Grace Gospel Movement

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Grace Gospel Movement

Berean Bible Fellowship

Berean Bible Fellowship (Illinois)

Bible Churches (Classics Expositor)

Concordant Publishing Concern

Grace Gospel Fellowship

Timely Messenger Fellowship

Truth for Today Bible Fellowship

The Way International

Berean Bible Fellowship

9325 El Bordo Ave., Atascadero, CA 93422

The Berean Bible Fellowship, centered in the Pacific Southwest, accepts only two vast dispensations, but otherwise is in concert with the ultradispensationalism of Charles H. Welch (1880–1967) and Ethelbert William Bullinger (1837–1913). Faith in God in Christ is stressed and is differentiated as faith that receives Christ, faith that motivates the believer to walk in love, faith that constrains believers to set their minds on things above, and faith that is humble-minded when believers have among themselves the mind that was in Christ. The Fellowship’s Phoenix center operates the Berean Tape Ministry, which distributes more than 1,000 tapes by Oscar M. Baker (founder of the Truth for Today Bible Fellowship), Welch, Stuart Allen (d. 1998), Arthur E. Lamboune (the leader of the Fellowship), and others. Associated with the fellowship are Scripture Research, Inc., formerly the Ewalt Memorial Bible School, of Atascadero, California, and the Bible Fellowship Church of South Holland, Illinois.

The use of the word Berean by this church and a number of other groups stems from the Bible. The Acts of the Apostles mentions that members of the church at Berea in Greece were students of the Scriptures. Because the Bible is so important in the fundamentalist movement, many fundamentalist groups adopted the name “Berean.”

Membership

Not reported.

Periodicals

Unofficial: Scripture Research, Inc. • The Scripture Research Greek Tutor. Both available from Box 518, Atascadero, CA 93423.

Sources

Berean Bible Fellowship. www.bereanbible.com/.

Bullinger, E. W. The Book of Job. Atascadero, CA: Scripture Research, 1983.

Morgan, Harold P. Christian Values and Principles. 3 vols. Atascadero, CA: Ewalt Memorial Bible School, n.d.

Berean Bible Fellowship (Illinois)

PO Box 6, Collinsville, IL 62234

Alternate Address

Berean Bible Society, N112 W17761 Mequon Rd., PO Box 756, Germantown, WI 53022.

The Berean Bible Fellowship is a fellowship of conservative fundamentalist Christians founded in 1968 under the leadership of Cornelius R. Stam (1909–2003), of Chicago, Illinois, and Win Johnson, of Denver, Colorado. Both men had been leaders in the Grace Gospel Fellowship from which they separated because of perceived permissive and liberal trends. Grace Bible College of Wyoming, Michigan, associated with Grace Gospel Fellowship, was a focal point of the inroads of said departures.

The formal doctrinal statements of the Berean Bible Fellowship and Grace Gospel Fellowship are essentially the same. Both present a basic and fundamental Christianity with a special emphasis on the distinctive apostleship and teachings of Paul and his ministry to all nations. The fellowship teaches that the church, the body of Christ, was established by the risen glorified Lord after the salvation and call of Paul (Cf. Acts 9), not at Pentecost (Acts 2) as most Christians assume. The implication of this understanding is that water baptism belongs to the earthly ministry of Christ toward Israel and was properly continued by Peter and the 12 apostles. Paul, not sent to baptize, was raised up to preach the gospel of the grace of God, a message distinct from that proclaimed by Christ and the 12 to Israel. The hope of the church is believed to be the coming of the Lord in the air, commonly called the “rapture,” which will conclude the present dispensation by his gathering up the church to heaven to be “forever with the Lord.”

In 1940, prior to the founding of the Berean Bible Fellowship, Stam had founded the Berean Bible Society through which he had published a number of books and a periodical, Berean Searchlight. In 1996 the society moved from Chicago to Germantown, Wisconsin. Win Johnson had founded Grace Gospel Publishers in Denver, Colorado, where it remains to the present. Although separate organizations, both are closely related to and supportive of the Berean Bible Fellowship. The fellowship enlists membership worldwide, sponsors local and national Bible conferences, and maintains Bible study literature.

Membership

Not reported.

Periodicals

BBF News & Notes.

Sources

Berean Bible Society. www.bereanbiblesociety.org.

Stam, Cornelius R. The Controversy. Chicago: Berean Bible Society, 1963.

———. The Memoirs of Pastor Cornelius R. Stam. Germantown, WI: Berean Bible Society, n.d.

———. Satan in Derision. Chicago: Berean Bible Society, 1972.

———. Things That Differ. Chicago: Berean Bible Society, 1951.

———. True Spirituality. Chicago: Berean Bible Society, 1959.

Bible Churches (Classics Expositor)

1429 NW 100th St., Oklahoma City, OK 73114

Northside Bible Church was founded in 1965 as an independent ministry by Dr. Clifford McLain, and still maintains an independent status. In Oklahoma, there are four churches (three in Oklahoma City and one in Moore) associated with McLain, who is both pastor of the Northside Bible Church and editor of its periodical and publishing arm, the Classics Expositor. The church’s radio ministry, featuring the Rev. David Webber, was heard over eight stations in the South Central states in 1968. Currently, recordings of weekly morning worship services are made available on the church’s Web site.

Members of the Northside Bible Church are fundamental in their doctrines, literal in their interpretations, and dispensational in their applications of Scripture. Salvation is by God’s grace (unmerited favor) based upon the shed Blood of Christ Jesus, the only begotten Son of the Father. In Christ Jesus, the believer has been saved from the penalty of sin, is being saved from the power of sin, and shall be saved from the presence of sin. Members endeavor to “rightly divide” God’s Word according to the Word itself while keeping the context intact. Such an approach to the Bible serves to increase students’understanding of Scripture, while at the same time helping them to “try the things that differ”(Philippians 1:10).

Membership

Not reported.

Periodicals

The Classics Expositor.

Sources

Northside Bible Church. www.rightdivision.com/html/northside_bible_church.html.

Concordant Publishing Concern

15570 Knochaven, Santa Clarita, CA 91330

Adolph Ernst Knoch (1874–1965), as a young believer, was briefly associated with the Plymouth Brethren (discussed elsewhere in this volume). After a time he was disfellowshipped from this group due to his differing views on points of scriptural interpretation. In 1909 the first issue of the periodical Unsearchable Riches appeared as a vehicle to promote Knoch’s ideas. It was printed in Minneapolis by Vladimir M. Gelesnoff, its coeditor, who soon moved to southern California, where permanent headquarters were established. Knoch then launched his life work, which was to be a new translation of the Scriptures called the Concordant Version. The first part, Revelation, was published in 1919; other portions followed until 1926, when the entire New Testament was issued. In 1939, a German version was issued. Though he had finished the early phases of his translation work, Knoch lived to see only two portions of the Hebrew Scriptures published before his death: Genesis in 1957 and Isaiah in 1962.

The thrust of the Concordant Version is: (1) to correct the faults of past translations, particularly the King James, American Revised (1901), and Revised Standard versions; (2) to determine the meanings of the inspired words of Scriptures; and (3) to produce a “literal” translation within the bounds of good diction. In the process, a new Concordance, which became the basis of the translation, was produced. The appearance of the Concordant Version created a great deal of controversy in conservative evangelical circles. While it is generally most actively used by those people associated with Knoch through Unsearchable Riches, it is used (often quite actively) by believers from most denominations.

Knoch’s study of the Scriptures, bolstered in part by his correspondence with the British dispensationalist scholar Ethelbert W. Bullinger, led to a new form of dispensationalism based on the eons (a transliteration of the Greek word usually translated “ages”). Our knowledge of God begins in his decrees before “eonian” times. The first eon is from creation to the disruption of Gen. 1:2. The eonian times begin with Adam and continue through five periods: innocence (Adam), conscience (Seth), government (Noah), promise (Abraham), law (Moses). The sixth period, that of Jesus’ life, begins the eon of the fullness of times (Gal. 4:4). After Jesus comes the era of the nations, which includes the periods of Pentecost, transition (with Paul as priest), and the secret (with Paul the prisoner) or Grace. Currently, we are in the period of the secret. Yet to come is the period of indignation (the tribulation) and the eschatological events of the oncoming eons, which include the binding of Satan, the millennial kingdom, the white throne judgment, the new heavens and earth, and the consummation, when God is All in all (I Cor. 15:28).

Knoch’s thinking had become centered on Paul, who, Knoch was convinced, had been commissioned directly by Christ to reveal further truths—truths that Jesus had not already revealed to his original disciples. These truths concern the glories of Christ and appear throughout Paul’s epistles, especially his prison epistles. From these writings, a “creed” can be constructed. Paul believed in the deity of God (Rom. 11:36), the glories of Christ (Col. 1:25), the believer’s share in that glory (Eph. 1:3–5), the justification of all mankind (Rom. 5:18–19), the reconciliation of all (Col. 1:18–20), the abolition of death (I Cor. 15:20–26), and the subjection of all to God (I Cor. 15:27– 28), including Satan (Eph. 1:10; Col. 1:29). Knoch thus departed from most of his former brethren through his belief in universal salvation. He felt that the believer is justified when he believes, and that the unbeliever must wait until the consummation.

The Concordant Publishing Concern is a nondenominational, nonprofit association founded in 1909 for the purpose of disseminating the facts and truths of the ancient manuscripts of the Scriptures. In addition to its principal works—the Concordant Literal New Testament with Keyword Concordance and the Concordant Version of the Old Testament—other publications include the Concordant Greek Text and the Concordant Commentary, together with a wide variety of additional books and booklets on scriptural themes. The Concern also publishes the Concordant Literal Version, computer edition. Its bimonthly magazine, Unsearchable Riches, is now in its 96th year of publication (both scripture and topic indexes are available, in printed and computer form). A considerable number of its expositions are available on-line, both in standard HTML format and in PDF format.

Unsearchable Riches found readers who grouped around it as a tool for Bible study, and thus a national following of the eonian interpretation of Scripture developed. A songbook, Scriptural Songs, was produced for these groups.

Membership

The Concern is not a membership organization. In 1995, Unsearchable Riches listed 23 independent associated groups in the United States, and an additional 33 groups in 15 countries. More than half of the foreign groups were to be found in Canada, Australia, and Great Britain. These groups, which include approximately 2,000 people, are informally associated with the Concern.

Periodicals

Unsearchable Riches.

Sources

Concordant Publishing Concern. www.concordant.org/.

Adolph Ernst Knoch, 1874–1965. Saugus, CA: Concordant Publishing Concern, 1965.

Concordant Literal New Testament. Saugus, CA: Concordant Publishing Concern, 1966.

The Concordant Version in the Critics’ Den. Los Angeles: Concordant Publishing Concern, n.d.

Scriptural Songs. Saugus, CA: Concordant Publishing Concern, n.d.

Grace Gospel Fellowship

1011 Aldon SW, Grand Rapids, MI 49509

The Grace Gospel Fellowship is an organization of autonomous churches that preach dispensational theology from what is termed a Pauline perspective. J. C. O’Hair (1876–1958) was an early exponent of this theological position in Chicago, Illinois. There have been several developmental stages. First, in 1938, a group of pastors and laypersons met to formulate a structure to implement the spread of this message at home and abroad. A doctrinal statement was agreed upon: A constitution was formulated, and in January 1939 the World Wide Grace Testimony (later Grace Mission and now Grace Ministries, International) came into being.

In 1944 the Grace pastors met in Evansville, Indiana, and formally organized the Grace Gospel Fellowship. J. C. O’Hair and Charles Baker continued as prominent leaders. At first a ministers’fellowship, Grace Gospel Fellowship was later opened to laymen. Charles O’Connor became its first full-time president in 1971. Roger G. Anderson, a pastor for 33 years and a graduate of Grace Bible College, succeeded him in October 1991 and retired in July 2000. Ken Parker succeeded Anderson in July 2000 and hired Mike Riemersma as vice president of operations.

In 1945 the Milwaukee Bible Institute was founded by the organization and Charles Baker, a fundamentalist pastor; it was initially operated as a function of the local congregation. The school developed a full curriculum in the late 1940s, and in 1961 it moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, as Grace Bible College. It has since received accreditation from both North Central Accrediting and the Accrediting Association of Bible Colleges.

The doctrine of the Grace Gospel Fellowship follows a limited Calvinistic view with emphasis on the total depravity of man and eternal security (once a person is a child of God, that status is secure but not in the concept of limited atonement). Specific doctrine affirms the temporary nature of both the gifts of the Spirit (I Cor. 12:4–11) and baptism. There is no connection with the beliefs of Ethelbert William Bullinger (1837–1913) and Charles H. Welch (1880–1967) regarding observation of the Lord’s Supper, annihilationism, or a two Body concept. Eschatologically, the group adheres to the premillennium, pretribulation concepts of John Nelson Darby (1800–1882), founder of the Plymouth Brethren.

Grace Gospel Fellowship was founded to “provide fellowship among those who believe the truths contained in the doctrinal statement, and to promote the Gospel of the Grace of God throughout this land and throughout the world.” Three basic principles unite members: (1) commitment to an understanding of the Bible, the eternal Word of God, from a dispensational interpretation as outlined in their doctrinal statement; (2) a passion to reach the lost for Jesus Christ by proclaiming the Good News of his grace both at home and abroad; and (3) an awareness that the Body of Christ (the church) functions best when its members work and fellowship together for the glory of God.

Membership

In 2002 the fellowship reported 143 churches, and 286 ministers in the United States and 1,400 additional churches worldwide.

Educational Facilities

Grace Bible College, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Periodicals

Truth.

Sources

Grace Gospel Fellowship. www.ggfusa.org/.

Baker, Charles F. Bible Truth. Grand Rapids, MI: Grace Bible College, Grace Gospel Fellowship, Grace Mission, 1956.

———. Dispensational Relations. Grand Rapids, MI: Grace Line Bible Lessons, n.d.

———. God’s Clock of the Ages. Grand Rapids, MI: Grace Line Bible Lessons, 1937.

Egemeier, C. V., ed. Grace Mission Story. Grand Rapids, MI: Grace Missions, 1967.

Timely Messenger Fellowship

Grace Bible Church, 1450 Oak Hill Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76112-3017

The Timely Messenger was begun in 1939 by Pastor Ike T. Sidebottom (1899–1970) of Fort Worth, Texas, as a periodical expounding the Grace Gospel position in the Southwest. Sidebottom had been a student at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and served as an associate pastor for J. C. O’Hair (1876–1958), the early Grace Gospel pastor in Chicago. Sidebottom returned to Fort Worth in 1928 with the intention of establishing himself as a radio evangelist. Soon, the weekly Bible class he taught grew into a church on College Avenue. Work continued to grow from the pulpit of College Avenue Church (rebuilt in 1950), the periodical, and the radio program. Through College Avenue Church, other men were prepared for the ministry, and independent congregations began to emerge. Most ministers work full-time at a secular job and serve as pastors on the weekends. In 1965 Sidebottom resigned as pastor because of ill health and was replaced by Charles W. Wages, who in turn was succeeded by Gregg Bing in 2003. In 1980 the congregation of the College Avenue Church built a new building on the east side of Fort Worth, and in their new location became known as Grace Bible Church.

The Timely Messenger Fellowship is an informal, cooperative endeavor. It differs from the Grace Gospel Fellowship, discussed elsewhere in this chapter, in that it neither baptizes nor partakes of the Lord’s Supper. Mission work is done through Grace Ministries, International, and Things to Come Mission. The Timely Messenger Fellowship sponsors summer camps and midwinter conferences for high school and college students.

Membership

No formal membership is maintained.

Periodicals

The Timely Messenger.

Sources

Timely Messenger Fellowship. pluto.matrix49.com/15182/?subpages/default.shtml.

Truth for Today Bible Fellowship

Box 6358, Lafayette, IN 47903

The dispensational Bible teachings of Ethelbert W. Bullinger (1837–1913) and Charles H. Welch (1880–1967) were passed to Stuart Allen (d. 1998), who succeeded Welch as pastor of the Chapel of the Opened Book in London. He edited the Berean Expositor and wrote a number of books and pamphlets. In the United States, Welch’s theological disciples are grouped in local fellowships built around several periodicals. One such periodical, Truth for Today, was begun in 1948 by Oscar M. Baker (1898–1987) of Warsaw, Indiana. Baker had been a student of Dr. S. E. Long, an early follower of Bullinger and an extension teacher at Moody Bible Institute. He began his preaching in an abandoned church in Lulu, Michigan. Baker distributed Bullinger’s, Welch’s, and Allen’s books, and supported a tape ministry located in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Baker was succeeded by Joseph L. Watkins, the editor of Truth for Today. The fellowship sponsors a radio ministry that is heard over stations in Vancouver, Washington state, and Phoenix, Arizona. The correspondence course is distributed from Lafayette, Indiana. Congregations in fellowship with the fellowship are located in Alabama, Tennessee, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Oklahoma, California, and Canada. A very active group associated with the Berean Chapel in Mobile, Alabama, has radio ministries in Dallas, Texas, Lansing, Illinois, and Mobile. Truth for Today is mailed to all 50 states and more than 38 foreign countries.

Membership

Not reported. In 1988 Truth for Today circulated more than 5,700 copies per issue.

Periodicals

Truth for Today.

Sources

Truth for Today Bible Fellowship. www.tftmin.org/.

The Way International

PO Box 328, New Knoxville, OH 45871

The Way International was founded by Victor Paul Wierwille (1916–1985) in 1942 as the “Vesper Chimes,” a radio ministry broadcast from a station in Lima, Ohio. Wierwille was a minister in the Evangelical and Reformed Church (now a constituent part of the United Church of Christ) into which he had been ordained the previous year. The radio ministry later was renamed “The Chimes Hour” and then incorporated as “The Chimes Hour Youth Caravan.” During these years Wierwille became an avid student of the Bible. In 1951 he manifested the reception of God’s holy spirit by way of speaking in tongues, one of the nine manifestations of the one gift (I Corinthians 12:7). All of his study culminated in the first Power of Abundant Living Class, a series of sessions presenting his basic perspective on biblical truth, in 1953. Two years later his ministry was chartered as The Way, Inc. (changed to The Way International in 1975). In 1957 Wierwille resigned from the Evangelical and Reformed Church to devote himself full-time to his growing work. The Wierwille family farm outside New Knoxville, Ohio, was donated to the ministry as its headquarters. The Way, Inc., grew steadily during the 1960s and then experienced rapid growth in the 1970s as the “Jesus People” revival spread across the United States. The facilities at New Knoxville were expanded and in 1971 hosted the first national Rock of Ages festival, an annual gathering of people associated with the ministry.

The Way considers itself to be a biblical research, teaching, and household fellowship ministry. It neither builds nor owns any church buildings but instead holds its meetings in home fellowships. Often overlooked by those who write about The Way’s development is the role that Wierwille’s research in Aramaic has played. He was spurred on by his personal relationship and contact with Dr. George M. Lamsa, translator of the Lamsa Bible. Among the activities of The Way have been the establishment of a large Aramaic facility (completely computerized) and the training of a group of scholars in the Aramaic (Syriac) language.

Like other Grace Gospel churches, The Way teaches a form of dispensationalism, although Wierwille preferred the term administration. According to Wierwille, present believers live under the church administration that began at Pentecost. Scripture from before Pentecost is not addressed to the church but is for the believer’s learning. Pre-Pentecost scripture includes the Old Testament and the four Gospels. Acts serves as a transition volume from the Old Testament to the New Testament. The Book of Acts chronicles the rise and expansion of the first-century church.

Doctrinally, The Way could be considered both Arian and Pentecostal. It rejects the Trinitarian orthodoxy of most of Western Christianity. It believes in the divine conception of Jesus by God and that Jesus is the Son of God but not God the Son. It also believes in receiving the fullness of the holy spirit, God’s power, which may be evidenced by the nine manifestations of the spirit: speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, prophecy, word of knowledge, word of wisdom, discerning of spirits, faith (believing), miracles, and healing.

The Way International is organized on the model of a tree, growing from the root (international headquarters) to trunks (national organizations), limbs (state and province organizations), branches (organizations in cities and towns), and household fellowships (small, individual fellowship groups). Administratively, the ministry is directed by a three-member board of directors. In 2000, Rev. Rosalie F. Rivenbark became president. She serves with Rev. Harve J. Platig, the vice president, and Rev. John R. Reynolds, the secretary-treasurer. The board appoints the cabinet that helps oversee the entire ministry, including the headquarters (located at The Way Household Ranch–Camp Gunnison), international outreach work, and work within the United States. Each of the ministry’s two properties in the United States (located in New Knoxville, Ohio and Gunnison, Colorado) is a designated Root location. American Christian Press is The Way’s publishing arm.

Those desiring to benefit from the church’s research, teaching, and fellowship may take a basic 12-session course called The Way of Abundance and Power that builds on Wierwille’s work. Several options are open to graduates of the course. Many continue to attend home fellowships and to take the intermediate and advance classes. Others may avail themselves of the Disciples of the Way Outreach Program, which is designed to build quality of life based on The Way’s biblical teachings. The Way of Abundance and Power has been run all over the United States and in Europe, Australia, Asia, South America, and Africa and recently has been translated into French and Spanish.

Membership

Not reported. Outside of the United States, The Way International currently has work in 28 countries and two U.S. territories.

Educational Facilities

The Way Household Ranch–Camp Gunnison, Gunnison, Colorado.

Periodicals

The Way Magazine.

Remarks

Wierwille was succeeded as head of The Way International by L. Craig Martindale (b. 1948), who led the organization through the 1990s. However, in 2000, following charges that he had had inappropriate sexual relationships with several women, Martindale was asked to resign from his leadership role. Following an investigation of the charges, he was permanently removed from office. Rosalie Rivenbark succeeded him as president.