Our History
by Dr. Lawrence D. Hufhand
The IFBF has its roots in the old liberal Northern Baptist Convention. In the early 50’s a lot of good and godly men saw the need of a strong, fundamental, mission agency within the American Baptist Convention. Many of their students were going off to good schools and being called to the Mission Field, and did not want to go to the Mission Field under the American Baptist Mission Agency because it was so liberal, so to provide for them, the Conservative Baptist Foreign and Home Mission Societies were formed. These were separate from the American Baptist Convention, but the founders were all Convention men. It wasn’t long until these men saw the need of an Association of Conservative Baptist Churches with a national identity and so they formed the Conservative Baptist Ass’n. of America. 95% of all the strong fundamental men brought their churches out of the American Baptist Convention and identified themselves with this new CBA of A. Many were crucified by the Convention and paid the price. In the early days this Association was led by Dr. B. Myron Cedarholm and it became a power-house for God, planting new Churches all across America. Many of our churches in the State of Indiana were planted under the auspices of the Indiana chapter of the CBA of America. From the early fifties through the early seventies, the CBA of A was one of the leaders in the Independent Fundamental Baptist Movement. It became one of the three major Independent Baptist Church planting agencies. The other two being the Baptist Bible Fellowship and the GARBC.
The CBA of A was divided into three separate Regional Associations: The Eastern, the Central, and the Western. Each of these Regional Ass’n. had their own officers as well as their own area meetings. The Eastern and Western Regionals were less militant than the Central Regional, having soft, ecumenical leadership; whereas, the Central Regional was strong, hardcore, and militant in its approach. This of course created a division amongst the Pastors. It wasn’t long until the two mission agencies were drawn into the fray and finally took sides with the two soft regional groups. The seeds of Ecumenicalism were sown into the CBA via the two seminaries out west: Western Theological Seminary in Portland, Oregon and Denver Theological Seminary, in Denver Colorado. The Denver Baptist Bible College was founded by the strong conservative men of the area, and tried to toe the line, but alas it succumbed to the pressures of the soft crowd and it soon folded. The Central area had Pillsbury Baptist Bible College and Central Seminary, both of which were located in Minnesota, the most militant state in the CBA Central Regional. Dr. Monroe Parker was the President of Pillsbury, followed by Dr. Cedarholm; and the Seminary, was led by Dr. Richard Clearwater, who also pastored the Fourth Baptist Church of Minneapolis. The two major issues that divided the pastors and their churches were inclusivism as it related to the ecumenical movement and a soft position on Eschatological matters. In 1967, the National CBA of A meeting in Denver, CO left many Central Area pastors completely disillusioned. The CBA of A had been taken over by the soft core crowd and the Central regional had all but lost it’s voice. It was time to consider abandoning ship. However, we had a great State CBA Fellowship and we didn’t want to lose that; so a meeting of the CBA churches of Indiana met at the First Baptist Church in Tipton in July of 1967 to decide what to do.
At that meeting we voted to retire the name “The Conservative Baptist Association of Indiana” and become the “Indiana Fundamental Baptist Fellowship of Churches.” From that day until this, we have kept the torch burning, holding forth the Word of God. We take a strong stand on separation, holding to the fundamentals of the faith. Our pastors preach from the King James Version of the Bible; we are traditional in our music; evangelistic in our outreach; and missionary in our vision.
Our purpose in being is five fold:
About the Author: Dr. Hufhand served as the State Rep of Indiana through 2012.
The IFBF has its roots in the old liberal Northern Baptist Convention. In the early 50’s a lot of good and godly men saw the need of a strong, fundamental, mission agency within the American Baptist Convention. Many of their students were going off to good schools and being called to the Mission Field, and did not want to go to the Mission Field under the American Baptist Mission Agency because it was so liberal, so to provide for them, the Conservative Baptist Foreign and Home Mission Societies were formed. These were separate from the American Baptist Convention, but the founders were all Convention men. It wasn’t long until these men saw the need of an Association of Conservative Baptist Churches with a national identity and so they formed the Conservative Baptist Ass’n. of America. 95% of all the strong fundamental men brought their churches out of the American Baptist Convention and identified themselves with this new CBA of A. Many were crucified by the Convention and paid the price. In the early days this Association was led by Dr. B. Myron Cedarholm and it became a power-house for God, planting new Churches all across America. Many of our churches in the State of Indiana were planted under the auspices of the Indiana chapter of the CBA of America. From the early fifties through the early seventies, the CBA of A was one of the leaders in the Independent Fundamental Baptist Movement. It became one of the three major Independent Baptist Church planting agencies. The other two being the Baptist Bible Fellowship and the GARBC.
The CBA of A was divided into three separate Regional Associations: The Eastern, the Central, and the Western. Each of these Regional Ass’n. had their own officers as well as their own area meetings. The Eastern and Western Regionals were less militant than the Central Regional, having soft, ecumenical leadership; whereas, the Central Regional was strong, hardcore, and militant in its approach. This of course created a division amongst the Pastors. It wasn’t long until the two mission agencies were drawn into the fray and finally took sides with the two soft regional groups. The seeds of Ecumenicalism were sown into the CBA via the two seminaries out west: Western Theological Seminary in Portland, Oregon and Denver Theological Seminary, in Denver Colorado. The Denver Baptist Bible College was founded by the strong conservative men of the area, and tried to toe the line, but alas it succumbed to the pressures of the soft crowd and it soon folded. The Central area had Pillsbury Baptist Bible College and Central Seminary, both of which were located in Minnesota, the most militant state in the CBA Central Regional. Dr. Monroe Parker was the President of Pillsbury, followed by Dr. Cedarholm; and the Seminary, was led by Dr. Richard Clearwater, who also pastored the Fourth Baptist Church of Minneapolis. The two major issues that divided the pastors and their churches were inclusivism as it related to the ecumenical movement and a soft position on Eschatological matters. In 1967, the National CBA of A meeting in Denver, CO left many Central Area pastors completely disillusioned. The CBA of A had been taken over by the soft core crowd and the Central regional had all but lost it’s voice. It was time to consider abandoning ship. However, we had a great State CBA Fellowship and we didn’t want to lose that; so a meeting of the CBA churches of Indiana met at the First Baptist Church in Tipton in July of 1967 to decide what to do.
At that meeting we voted to retire the name “The Conservative Baptist Association of Indiana” and become the “Indiana Fundamental Baptist Fellowship of Churches.” From that day until this, we have kept the torch burning, holding forth the Word of God. We take a strong stand on separation, holding to the fundamentals of the faith. Our pastors preach from the King James Version of the Bible; we are traditional in our music; evangelistic in our outreach; and missionary in our vision.
Our purpose in being is five fold:
- To encourage one another by fellowship.
- To exhort one another through preaching.
- To share with one another ideas in church growth.
- To help churches reproduce themselves where they are needed.
- To be accountable to one another to stay trueto our calling.
About the Author: Dr. Hufhand served as the State Rep of Indiana through 2012.