Bible Missionary Church
Encyclopedia
History
The Bible Missionary Church bases its teachings on the Biblical book of Acts of the ApostlesActs of the Apostles
The Acts of the Apostles , usually referred to simply as Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament; Acts outlines the history of the Apostolic Age...
when a small group of Jesus' followers were filled with the Holy Spirit and empowered for evangelism. The BMC was also strongly influenced by the teachings of Jacobus Arminius
Jacobus Arminius
Jacobus Arminius , the Latinized name of the Dutch theologian Jakob Hermanszoon from the Protestant Reformation period, served from 1603 as professor in theology at the University of Leiden...
, John Wesley
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
; Phoebe Palmer
Phoebe Palmer
Phoebe Palmer was an evangelist and writer who promoted the doctrine of Christian perfection. She is considered one of the founders of the Holiness movement in the United States of America and the Higher Life movement in the United Kingdom.- Early life :Palmer was born Phoebe Worrall in New York...
; P. F. Bresee, the founder of the Church of the Nazarene
Church of the Nazarene
The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged from the 19th century Holiness movement in North America with its members colloquially referred to as Nazarenes. It is the largest Wesleyan-holiness denomination in the world. At the end of 2010, the Church of the...
.
However, the Bible Missionary movement began with a five-week tent meeting held on September 8, 1955, in Nampa Idaho. The body included roughly 150 individuals and was led by Rev. Glenn Griffith which met at at the "Box Factory". The denomination itself was founded shortly after with a total of 126 members. The church traces its roots to Methodism
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
with direct ties to the Church of the Nazarene
Church of the Nazarene
The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged from the 19th century Holiness movement in North America with its members colloquially referred to as Nazarenes. It is the largest Wesleyan-holiness denomination in the world. At the end of 2010, the Church of the...
and Free Methodist Church
Free Methodist Church
The Free Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination within the holiness movement. It is evangelical in nature and has its roots in the Arminian-Wesleyan tradition....
.
In 1957, the growing denomination began Bible Missionary Institute, a then-three year Bible college offering basic theology degrees. Bible Missionary Institute was located in Rock Island, Illinois.
In 1959, founder Glenn Griffith and many others severed ties with the Bible Missionary Church over what they perceived to be an overly-lenient view of divorce. Although the split devastated the church and slowed its growth, the Bible Missionary Church has now grown to be the largest conservative holiness denomination in America with international branches in Canada, Mexico, the Philippine islands, Guyana, Ghana, Nigeria, Japan, Nepal, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Barbados, and Venezuela.
Beliefs
The Bible Missionary Church holds a monotheistic, Trinitarian theology in the Wesleyan tradition.The BMC teaches that believers are cleansed from inbred sin and rebellion to God by a second definite experience referred to as entire sanctification, as taught by the historic Methodist Church and the Church of the Nazarene. In conjunction with entire sanctification, the BMC teaches that believers are to live godly lives, manifesting this by compliance to an outward standard of holiness. Many of these standards are codified in the rules contained within the church manual. They believe that complete obedience to God is a joy and delight.
In 1999, the Bible Missionary Church adopted a resolution against same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
, forbidding its ministers to perform the wedding ceremonies of same sex couples. The Bible Missionary Church encourages the ordination of women and unlike many other fundamentalist churches, allows women to fill leadership positions in church boards. Members are not allowed to marry someone of the same gender, watch television or movies, attend sporting events, visit amusement parks, or wear jewelry. The BMC believes that Biblical modesty includes distinction between genders and a covering of the torso. Observance of the Christian Sabbath
Sabbath
Sabbath in Christianity is a weekly day of rest or religious observance, derived from the Biblical Sabbath.Seventh-day Sabbath observance, i.e. resting from labor from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, is practiced by seventh-day Sabbatarians...
, Sunday, is also expected by abstaining from unnecessary work or commerce and setting the day aside for worship and service to humanity.
The Bible Missionary Church holds a strong Historic premillennialism
Historic premillennialism
Historic premillennialism is the polemical designation which could be more objectively called post-tribulational premillennialism. The use of the term "historic" implies that this point of view is the historical view of premillennialists, while pre-tribulationism is a new theory...
view of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, but its adherents hold a variety of views on the timing of the Rapture
Rapture
The rapture is a reference to the "being caught up" referred to in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, when the "dead in Christ" and "we who are alive and remain" will be caught up in the clouds to meet "the Lord"....
of the Church. Manual of the Bible Missionary Church.
Despite its separatist tendencies, the Bible Missionary Church believes in aggressive evangelism and in addition to its worldwide missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
efforts is currently expanding in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
with several new churches in the United States and Canada.
Church government
The church holds a general conference every four years at which major policy issues for the denomination as a whole are addressed. The most recent general conference took place in 2007. The general conference elects general officers, including two general moderators, and a general board. The general conference also governs additions and deletions to the manual (termed "memorials"). Since 1983, general conference elections are no longer decided by casting lotsCasting lots
Casting lots may refer to:*Sortition, the casting or drawing of lots to make a fair form of selection*Cleromancy, the casting or drawing of lots as a form of divination...
.
In addition, the American church is composed of the following ten self-governing districts:
Arkansas District (Arkansas)
California-Arizona-Nevada District
Intermountain District District (Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Alaska)
Louisiana-South Texas District
Great Lakes District (Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ontario)
Northeast District (New England, Pennsylvania, and Eastern seaboard)
Northwest District (Idaho, Montana, East Oregon)
North Pacific District (Washington, Oregon)
Southeast District (Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida)
Southwest District (Oklahoma, Texas)
Although most foreign churches come under the jurisdiction of the foreign missions committee (appointed by the general board), the churches in Mexico, Japan, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines are self-governing, organized districts of the Bible Missionary Church.
Church officers
The current general moderators are Rev. Rodger Moyer (since 1987) and Rev. Alvie Jarratt (since 1999). General Board members include Ben Dowd, editor of the Missionary Revivalist and nationally-known evangelist and others.Educational institutions
The Bible Missionary Church's schools include Bible Missionary Institute, a 4-year unaccredited Bible college in Rock Island, Illinois, as well as a Bible college in Houston, Texas. Beulah Mountain Christian Academy in Whitley City, Kentucky, is a K-12 boarding school for at-risk children.The denomination also maintains schools in Mexico, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and Nigeria.
Although no denominational level schools are regionally accredited, many of the BMC's district leaders and pastors have advanced degrees from other universities.