How it all started...
7-7-77 – That was the date a small group of us gathered for a home Bible study that eventually grew to become Fellowship Bible Church. On the Sunday following Thanksgiving that year, we prayerfully decided to become a local church in this community.
We started meeting as a home Bible study and moved to different locations to accommodate increased attendance. Then when we decided to formally become a local church, we started renting a room at the Sprinker Recreation Center in the Parkland area. From there we moved from one rental space to another, until after twenty years and ten different rented facilities, we moved into our present Ministry Center building here in Tacoma. We moved in on May of 1996, where the ministry has expanded and matured over the years. We’ve had our ups and downs, but overall, the Lord has been very gracious to us.
The Bible has been and is our foundation, our guide, and our standard. When we started this church some felt that we were actually abandoning our traditional roots. They thought that we were trying to make too many changes too quickly. It was just too different from what was considered by some a good solid church. But the changes we made back then were the result of months (actually years), studying both the Bible and our culture.
We started meeting as a home Bible study and moved to different locations to accommodate increased attendance. Then when we decided to formally become a local church, we started renting a room at the Sprinker Recreation Center in the Parkland area. From there we moved from one rental space to another, until after twenty years and ten different rented facilities, we moved into our present Ministry Center building here in Tacoma. We moved in on May of 1996, where the ministry has expanded and matured over the years. We’ve had our ups and downs, but overall, the Lord has been very gracious to us.
The Bible has been and is our foundation, our guide, and our standard. When we started this church some felt that we were actually abandoning our traditional roots. They thought that we were trying to make too many changes too quickly. It was just too different from what was considered by some a good solid church. But the changes we made back then were the result of months (actually years), studying both the Bible and our culture.
Expanding the vision...
We’ve continued to study and adapt, and are trying to instill that same approach and those same convictions in the generation that will replace us. We’ve often said that the young adults here at FBC are our future. When new leaders are guiding this congregation, we hope there are many changes from what we originally started. We hope that old methods are re-examined, new models of ministry are created, and they explore options and opportunities never before considered. Without such changes, we will feel that in some ways we failed as mentors.
But we also hope that the truths of the Scriptures, the standards of God’s Word, the doctrinal heritage we have all been blessed with for over 2,000 years of church history would continue to be an unshakable foundation on which all the new methods are built. Our ideas and methods are always open to change, and at times must change, but God’s ideas are not. These are the foundation stones that must be understood, honored and respected, or all else we do will be built on sand.
But we also hope that the truths of the Scriptures, the standards of God’s Word, the doctrinal heritage we have all been blessed with for over 2,000 years of church history would continue to be an unshakable foundation on which all the new methods are built. Our ideas and methods are always open to change, and at times must change, but God’s ideas are not. These are the foundation stones that must be understood, honored and respected, or all else we do will be built on sand.