The Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions (IBPFM) is a small

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

organization, which early in its history became an approved agency of the

Bible Presbyterian Church The Bible Presbyterian Church is an American Protestant denomination in the Calvinist tradition. History Origin The Bible Presbyterian Church was formed in 1937, predominantly through the efforts of such conservative Presbyterian clergymen as ...

. Founded in 1933 by J. Gresham Machen, the IBPFM played a significant role in the Fundamentalist–Modernist Controversy within the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. The Independent Board continues under its founding charter, maintaining its original purpose of "promoting truly Biblical missions" consistent with Presbyterian doctrine and polity. The Board has approximately 30 missionaries in Central and South America, Kenya, Cambodia, and India. There are four full-time headquarters staff members in

Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania Plymouth Meeting is a census-designated place (CDP) that straddles Plymouth Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Plymouth and Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania, Whitemarsh Townships in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Montgomery County, Penns ...

History

In 1932, the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions took an ambiguous position in regard to a theologically liberal report on missions, a decision that provided conservatives in the denomination further ammunition when one of the denomination's most prominent missionaries, the author

Pearl S. Buck Pearl Sydenstricker Buck (June 26, 1892 – March 6, 1973) was an American writer and novelist. She is best known for ''The Good Earth'' a bestselling novel in the United States in 1931 and 1932 and won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, Pulitze ...

, endorsed the document as "masterly statement" and labeled traditional notions of salvation "superstitious." The following year, conservative theologian J. Gresham Machen was instrumental in creating the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions. Interpreting the existence of the new board as a direct challenge to its denominational authority, the Presbyterian Church brought the members of its board to trial—although Machen was never given the opportunity to defend his actions. In March 1935, the members of the Independent Board were found guilty and suspended from the ministry. In 1936, fundamentalists less concerned than Machen with the board's Presbyterian identity, ousted Machen as president and installed "a minister of a nondenominational church." After Machen's untimely death in 1937, the IBPFM came under the control of

Carl McIntire Carl Curtis McIntire, Jr. (May 17, 1906 – March 19, 2002), known as Carl McIntire, was a founder and minister in the Bible Presbyterian Church, founder and long-time president of the International Council of Christian Churches and the Ame ...

, the founder of the Bible Presbyterian Church. Although Board members and missionaries from various Presbyterian denominations have served the Independent Board, it has remained closely aligned with the Bible Presbyterian Church. In the first 20 years of its existence the Board commissioned almost 150 missionaries.''IBPFM PraySendGo'' (Spring 2019), 3.

Leadership

The Board has had seven presidents: *

John Gresham Machen John Gresham Machen (; 1881–1937) was an American Presbyterian New Testament scholar and educator in the early 20th century. He was the Professor of New Testament at Princeton Seminary between 1906 and 1929, and led a revolt against modernist ...

, founder * Harold S. Laird * James Gordon Holdcroft * Lynn Gray Gordon * Earle R. White * William R. LeRoy * Brad K. Gsell (current President) * Keith Coleman (current Executive Director)

References

*David O. Beale, ''In Pursuit of Purity: American Fundamentalism Since 1850'' (Greenville, S.C.: Bob Jones University Press, 1986), 317-19. *Bradley J. Longfield, ''The Presbyterian Controversy: Fundamentalists, Modernists, and Moderates'' (Oxford University Press, 1993). *Gladys Tizck Rhoads and Nancy Titzck Anderson, ''McIntire: Defender of Faith and Freedom'' (Xulon Press, 2012)

External links

IBPFM website
{{Bible Presbyterianism Presbyterian missionary societies