by Randy Harp
What is its purpose?
Are there biblical principles guiding the BBFI?
What is it that unifies the BBFI?
What is the structure of the BBFI?
How does one become a part of the BBFI?
Is the BBFI a denomination, a fellowship, or something else?
What are the benefits of being involved with the BBFI?
Has the BBFI changed since its beginnings in the 1950s?
What are the strengths of the BBFI?
What are the weaknesses of the BBFI?
What does the future look like for the BBFI?
These are just a few of the questions I have heard, and I have asked, over the past several years. To be quite clear,these questions have been asked for more than 66 years since the BBFI began. I am not going to pretend to be an authority on the subject, but I am burdened enough about it to try and understand it more for myself, and be able to explain it more clearly to others. In an attempt to accomplish this, we are setting aside three issues of the Tribune fully dedicated to the Fellowship. We may not answer every question, but we hope to bring clarity for those who seek it.
As an introduction to this topic, we will approach the BBFI from three different perspectives. First, we will look at the historical context of the BBFI. We will not dive into the history of the Fellowship, but rather look at specific times when our leaders sought to define who we are. Thankfully, we have 66 years of documentation on this topic in our Tribune archives. Second, we will look at a practical perspective of the BBFI. In other words, what is it we actually do. And third, I will share from a personal perspective what the BBFI means to me. I am sure there will be some consistency between my perspective and yours, but each person will see the BBFI at least slightly different.
A Historical Perspective
In the very first issue of the Baptist Bible Tribune, founding editor Noel Smith outlined the New Testament concept of a fellowship. He wrote,
“Fellowship, like peace, is an effect, not a cause. If we are to have fellowship with one another, at least four things are obviously necessary. First of all, there must be sound character … it’s strange how we overlook this. In the second place, the autonomy and dignity of the local church must be conceded. In the third place, there must be no central ecclesiastical body legislating for the local churches and committing them to every kind of worldly planning. In the fourth place, there must be a common, united desire to please God and promote His affairs on this earth. If you have those four things you can’t help but have fellowship, and everything else will be a matter of detail.”
For the most part, those four statements were the rule and practice for the early Fellowship. It was not long, however, until a significant “matter of detail” would need to be clarified. When the Fellowship was nearing its tenth year, growth, expansion, and questions brought leaders to the conclusion that the original constitution was inadequate. Much of the controversy centered on the definition of a “Baptist church.” The specific issue of the day was on accepting alien immersion, non-Baptist baptisms. In the September 1959 meeting in Detroit, these matters were discussed. It was decided the Fellowship president and directors should study the matter, invite suggestions, make recommendations, and report their work at the next annual meeting. In the September 1960 meeting at Grace Baptist in Oklahoma City, a new constitution for the BBFI was adopted that continued the organization as a fellowship of autonomous churches, pastors, evangelists, and missionaries, not an ecclesiastical organization with a centralized authority and control over local churches and ministers. In other words, the new constitution provided for affiliation to any church or pastor believing in and adhering to the Word of God and the basis of the Articles of Faith. The September 16, 1960 Tribune headline stated, “WE WILL REMAIN A FELLOWSHIP.” In his presidential address, Art Wilson stated,
“We found our major purposes to be three in number: 1. To carry on unitedly a world missionary program for the purpose of reaching for Christ and training as many souls as possible – hence our missionary department. 2. To operate a training institution for prospective missionaries, pastors, and other Christian workers for the purpose of more perfectly equipping them in their God-called endeavor – hence our college program. 3. To participate in fellowship meetings always and primarily for the express purposes of enhancing and advancing these two espoused causes and secondarily for edifying and strengthening of each other through the preaching of the Word at such fellowship meetings.”
Other Fellowship leaders have sought to define and give a purpose to the BBFI. In 1983 BBFI president Verle Ackerman wrote,
“The Baptist Bible Fellowship is a fellowship of pastors. The churches that they pastor have as their purpose the propagation of the Gospel throughout the world. We have no ecclesiastical hierarch dictating to our churches their mode of operation or program. Our doctrine is simply stated in and based on the Articles of Faith as presented by our Constitution and By-Laws. In carrying out our purpose of propagating the Gospel we agree to work together in a common effort as churches in missions and education.”
Tribune editor Mike Randall wrote in the Special Golden Anniversary Issue in January 2000 an article titled, “Why does the Fellowship exist?” In summary he wrote,
“The three-fold purpose of the Baptist Bible Fellowship International is to (1) propagate the gospel of Jesus Christ and (2) uphold Bible doctrine [20 Articles of Faith] (3) through the local independent Baptist church.”
BBFI president Bill Monroe wrote in a 2002 “Presidential Perspective”,
“The BBFI is an international movement of Baptist pastors, whose fellowship is based on our Articles of Faith, and who are voluntarily associated with the purpose of fulfilling the Great Commission.” He goes on to state, “the test of our fellowship is the Articles of Faith. We leave other matters to a fellow pastor’s own conviction.”
A Practical Perspective
Today’s BBFI is organized around three branches consisting of missions, education, and church planting. These are represented by the three vice-president offices of the Fellowship. Over the next three issues, we will highlight each of these three branches.
Noel Smith wrote,
“There is no mystery about the progress of this Fellowship. In the first place, this Fellowship at the very outset deliberately determined that the missionary enterprise would be the center of its work. Missions would not be used as bait to get money. Missions would not be used for window dressing. Missions would be basic and central … with this Fellowship, missions is the thing. And when you make missions the thing you automatically solve a lot of the basic problems inherent in the effort of autonomous churches to successfully work together.”
Any successful organization must have a means of perpetuating itself. For the BBFI, that is in the form of its Bible colleges. It is here pastors, missionaries, church staff, and committed laymen are trained and equipped to fulfill the Great Commission.
From the beginning, church planting has been the primary means of growing the Fellowship. In the February 2015 meeting, the BBFI launched its new church-planting initiative called APEX. The vision is for every BBFI church to be passionately engaged in planting, funding, and serving a new church.
A Personal Perspective
I was saved in a BBFI church. I was baptized in a BBFI church. I was called to preach in a BBFI church. I attended a BBFI college to receive an education (and I found my wife as a bonus). My first job was at a BBFI church. I have had the privilege to pastor two BBFI churches and I now work for the BBFI as the communication director. What is the BBFI to me? I would summarize it as three-fold.
First, it is a network of leaders who challenge me to continue to grow both as a leader and as a Christian. Some of the strongest leaders I know are BBFI pastors and missionaries. I have seen peers start churches from nothing that are now running in the thousands. I have seen peers revitalize churches that were days from closing their doors to being vibrant and healthy and changing the face of a community. These are leaders I have the privilege to rub shoulders with and learn from on a personal basis.
Second, it is an extended family. One of the strongest values I learned growing up was the importance of family. The BBFI is my family. The reason I sacrificially give to missionaries is because they are a part of my family. The reason I invest time and energy into helping my alma mater is because it is a part of my family. The reason I weep when I see pastors and missionaries weep over their communities and mission fields is because they are a part of my family. The reason I forgive is because they are family. The reason I focus on the majors and not on the minors is because they are family.
Third, it allows me to be a part of something bigger than myself. As a fairly new Christian I went through the Bible study Experiencing God. It was through this Bible study that I was burdened to commit my life to being a part of something more than just me. The BBFI allows this in very tangible ways. Jesus’ words in Matthew 28:19-20 clearly defines my personal mission, to make disciples of Jesus Christ throughout the entire world. If I were limited to only myself, this Great Commission would be impossible. But when I partner with other Christians committed to the same cause, there is no limit to what we can accomplish together.
So what is the BBFI? From a historical, practical, and personal perspective, it is a network of leaders, voluntarily committed together, based on our mutually agreed-upon Articles of Faith, for the purpose of making disciples of Jesus Christ all over the world.