Elim Bible Institute and College is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

Christian college A Christian college is an educational institution or part of an educational institute dedicated to the integration of Christian faith and learning in traditional academic fields. Christian colleges in the United States Many Christian college ...

Lima, New York Lima (, the name is a shibboleth) is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Livingston County, New York, Livingston County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 4,305 at the 2010 census. The town is in the ...

. It awards bachelor's degrees, an associate degree, and certificates.

History

Elim was founded in 1924 in

Endwell, New York Endwell is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet (and census-designated place) located in the town of Union, New York, Union in Broome County, New York, Broome County, New York (state), New York, United States. Its population was 11,446 at the 2010 census ...

, by

Ivan Ivan () is a Slavic languages, Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John (given name), John) from Hebrew language, Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. T ...

and Minnie Spencer. The school is named for a biblical location named in

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

15:27, wherein Elim was an

oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

in the wilderness. In the 1920s, the school moved to

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

and Red Creek, and in 1932 to Hornell, where it was located until 1951, when the Spencers moved Elim to its current site in Lima. Beginning in 1948, Elim was a center for the Latter Rain Movement. Ivan Spencer headed Elim Bible Institute for many years. In 1949, he was succeeded in that position by his son, I. Carlton Spencer, who also led

Elim Fellowship Elim Fellowship is a North American–based Pentecostal/charismatic Christian Ministry founded in 1933. Elim Fellowship's headquarters is located in Lima, NY. History Elim Bible Institute was founded in 1924 by Ivan Q. Spencer and his wife M ...

for many years. Subsequently, H. David Edwards and Mike Webster each served as president of the institution. Paul Johansson, who was a student at Elim from 1956 to 1959, became the school's president in 1994. In 2006, Jeff Clark, who completed his own studies at Elim in 1978, succeeded Johansson as president.Presidential Reflections: 80 Years of Ministry
, Elim ''Bell Tower'', Summer 2004Winds of Change: Generation to Generation
, Elim ''Bell Tower'', Summer 2006 In 2012, Michael Cavanaugh, founder of Elim Gospel Church and a 1976 graduate of Elim, succeeded Jeff Clark as President. In August of 2019, Dr. Fred Antonelli was elected as the new president of Elim Bible Institute and College and installed in May of 2020.

Campus history

The Elim campus in Lima was originally the site of

Genesee Wesleyan Seminary The Genesee Wesleyan Seminary was the name of two institutions located on the same site in Lima, New York. The Genesee Wesleyan Seminary (I) was founded in 1831 by the Genesee Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The plan for its ...

(opened in 1831), one of the first

coeducation Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

al schools in the United States. Genesee College was founded on the same campus in 1849. The two institutions shared the campus until 1870 when Genesee College relocated to

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

, where it became the basis of

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

. The seminary continued to occupy the campus until it closed in 1941. Shortly thereafter, the

National Youth Administration The National Youth Administration (NYA) was a New Deal agency sponsored by Franklin D. Roosevelt during his presidency. It focused on providing work and education for Americans between the ages of 16 and 25. It operated from June 26, 1935 to ...

(NYA), a

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

project championed by

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

, briefly made the campus the location for one of the NYA's experimental resident work centers. The center provided

vocational training Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an ind ...

to underprivileged students until its closure in the summer of 1942. The

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

Church operated Genesee Junior College at the site from 1947 to 1951, when Elim Bible Institute bought the campus and buildings for $75,000.Joyce Rapp
Historic Lima
/ref> Two campus buildings,

Genesee Wesleyan Seminary and Genesee College Hall Genesee Wesleyan Seminary and Genesee College Hall are two historic buildings located on the campus of Elim Bible Institute at Lima in Livingston County, New York. The Genesee Wesleyan Seminary building was constructed in 1842 and now serves as th ...

, were listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1976.

Accreditation

For most of its history, Elim Bible Institute was not

accredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

and did not award degrees, thus avoiding violations of laws and regulations that prohibit the awarding of degrees by unaccredited institutions. In 2020, the institute was accredited by the

Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools The Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS) is a U.S. based institutional accreditation organization that focuses on Christian colleges, universities, and seminaries seeking collegiate accreditation in the United Sta ...

Academics

Elim Bible Institute and College offers accredited degree programs in Biblical Theology and Business Management.

Related religious organizations

was formed in 1933 as an informal fellowship of churches, ministers, and missionaries originating from a nucleus of people who had attended Elim Bible Institute. The Fellowship continues to support

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

and

Charismatic Charisma () is a personal quality of presence or charm that compels its subjects. Scholars in sociology, political science, psychology, and management reserve the term for a type of leadership seen as extraordinary; in these fields, the term "ch ...

churches, ministers, and missions, providing credentials and counsel for ministers, encouraging fellowship among local churches, sponsoring leadership seminars, and also serving as a

transdenominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. Overview The term has been used in the context of various faiths including Jainism, Baháʼí Fait ...

agency sending

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

and other personnel to other countries.
Elim Life Church
(formerly Elim Gospel Church), an

interdenominational Interdenominationalism is an evangelical Protestant movement of cooperation among various Christian denominations. History The movement has its origins in the founding of the London Missionary Society, a missionary society, in 1795 by variou ...

Full Gospel The term Full Gospel or Fourfold Gospel is a theological doctrine used by some evangelical denominations that summarizes the Gospel in four aspects, namely salvation, sanctification, divine healing and second coming of Christ. Doctrine This term ...

church, was established near the Elim campus in 1988 and is attended by a significant number of the Institute's faculty and students.

Notable alumni

Randall Terry Randall Allen Terry (born 1959) is an American activist and political candidate. Terry founded the anti-abortion organization Operation Rescue, which he later abandoned. Beginning in 1987, the group became particularly prominent for blockading t ...

(class of 1981) and

Rob Schenck Robert Leonard Schenck (born 1958) is an American Evangelical clergyman who ministers to elected and appointed officials in Washington, D.C., and serves as president of a non-profit organization named for Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Since 1982, Schenck h ...

founded the

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...

activist group Operation Rescue after studying together at Elim in the early 1980s. Their activism was motivated by their exposure at Elim to the teachings of theologian

Francis Schaeffer Francis August Schaeffer (January 30, 1912 – May 15, 1984) was an American evangelical theologian, philosopher, and Presbyterian pastor. He co-founded the L'Abri community in Switzerland with his wife Edith Schaeffer, , a prolific author ...

, whose then-recent book ''A Christian Manifesto'' encouraged evangelicals to engage in

political activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

to combat

secular humanism Secular humanism is a philosophy, belief system or life stance that embraces human reason, secular ethics, and philosophical naturalism while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, and superstition as the basis of morality an ...

.Eyal Press (2007),
Absolute Convictions: My Father, a City, and the Conflict That Divided America
', Macmillan, , . Pages 129–131. Anti-abortion activist and religious leader

Paul Schenck Paul Chaim Schenck (born 1958) is an ordained clergyman, author, and lecturer. Early life and work Schenck was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, to Henry P. Schenck and Marjorie M. Apgar. He has two sisters and an identical twin brother with wh ...

, twin brother of Rob Schenck, also attended Elim.Diocese Appoints New Directors
, Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg, accessed May 25, 2010

References

External links

* {{authority control Unaccredited Christian universities and colleges in the United States Seminaries and theological colleges in New York (state) Educational institutions established in 1924 Bible colleges Education in Livingston County, New York Evangelicalism in New York (state) Hornell, New York Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools 1924 establishments in New York (state)