Report of the Committee to Formulate
the Board of Higher Education and Pinebrook Educational Foundation
The 110th Annual Conference, after approving legislation, at first reading, which would establish the Board of Higher Education and the Pinebrook Education Foundation, also approved the following resolution:
RESOLVED, that the Board of Higher Education of the Bible Fellowship Church pursue an agreement of affiliation with Biblical Theological Seminary which includes the following provisions:
1. It shall include a course on the distinctives and history of the Bible Fellowship Church (BFC) which will be offered at mutually acceptable intervals. Biblical Theological Seminary (BTS) will provide the facility, will offer the course, and will administer it. The Board of Higher Education (BHE) will bear the financial responsibility for the staffing.
2. It shall include a BFC chaplaincy. The BFC will provide a mutually acceptable chaplain, as available. BTS will provide an adequate site for meeting with students. Other details will be resolved by the BHE and BTS.
3. It shall include an internship program in which the BFC would make churches, agencies, and pastors available to enter into formal (and informal) internship arrangements of many types. BTS will encourage and recommend students for the program. In addition, the Seminary will be responsible for the administration of the course. Any attendant financial arrangements will be negotiated between the church/agency, BTS, and the student.
The Committee on Higher Education, in the absence of an approved Board of Higher Education, met to consider the intent of this second resolution. Given the lack of funds to make a formal affiliation possible, the Committee drafted what it named a “proposal for a memorandum of understanding” to be agreed to by Biblical Theological Seminary and the Bible Fellowship Church. This proposal contained the elements contained in the resolution of the Annual Conference, and it was presented to Dr. David Dunbar, the President of the seminary, during the Spring. Raymond R. Dotts, the Chairman of the Committee, and George Monroe, the Secretary, left the meeting feeling that Dr. Dunbar would support the proposal when he presented it at an upcoming meeting of the Board of Trustees.
As we report our work to the 111th Annual Conference, we have not yet heard from Dr. Dunbar. We urge the representatives to the Annual Conference to approve the legislation establishing the Board and the Foundation this year. If this is accomplished, we trust that the Board will then be able to complete the work which we have begun and that a formal relationship can be worked out between our Church and Biblical Theological Seminary.
Committee to Propose a Board of Higher Education and the Pinebrook Educational Foundation: Raymond R. Dotts, Chairman; George K. Monroe, Secretary; Carl C. Cassel, Calvin T. Reed, and Robert H. Zentz