The World Baptist Fellowship (WBF) is a
separatist fundamentalist Independent Baptist
Independent Baptist churches (some also called Independent Fundamental Baptist or IFB) are Christian congregations, generally holding to conservative (primarily fundamentalist) Baptist beliefs. Although some Independent Baptist churches refuse a ...
organization. The organization was founded by
J. Frank Norris (1877–1952) of
Texas, a southern fundamentalist leader in the first half of the 20th century. It is headquartered in
Arlington, Texas
Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...
.
History
J. Frank Norris became a combatant in the
fundamentalist/
modernist controversy. He edited a paper entitled ''The Fundamentalist''. Both the
Southern Baptist Convention and the Baptist General Convention of Texas expelled Norris because of his controversial behavior. Norris, C. P. Staley and others formed the Premillennial Missionary Baptist Fellowship in 1933 at
Fort Worth, Texas.
[ William H. Brackney, ''Historical Dictionary of the Baptists'', Scarecrow Press, USA, 2009, p. 623]In 1938, the name was changed to World Fundamental Baptist Missionary Fellowship and then to World Baptist Fellowship (WBF) after the schism that created the
Baptist Bible Fellowship International
The Baptist Bible Fellowship International (BBFI) is a conservative Baptist Christian denomination. It is headquartered in Springfield, Missouri.
History
The Fellowship was founded during a meeting in 1950 at Fort Worth in 1950 by a group of 1 ...
in 1950. The WBF was again divided in 1984, when a group led by Raymond W. Barber established the
Independent Baptist Fellowship International
The Independent Baptist Fellowship International (IBFI) is an Independent Baptist fellowship.
History
The founding of the IBFI resulted from a controversy involving Arlington Baptist College of Arlington, Texas, an affiliate of the World Baptist ...
and the
Norris Bible Baptist Institute.
The
Arlington Baptist University
Arlington Baptist University is a private Baptist Bible college in Arlington, Texas. It is the official education institution of the World Baptist Fellowship and it offers both undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
History
The college was ...
was founded in 1939 as Fundamental Baptist Bible Institute.
The World Baptist Fellowship had 945 churches in 1995, with its primary strength in
Texas,
Florida and
Ohio. More than half of these churches also participate in other independent fundamental Baptist fellowships.
Organization
The WBF considers itself a missions agency. Its missionary work is headed by the Mission Committee, whose members are nominated by the existing committee and approved by the General Assembly in annual meeting. In 2003, the WBF had 85 approved missionaries. National Fellowship meetings are held twice per year.
References
External links
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{{US baptist denominations
Independent Baptist missionary societies
Christian organizations established in 1933
Independent Baptist denominations
Baptist denominations established in the 20th century