Open Bible Churches (OBC), formerly known as Open Bible Standard Churches (OBSC), is an association of

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestantism, Protestant Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christian movement Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moine ...

, United States. Open Bible is similar in doctrine and practice to the

Assemblies of God The Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 144 autonomous self-governing national groupings of churches that together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination."Assemblies of God". ...

in that the adherents believe in the modern-day

gifts of the Holy Spirit A spiritual gift or charism (plural: charisms or charismata; in Greek singular: χάρισμα ''charisma'', plural: χαρίσματα ''charismata'') is an extraordinary power given by the Holy Spirit."Spiritual gifts". ''A Dictionary of th ...

, with

speaking in tongues Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is a practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid vocalizing of sp ...

as one of the evidences of the gifts being manifested in the believer. Generally, each congregation owns its own property and calls its own

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

. The organization is affiliated with the

National Association of Evangelicals The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) is an association of evangelical denominations, organizations, schools, churches and individuals, member of the World Evangelical Alliance. The association represents more than 45,000 local churches ...

, the Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America, and the

Pentecostal World Conference The Pentecostal World Fellowship is a fellowship of Evangelical Pentecostal churches and denominations from across the world. The headquarters is in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Its leader is William Wilson (Tulsa, OK). History The Pentecostal World Fel ...

. Open Bible Churches is affiliated with New Hope Christian College, an accredited Bible college in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, ...

, INSTE Bible College in Ankeny, Iowa, Harvest Bible College, located at First Church of the Open Bible in Des Moines, Iowa, and Toledo School of Ministry in Toledo, Ohio. Open Bible publishes the ''Message of the Open Bible''. There are more than 150,000 Open Bible members worldwide. In 2006, U.S. membership was 40,000 in 330 churches.

History

The OBSC's origins are found in two smaller Pentecostal groups which can be traced to the Azusa Street Revival: the Bible Standard Conference founded in

in 1919 and the Open Bible Evangelistic Association founded in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moine ...

, in 1932; as both were similar in doctrine and structure, the two groups amalgamated in 1935. The Bible Standard Conference was formed in 1919 after Fred Hornshuh and several other ministers withdrew from the Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) led by Florence L. Crawford. Hornshuh disagreed with the AFM's isolationist stance from other

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 ...

groups, centralized and authoritarian leadership style, and its strict position on divorce and remarriage. The Open Bible Evangelistic Association began in 1932 when thirty-two ministers led by John R. and Louise H. Richey left the

International Church of the Foursquare Gospel The Foursquare Church is an Evangelical Pentecostal Christian denomination founded in 1923 by preacher Aimee Semple McPherson. The headquarters are in Los Angeles, California, United States. History The church has its origins in a vision of ...

. The separation grew out of the reluctance of these ministers to give ownership of local church property to the Foursquare Church denominational leadership. They were also concerned over the church's divorced leader

Aimee Semple McPherson Aimee Elizabeth Semple McPherson (née Kennedy; October 9, 1890 – September 27, 1944), also known as Sister Aimee or Sister, was a Canadian Pentecostal evangelist and media celebrity in the 1920s and 1930s,Obituary ''Variety'', October ...

's remarriage. The two Pentecostal groups were similar in their resistance to authoritarian leadership and denominational ownership of church property, and they also thought that local churches should maintain some autonomy. Since 1996, the organization's public name has been simply Open Bible Churches.

References

External links

* {{National Association of Evangelicals Pentecostal denominations Finished Work Pentecostals Evangelical denominations in North America Evangelical denominations established in the 20th century Christian organizations established in 1935

History

References

Further reading

External links