Open Bible Churches (OBC), formerly known as Open Bible Standard Churches (OBSC), is an association of Finished Work Pentecostal churches with headquarters in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

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

Assemblies of God The World Assemblies of God Fellowship (WAGF), commonly known as the Assemblies of God (AG), is a global cooperative body or communion of over 170 Pentecostal denominations that was established on August 15, 1989. The WAGF was created to provi ...

in that the adherents believe in the modern-day

gifts of the Holy Spirit In Christianity, 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 D ...

, with

speaking in tongues Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is an activity or 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 voc ...

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 to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

. The organization is affiliated with the

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

and the Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America. Open Bible Churches is affiliated with New Hope Christian College, an accredited Bible college in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

, 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. In 2010, US membership had dropped to 22,659 members in 261 churches.

History

The OBSC's origins are found in two smaller Pentecostal groups which can be traced to the

Azusa Street Revival The Azusa Street Revival was a historic series of revival meetings that took place in Los Angeles, California. It was led by William J. Seymour, an African-American preacher. The revival began on April 9, 1906, and continued until roughly 191 ...

: the Bible Standard Conference founded in

in 1919 and the Open Bible Evangelistic Association founded in

, 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 Full Gospel or Fourfold Gospel is an evangelical doctrine that summarizes the Gospel in four aspects, namely the Salvation (Christianity), salvation, sanctification, faith healing and Second Coming of Christ. It has been used in various Christi ...

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 international Pentecostal Christian denomination founded in 1923 by evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson. It lies within the evangelical tradition. Its headquarters are in Los Angeles, California, United States. H ...

. 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-born American Pentecostalism, Pentecostal Evangelism, evangelist and media celebrity in the 1920 ...

'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 Christian denominations founded in the United States

History

References

Further reading

External links