship, and the church he founded in 1956, Thomas Road Baptist Church of Lynchburg, Virginia, is listed in the current BBFI directory.

External links

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