The World Baptist Fellowship (WBF) is a

separatist Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...

fundamentalist Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishing ...

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 af ...

organization. The organization was founded by

J. Frank Norris John Franklyn Norris (September 18, 1877 – August 20, 1952) was a Baptist preacher and controversial Christian fundamentalist. Biography J. Frank Norris was born in Dadeville in Tallapoosa County in eastern Alabama, but the family shortly ...

(1877–1952) of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, 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

became a combatant in the

modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

controversy. He edited a paper entitled ''The Fundamentalist''. Both the

Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The wor ...

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 Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

. William H. Brackney, ''Historical Dictionary of the Baptists'', Scarecrow Press, USA, 2009, p. 623In 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 Baptis ...

and the Norris Bible Baptist Institute. The Arlington Baptist University was founded in 1939 as Fundamental Baptist Bible Institute. The World Baptist Fellowship had 945 churches in 1995, with its primary strength in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. 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

* {{US baptist denominations Independent Baptist missionary societies Christian organizations established in 1933 Independent Baptist denominations Baptist denominations established in the 20th century