Bible Fellowship Church

The Bible Fellowship Church (BFC) history begins with the formation of the Evangelische Mennoniten Gemeinschaft (Evangelical Mennonite Society) on September 24, 1858 in Milford Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.[3] Seven Mennonites who had come under the influence of revivalism—elder William Gehman, bishop William N. Shelly, preachers Henry Diehl and David Henning, and deacons David Gehman, Jacob Gottschall and Joseph Schneider—refused to surrender to the pressure from their bishops to give up their evangelism.[4] Instead they formed the new society, which combined Mennonite doctrine with enthusiastic evangelism. The Evangelical Mennonites of Pennsylvania consolidated with the United Mennonites (org. 1875) to become the Evangelical United Mennonites in November 1879.[5] In 1883 the Brethren in Christ in Ohio merged with the Evangelical United Mennonites to form the Mennonite Brethren in Christ.[6]

The Pennsylvania Conference of the Mennonite Brethren in Christ saw significant growth at the start of the twentieth century. Membership doubled from 1900 to 1920 and again from 1920 to 1940.[7] Since 1879, the Pennsylvania Conference held annual camp meetings.[8] The first location was Chestnut Hill outside Coopersburg, Pennsylvania. In 1910, the denomination purchased land near Allentown called Mitzpah Grove.[9] Located in East Allentown, the camp was located behind Mosser Elementary School encompassing the area between Ellsworth Street at Walnut Street to present-day Ellsworth Street (then inside the camp grounds) and Fairview Street.[10][11] The annual camp meetings ceased during World War II from 1942 to 1945, but resumed again in 1946.[7]

In the 1940s, the relationship of the Mennonite Brethren in Christ Pennsylvania Conference with the other Mennonite Brethren in Christ conferences was strained. Disagreements existed over doctrine and ecclesiology, and these were intensified by personality differences.[7] In 1947, the General Conference of the Mennonite Brethren in Christ changed the name of the denomination to the United Missionary Church. The Pennsylvania Conference disagreed with the name change, and was allowed to continue under the old name.[12]

Five years later, in 1952, the Pennsylvania Conference officially voted to separate themselves from the other conferences of the United Missionary Church and form their own denomination. The cause of the separation included differences of opinion over church government, the doctrine of holiness, education, foreign missions, and financial autonomy.[13] The Pennsylvania Conference also objected to an expected merger with the Missionary Church Association—which would occur in 1969 creating a new consolidated denomination known as the Missionary Church.

Seven years after forming the new denomination, the Pennsylvania Conference of the Mennonite Brethren in Christ adopted a new name in 1959: the Bible Fellowship Church.[14] At this time, new articles of faith were approved, which included dropping the practice of feet washing. The structure of church government was gradually changed to a more presbyterian style. Local elders rule individual Bible Fellowship churches. Each of the individual churches sends their elders and pastors to the annual conference. In 1968, the Bible Fellowship Church sold its Mizpah Grove property in Allentown and acquired Pinebrook Bible Conference in Stroudsburg as the site for its annual camp meeting.[7]

During the mid-20th century, the denomination's core soteriological viewpoint also gradually changed from its early Anabaptist/Arminian perspective to the current espousal of Reformed Theology. In an address at the 1962 Annual Conference in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, Donald Kirkwood noted that "historically we were Arminian; gradually but progressively we became Dispensational; presently we are in transition. There are remnants of Arminianism, and Dispensationalism, also an active Calvinism."[15] However, in a departure from many other reformed churches, Bible Fellowship Churches continue the Anabaptist practice of believer's baptism.[16] It also holds to Premillennialism.[17][18]

Headquarters of the BFC are located in Whitehall, Pennsylvania. Ministries include the Bible Fellowship Board of Missions; Church Extension Ministries; Fellowship Community, a home for the aged; and Victory Valley Youth Camp. In 2005, there were 7,470 members in 61 congregations.[19] Most of the churches are located in eastern Pennsylvania. There are also churches in New Jersey, Delaware, New York, Connecticut, Virginia, and New Mexico. In 2023, there were 6,687 members in 67 congregations with a total church family size of 14,412.[20]

In 1950, the Pennsylvania Conference of the Mennonite Brethren in Christ supported the opening of Berean Bible School in Allentown.[21] When the Bible Fellowship Church purchased the Pinebrook Bible Conference in Stroudsburg in 1968, the Allentown campus of the Berean Bible School was sold. The next year, the school reopened as Pinebrook Junior College on the Stroudsburg property.[22] It began granting associates degrees in 1970.[23] In 1976, the college relocated to Coopersburg, Pennsylvania to a property that formerly housed a school and orphanage run by Sisters of the Sacred Heart that had closed in 1974.[23] In 1992, the junior college ceased operations due to declining enrollment causing inadequate finances.[23][24] In response, the Bible Fellowship Church created the Pinebrook Educational Foundation in 1994 to provide financial aid to Christian students studying at Christian post-secondary institutions.[22] In 2014, the former Coopersburg property was destroyed to make way for a new residential condominium development.[25]

Pinebrook Bible Conference is a Christian camp and conference center in the Pocono Mountains in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1933 by Percy Crawford, an evangelist who led a radio ministry in Philadelphia, Pinebrook hosted prominent speakers and musicians, including Billy Graham, Jack Wyrtzen, J. Oliver Buswell, William Bell Riley, William Henry Houghton, Robert T. Ketcham, Cliff Barrows, and George Beverly Shea.[26]

In 1968, Pinebrook came under the umbrella of Bible Fellowship Church.[27] On October 17, 2018, Spruce Lake took over stewardship of Pinebrook, while Bible Fellowship Church continues to offer events, retreats, and conferences at the property.[28]