Independent Fundamental Baptist Churches

Being an Independent Fundamental Baptist is following the baptist distinctions.

B - baptism by immersion

A - autonomy of the local church

P - priesthood of the believer

T - two church ordinances

I - individual soul liberty

S - separation of church and state

T - two church offices

S - saved church membership

The fundamental part is all about the convictions that you hold. It deals with things such as music, modesty, identity, soul-winning, missionaries, etc.

I hope that I may have helped clear it up a little.

 

OSAS = Once saved, always saved.

 

I don't know, never been to one. I don't have a suit I can fit into.

 

The New Testament pattern shows us that local churches are to be independent and autonomous.

 

musicforyou, you have named the Baptist disctinctives, something which all Baptists hold to (or should hold to), not just Fundamental Baptists. However, the Baptist distinctives are not what is historicaly considered the "Fundamentals."

As for music, modesty and identity standards, these are issues of what is called "personal separation," which, though common to Fundamental Baptists, are certainly not what we call "Fundamentals." The "Fundamentals" are the basic doctrines of the faith: the deity and virgin birth of Christ, the inspiration of Scripture, etc. (depending on what list you use).

I will say that it is true that Fundamentalists have always stood for soul-winning and missions. However, these are not historically considered "Fundamentals" (though maybe they ought to be!

 

True. I wasn't meaning that it was all that made us fundamentalists. I was just saying that is part of what fundamental baptists believe.

 

Understood, musicforyou.

 

Fellowships are loosely knit groups that have no control over each other, leaving the churches totally autonomous. They don't work in conjunction with each other as most of the convention and association churches do in the support of missions, but rather support the missionaries of their choice individually. An Independent Fundamental Baptist Church is able to fellowship with any church it pleases without accountability to anyone but it's own members.

I grew up in the IFB circles, preached for them in a lay capacity for several years, and then became SBC. Now my wife and I are attending an IFB church. I attended 2 IFB colleges, one church run, and one run by a board elected by the IFB churches that supported it in the 1980's.

 

Well put, AVL1984. However, some IFB folks don't seem to understand this. (No offense to anyone on the BB. ) When we started a pastor's fellowship here in Hokkaido, a couple of the younger missionaries didn't know what we were talking about, and we had to explain what you just did about fellowships--that they have no power over pastors or churches, make no binding resolutions, are just for, well, fellowship!

An association, such as the GARB is, takes it a step further and unites together to start and approve mission boards, etc. But the churches are still autonomous, and each church still supports its own missionaries. And the missionaries, God bless 'em, still have to go on deputation!

A convention, like the SBC, takes it a step further and unites all funds into one fund so that the missionaries are all sent directly to the field ("Do not pass go, collect your support!") WITHOUT deputation (the only reason I ever considered going with the SBC board)! But even the convention churches are autonomous. The various bodies in the SBC cannot own the buildings of individual churches, cannot elect their pastors, etc.

In the early 1950's, my Dad was out in southern Kansas planting SBC churches when a little problem arose in his church. The county SBC association sent a couple of observers to the business meeting. When Dad saw them, he said to the deacons, "Men, if those two even stand up to say something, escort them out!" Stand to say something? They didn't even stand for the closing prayer!!