Berean Bible Society

Summary

The Berean Bible Society (BBS) was founded nearly sixty years ago for the sole purpose of helping believers understand and enjoy the Word of God. The organization holds without apology to all the fundamentals of the Christian faith and is evangelical, that is, they believe that salvation is by grace through faith alone on the basis of the shed blood of Christ.

BBS also emphasizes the importance of proclaiming the whole counsel of God in light of the Pauline revelation. Insofar as Paul is the apostle of the Gentiles, it is BBS's firm conviction that in his epistles alone we have the doctrine, position, walk, and destiny for the Church, the Body of Christ, during the dispensation of Grace.

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Organization Details [ Back to top ]

Purpose [ Back to top ]

For over 60 years the Berean Bible Society (BBS) has been "An Organization for the Promotion of Bible Study." Standing firm on the fundamentals of the Christian faith, it employs many means to interest people in the study of the Scriptures, among them the following:
• BBS arranges Bible Conferences for the study of God's Word. Its President, Paul M. Sadler, has spoken at many such conferences throughout the United States and Canada.
  
  
• The Society publishes the Berean Searchlight, a Bible study magazine edited by Pastor Sadler. It is sent free of charge to readers in every state in the Union and more than sixty foreign countries.
  
  
• BBS offers a wide selection of literature on various subjects to help believers understand and enjoy the Bible. A price list of these works is available upon request.
  
  
• The Berean Bible Society also has a Web Site on the Internet which serves to introduce the masses to the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the Mystery. The web site address is www.bereanbiblesociety.org.
  
  
• Audio tapes are provided free of charge through our free lending library for personal use and for Bible classes.
  
  
• "Two Minutes With the Bible," a weekly newspaper column featured in hundreds of newspapers across the country, is another means BBS uses to reach the masses with the Word. This column now has a weekly readership running into the millions.
  
  These growing ministries are carried on by the voluntary contributions of believers who desire to see others reached with the truths that have brought so much light and blessing to their own lives.

Mission Statement [ Back to top ]

The purpose of the Berean Bible Society is to promote Christian spiritual education and encourage the study of the Holy Scriptures by means of lectures, seminars, taped messages, conferences, and through literature such as the Berean Searchlight magazine.

Program Accomplishments [ Back to top ]

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Statement of Faith [ Back to top ]

The Berean Bible Society uses the following to express its Doctrinal Statement:

WE BELIEVE: 1) The verbal inspiration and plenary authority of the BIBLE in its original writings.

2) The eternal trinity of the GODHEAD.

3) The eternal deity, virgin birth, vicarious death, and spotless humanity of the LORD JESUS CHRIST.

4) MANKIND by nature is sinful and under the condemnation of God.

5) Personal SALVATION is by God?s grace, through faith in the crucified, risen, and glorified Christ.

6) The ETERNAL SECURITY of all the saved.

7) The personality and deity of the HOLY SPIRIT.

8) The essential unity of all believers of the present dispensation as members of the one true Church, the BODY OF CHRIST.

9) The GIFTS enumerated in Ephesians 4:7-16, have been given for the building up of the Body of Christ, and of these, only evangelists, pastors, and teachers are in order during the present dispensation. The sign gifts of the Acts period were temporary in character, and have ceased.

10) The privilege and duty of all the saved to WALK by faith as children of light.

11) The Communion of the LORD?S SUPPER as revealed through Paul for the members of the Body of Christ ?TILL HE COME.?

12) All believers are made members of the Body of Christ by One Divine BAPTISM, by which also they are identified with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. In the light of I Corinthians 1:17, Ephesians 4:5. and Colossians 2:12, we affirm that water baptism has no place in God?s spiritual program for the Body of Christ in this dispensation of grace.

13) The RESURRECTION of the Body.

14) The Pretribulation RAPTURE of the Church.

15) The personal, premillennial RETURN OF CHRIST to reign on earth.

16) The ETERNAL PUNISHMENT of the unsaved dead.

17) The MYSTERY ?Hid in God? was the divine purpose to make of Jew and Gentile a whole new thing, that is, the Church, which is Christ?s Body. The revelation of this Mystery was committed to Paul, and it is in his writings alone that we find the doctrine, position, walk and destiny of the Church.

History [ Back to top ]

Berean Bible Society began in a two-room school house in Preakness (now Wayne), New Jersey. Here a group of believers began to see the importance of understanding the "the mystery" revealed to Paul, and the urgency of proclaiming the unadulterated "gospel of the grace of God". It was C.R. Stam's first pastorate: the Preakness Community Church.
When the schoolhouse had to be torn down, the little group felt led of God to launch a building program, even though they were in the depth of the Great Depression. In this church the Berean Searchlight was first published.
Later, in 1945, Pastor and Mrs. Stam moved to Milwaukee, where he joined Pastor Charles F. Baker in establishing the Milwaukee Bible Institute. The Berean Searchlight, however, and Pastor Stam's broadcast and wire recorded Bible lessons continued from a rented office. The Institute opened its doors for classes on September 15, 1945, with Charles R Baker as president and instructor in Bible Doctrine, and C. R. Stam as dean and instructor in Bible Exposition and Dispensationalism.
In 1953 the Berean Bible Society was moved to Chicago, the center of Fundamentalism in America at that time. A building only two years old, well built and situated on one of Chicago's main thoroughfares (Belmont Avenue) was purchased for only $38,600. Now the Berean Searchlight would at last be published in a building of its own.
By 1958, however, the building BBS had purchased was already too cramped for efficient operation and had to be enlarged. As the ministries of Berean Bible Society kept growing, the building had to be enlarged again in the late sixties.
In 1987, Pastor Stam retired as a result of declining health. In his place, Pastor Paul Sadler, of Falls Bible Church of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin was hired as president.
In the fall of 1993 the Board of Directors began diligently working on a much needed expansion project. Their Chicago facility had served well for over 50 years, but it was time again to expand. The Board of Directors voted unanimously to relocate the ministries of the Berean Bible Society to a northwest suburb of Milwaukee. A new facility was erected in Germantown, Wisconsin.

Ministry Needs [ Back to top ]

This organization has not offered MinistryWatch.com with specific needs to be posted on the profile. At such a time that MinistryWatch.com receives a response from the ministry, it will be posted immediately.

Research Analysis

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MinistryWatch.com 5 Star Financial Efficiency Ratings [ Back to top ]

Ranking Category	Rating	Overall Rank	Christian Growth Sector
Overall Efficiency Rating		298 of 352	30 of 43
Fund Acquisition Decision		101 of 352	9 of 43
Resource Allocation Decision		333 of 352	39 of 43
Asset Utilization Decision		336 of 352	39 of 43