Baptist Bible Fellowship International was organized in 1950 by about a hundred ministers and missionaries who broke from the World Baptist Fellowship over a leadership dispute with J. Frank Norris.
One of BBFI's founders was George Beauchamp Vick, president of Bible Baptist Seminary, which was owned by the World Baptist Fellowship. In 1948, Norris had Vick removed from his position. After resigning from the WBF, Vick and several other pastors planned the new fellowship. They started Baptist Bible College, the Baptist Bible Tribune, and a Missions Office.
Headquartered in Springfield, Missouri, the conservative Baptist organization now has more than a million members, and it has grown to become the largest independent Baptist missionary organization in the world.
Jerry Falwell was associated with Baptist Bible Fellowship International from the time of his graduation from Baptist Bible College in 1956, although he later also affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. More than half of the state chairmen for Falwell's Moral Majority were members of BBFI. His Thomas Road Baptist Church is affiliated with both the BBFI and the SBC.
The BBFI is strongly fundamentalist in character, with an emphasis on the inerrancy of the Bible, the virgin birth, the deity of Christ, substitutionary atonement, the resurrection, biblical miracles, and a literal millennial kingdom of God here on earth. The King James Version of the Bible is used.
The Baptist Bible Fellowship teaches that Jesus Christ was a Baptist in thought and deeds. The BBFI holds that baptism is for believers only, and that is should be by immersion. The Lord's Supper is for church members only. The Fellowship is strongly opposed to drinking alcoholic beverages, smoking, dancing, gambling, movie theaters, and sex outside of marriage.
Although the Baptist Bible Fellowship International has churches in all fifty states of the United States, they are strongest in the Great Lakes region and the South.
The primary functions of the Fellowship are worldwide missions, training, and communications.
The BBFI has a Missions Office in Springfield that serves as a clearinghouse for missions support from churches associated with the Fellowship. The Missions Office is supported separately by the churches on a voluntary basis, so all donations are used on the mission field.
Training occurs primarily through the Fellowship's two schools, Baptist Bible College and Boston Bible College, the former in Springfield and the latter in Boston, Massachusetts. Baptist Bible College is accredited by the North Central Association, while Boston Baptist College, originally named Baptist Bible College East, is accredited by the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools. Two other schools are approved by the BBFI, although not owned by the Fellowship: Pacific Baptist College in Pomona, California, and Louisiana Baptist University in Shreveport, Louisiana.
The Baptist Bible Tribune is a monthly magazine that publishes reports from the mission field and from local churches, as well as theological treatises and opinion pieces. It is the official arm of the BBFI.
The organizational structure of the Fellowship consists of pastors rather than congregations. Affiliation is open to any Baptist pastor of a supporting Baptist church, but only if he believes and adheres to the Fellowship's articles of faith.
Along with the World Baptist Fellowship and the Southwide Baptist Fellowship, the Baptist Bible Fellowship International is part of the International Baptist Network.
The focus of this category is on the Baptist Bible Fellowship International. Topics relating to the Fellowship, whether for or against, are appropriate for this category. Sites representing local churches of congregations should be listed in the appropriate Local & Global category, however.
Recommended Resources
Baptist Bible Fellowship International
The BBFI is a fellowship of pastors whose institutions include a missionary support and service center, a church planting office, two colleges, and a magazine. Its history, organizational structure, and specialty networks are set forth, along with a calendar of events, video of highlights of past meetings, and a list of officers and contacts. Job openings are published to the site, and its podcasts may be subscribed to. Its articles of faith, constitution, and bylaws are included.
https://www.bbfi.org/
Published since June of 1950, only about a month after the Baptist Bible Fellowship was established, the eight-page weekly has become a full-color monthly magazine that offers news, reports, editorials, and regular columns, with about eleven thousand churches receiving at least one copy. A facsimile copy of its first issue may be viewed online, along with its history, feature articles, news of and from the Fellowship, mission updates, college news, and ministry reports.
http://www.tribune.org/
BBFI World Mission Service Center
Serving more than four thousand US churches and eight hundred missionaries in several countries throughout the world, the missions office is affiliated with the Baptist Bible Fellowship International. Its organizational structure, benefits to churches, and its services to missionaries are outlined, with an overview of its work, and opportunities to contribute or get involved with its work. Sponsored missionaries may be found by country or by name.
http://bbfimissions.com/
Georgia Baptist Bible Fellowship
The GBBF is in fellowship with the Baptist Bible Fellowship International and has existed in some form since 1958, as part of the Tri-State Baptist Bible Fellowship, and as the Georgia-South Carolina Baptist Bible Fellowship. Its history, current and past chairmen, a schedule of upcoming meetings, an overview of its projects, a secretary’s report, and a list of officers.
http://www.gabbf.net/
Texas Baptist Bible Fellowship
The TBBF is a state body of Baptist Bible Fellowship International. Divided into four regions, North, South, East, and Central West Texas, the Fellowship exists to encourage member pastors, establish churches, extend its vision, and exalt the Lord, planting churches in Texas and across the United States, sending missionaries around the world, and meeting together for networking and consultation. Regional reports, a calendar of events, photos, and a list of officers are included.
http://www.texasbbf.org/
