Biblical Witness Fellowship is an evangelical renewal movement composed of members of the United Church of Christ. Founded in 1978 as the United Church People for Biblical Witness, the movement reorganized as the Biblical Witness Fellowship at a national convocation in Byfield, Massachusetts in 1984, hosted by the current president of BWF, the Rev. Dr. William Boylan.
The primary purpose of BWF is "to renew spiritual vitality through faith in Jesus Christ in every local congregation, restoring commitment to the original call and vision of these churches and their denomination." The BWF holds that congregations of the United Church of Christ have been in numerical and spiritual decline, citing denominational statistics that report net losses of members and congregations in every year since 1963.
BWF has consistently voiced its criticism of UCC statements regarding things they believe to be contrary to the Bible, especially on social issues. Several of these statements have included the "Open and Affirming" resolution of 1985, and the 2005 "Equal Marriage Rights For All" resolution. The BWF strongly supports the pro-life position on abortion and the affirmation of marriage as between one man and woman only. In response to the "Equal Marriage Rights for All" resolution of 2005, BWF Executive Director David Runnion-Bareford, a pastor in Candia, New Hampshire, called for the resignation of UCC President John Thomas.
Read more about Biblical Witness Fellowship: Beginnings of BWF, Organizations Founded, Resolutions Presented, Controversies, Withdrawals
Famous quotes containing the words witness and/or fellowship:
“Against my will, I became a witness to the most terrible defeat of reason and to the most savage triumph of brutality ever chronicled ... never before did a generation suffer such a moral setback after it had attained such intellectual heights.”
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“And sometimes I remember days of old
When fellowship seemed not so far to seek,
And all the world and I seemed much less cold,
And at the rainbow’s foot lay surely gold,
And hope felt strong, and life itself not weak.”
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