Bible Center Church

“We need much prayer for the Bible Center testimony . . . If the next generation is to have a real testimony, it must be established by us now.” R .M. Maxwell, founder, Dec. 10, 1943.

The desire to provide sound Biblical training to Lay people was laid upon the heart of many Christians in the 1940s, when the Lord brought several godly believers together in the small shoe department of the People’s Store in Charleston, WV. From that vision has come the Bible Training Institute, Bible Center Church, several satellite churches, dozens of missionaries and pastors, and in a round about way, the Appalachian Bible College.

R. M. Maxwell (Leader: 1939-1945), owner of the People’s Store, planted the seeds for the BTI when he began classes on Tuesdays evening in a building on Hale Street at the end of the South Side Bridge. These classes drew spiritually hungry folk from a large surrounding area and from many of the large denominational churches in downtown Charleston. World War 2 was coming to an end, and the Lord led dozens of lay people from area churches to take advantage of the free Bible training offered by R. M. Maxwell in his classes that would prepare them and their churches for the postwar generation to come.

On September 10, 1942, when The Maxwell Bible Class called Rev. A. Reid Jepson as pastor, full church services began in the building on the corner of Hale and Virginia Streets. One of BCC’s missionaries, Judith Gentry (Tidball) taught Jewish Evangelism classes in the first session of BTI offered in 1943, while the City Bible Center was located in that building. She had the privilege of teaching classes under both R.M. Maxwell and Rev. Reid Jepson.

Mr. Maxwell continued to teach BTI at the Virginia and Hale Streets location until his death in 1945. By the end of 1945, the group had outgrown the building on Hale Street, so they moved to 419 Broad Street. The Bible Training Institute drew the crowds in, and regular attendance reached 280 in 1946. Wilbur C. Rooke (pastor of Randolph St. Baptist Church), was one of the teachers during these early years of the BTI, before Appalachian Bible Institute was founded.

In 1945, at about the same time that Mr. Maxwell’s classes were preparing believers for ministry in the Charleston area churches, Rev. Robert Guelich and his wife began a Bible Training Institute for believers in a small Baptist church he pastored in Pettus, WV. They were soon joined by Dr. and Mrs. Lester Pipkin who shared the Guelich’s vision to provide training for the mountain people of Appalachia. As the result, they organized an Appalachian Bible Institute in Pettus, WV in September, 1950. The Guelichs and Pipkins did not know R. M. Maxwell and had no idea that the Lord would use the ABI they founded, as a vital part of Maxwell’s own Bible Training Institute in Charleston.

But, the Lord would soon bring these two ministries together in a fellowship that would benefit both of them in ways that would have been thought impossible in March,1943, when City Bible Center began a BTI program of its own.

In Charleston during the 1950s, Rev. Jepson used his unique-God-given-talent to reach out to the whole community. He became Chaplain of the Charleston Fire Department, he began a radio program, and he made friends with both businessmen and laymen in other churches in our area; all the while inviting everyone he met to church services and BTI classes. At one time, more than two dozen churches were represented in the BTI. Rev. Bill Hanmer, one of the early teachers from ABI, said that he had opportunities to get into many local churches, as well as other churches all over the valley because BTI graduates, well trained in the Scriptures, returned to their local churches into positions as Sunday School teachers, deacons and elders.

Meanwhile, at Bradley, WV, Appalachian Bible Institute opened its doors to its first class of students in the fall of 1954. Robert Guelich accepted the pastorate of Springhill Baptist Church in So. Charleston, and the Pipkins were left to shepherd the ABI into full operation, earning college status in 1978.

In those early years, the Lord was moving in other hearts across our city as well. On the West side of Charleston, Pat B. Withrow, with a gift of $100 from a Charleston business man, had launched Charleston's Gospel Rescue Mission (now The Union Mission) before World War 1. He had a good-sized mission going, ministering to families devastated by the effects of alcohol and sinful living. “Brother Pat,” as he came to be known, was himself a recovered alcoholic and he knew its dangers, so his ministry was to the “Down and Outers,” as he lovingly called both himself and them. His mission offered, “Soup, Soap and Salvation” to all who needed help.

Brother Pat invited well-known preachers from all over the country to speak in his auditorium on Washington Street, where the dirt floors were covered with straw and the overflow sat on bales of hay. Preachers like Herbert Lockyer, Sgt. York, Billy Sunday, Gypsy Smith, Heiman Appleman, and B.R. Lakin from Cadle Tabernacle, drew hundreds of folk into his Mission for their sermons. These men were often shared with the City Bible Center at Bible Conferences connected with the BTI, as well.

Pat Withrow’s Gospel Rescue Mission further fit into City Bible Center’s ministries when Brother Pat realized that the converts from his work were in desperate need of good solid Bible teaching. Therefore, Pat sent them to our BTI. With the influx of the converts from the Gospel Rescue Mission, the BTI at our church began to train the “poor and needy” as well as the “rich and needy” of our city.

BTI classes at BCC continued to meet both Tuesday and Thursday evenings. There were two sessions each evening with a 20 minute break in between. A visiting missionary or pastor would speak, after which the second session would begin. Each session lasted about 45 minutes. A yearly Bible Conference was popular, with well- known preachers/authors/theologians, such as Dr. Harry Ironsides, conducting them. (Charles Hendricks was saved at an Ironsides conference held at the Broad St. location in June,1950.)

It was well before the days of Integration, when the Bible Center became the first church in our area to actively welcome the Black community to its ministries, and many Black folk attended the BTI classes. Then, Pastor Jepson met Ruth Tolliver as she ran the elevator in the Medical Arts Building and invited her to church. “We entertain angels unaware over there, and you would like us,” he told her. That peaked Ruth’s curiosity, and she and her sister, Raye, visited and were saved. “I’d never heard Bible teaching like that in my life,” Ruth reported. After Ruth married Jim Page in 1949, most of the Toliver family joined BCC, and all of them attended the BTI classes.

In the1960s, BTI offered training classes in Child Evangelism with people from churches all around the area taking advantage of them. Child Evangelism Fellowship was a major influence on children and parents in those early years, so Ruth and Jim entered the BTI classes to prepare for a ministry to children, as did John and Edith Dugan, and Fred and Peggy Gee. Using the training they obtained from BTI, they became heavily involved in C. E. F.

Bible Center Church has been using faculty from Appalachian Bible Institute at Bradley, WV as teachers for BTI for many years. Many of the classes were taught by faculty members from Appalachian Bible Institute (now known as Appalachian Bible College). The arrangement also worked both ways as Pastor Jepson also taught classes at ABI and served on the board of directors.

Under the pastorate of Charles Hendricks (1961-1967), the relationship between the Bible Training Institute and Appalachian Bible Institute was confirmed officially in his first year as pastor. Hendricks became the first Dean of the newly organized BTI, and he continued the tradition of inviting members from other churches to BTI classes. Attendance at both Bible Center Church and BTI classes increased steadily under his shepherding.

By the middle of the 1960s, BTI added classes from the Evangelical Teacher Training Association (ETTA), in addition to its regular sessions. Every Sunday School teacher at BCC was said to have taken advantage of this opportunity. ETTA, even though it was taught under the auspices of BTI, was formatted differently from the regular BTI classes, in that it was a learning-and-practicing, educational opportunity for students. Those in ETTA classes had to study volumes of materials and then use them in front of the class as they practiced teaching techniques. The BTI classes were more like college classes: Teachers lectured to students who sat, listened, and soaked it up. ETTA class members, on the other hand, actively participated in discussions of the materials, and in teaching lessons to their classmates.

When Rev. and Mrs. Robert Spradling came to Bible Center Church in 1968, the church had meetings on nearly every day of the week: Tuesday - BTI, Wednesday - prayer service and BTI, Thursday - visitation, Friday - Board meetings, Saturday - Men’s prayer group. Feeling that the church was in danger of becoming a “divider of families , rather than a builder of families,” Spradling began to combine meetings so that church families would have some free time together during the week. BTI classes were moved to Wednesday evenings, with prayer time beforehand, and all Board meetings were scheduled for Sundays and Wednesdays, when the church was already in session. Robert Spradling began teaching BTI classes soon after he arrived, and by that time, Appalachian Bible Institute was well established with capable faculty, so they supplied nearly all of the teachers for BTI under his ministry.

Pastor George Darlington joined the staff of BCC in 1973, and soon after his arrival, he further formalized the Bible Center Church’s relationship with ABC (it had college status by this time), making it an official part of Bible Center Church’s ministry. Hoping to enlarge the BTI ministry, a city-wide meeting was held in the George Washington High School auditorium. Widely advertised to all churches and the public, several hundred people from all over the area attended the first meeting. Because of this interest, classes began to meet on Wednesday evenings at GWHS. Pastor George Darlington and Rev. Bobby Sizemore joined several of the faculty of Appalachian Bible College as teachers. The opinion was expressed by some that by having the BTI meet in the facilities of George Washington High School, ABC might be able to establish a “Charleston branch” where area people could obtain college credits on a local campus instead of traveling to Bradley, WV.

However, this venture wasn’t long-lasting, since several Bible teaching churches had sprung up in the area, and city-wide classes like BTI were not needed as much as they had been during the early years. Local congregations held their own teaching classes, with their own choice of speakers and teachers. The meetings at GWHS apparently lasted through just one semester. Several years afterward, ABC classes were offered for credit (for a fee) at Bible Center Church, but just a dozen or so took advantage of them.

By 1980, the BTI training further prepared Jim and Ruth Page for missionary work among their own Black brethren in the city. As a result, the Pages were led by the Lord to establish a Bible-based, Gospel-preaching church in the East End of Charleston. The Grace Bible Church became a reality in 1980. The Lord blessed and souls were saved, and the church later moved to a larger building on the West Side of Charleston. It is now pastored by Matthew Watts, and it is still reaching the lost and training believers from, mainly, the Black community.

For the past several years, the old format has been replaced with a Spring and Fall Bible Institute; meeting for twelve weeks, twice a year. It has been very popular with our church folk–– A good-sized part of whom come from outside our membership–– and it has been well attended. Again, teachers have been almost without exception, from Appalachian Bible College.

When the Holy Spirit moved across West Virginia in the 1940s, and men like R.M. Maxwell, Brother Pat Withrow, Lester Pipkin and Robert Guelich were moved to begin Bible Training Institutes for Lay people, God brought about a miraculous spiritual renewal and growth; the results of which will only be known in eternity.

Some of those who taught BTI classes were: Reid Jepson, Charles Hendricks, Frank Stephenson, Lester Pipkin, Bill Tate, Erby King, Jr., Cal C. Beukema, Wilbur C. Rooke, Bill Hanmer, John Van Puffelen, Lester Pipkin, Earl Parvin, Carey Perdue, Judith Gentry (Tidball), James E. Dotson, George Keller, Bobby Sizemore, Robert Spradling and George Darlington.

Innumerable Sunday School teachers, church officers, pastors and missionaries came out of those classes. From BTI came Pastors such as Jack T. Fisher, Bob Coon, Frank Stephenson (who founded Cross Lanes Bible Church), Pringle McElheran, David Parsons, Leslie Thompson, Ben Pent, Gene Stockton, and BCC’s former pastor, Charles E. Hendricks. (Hendricks attended BTI before he entered Bible School; then, after he returned to BCC as pastor he, taught the BTI classes he had once attended in his youth.)

Others, who entered the Mission field, included Judith Gentry (Tidball), Phil Nutter, Alice Williams Peters, Betty Speas, Judith Speas Guy, James Leckie, Joseph Pent, Jenean Igo Pedraza, and Sarah Hiserman Hampton.

As one looks back at the History of the Bible Training Institute that began in the Maxwell Bible Class in 1943, one cannot help but marvel at the Grace of our wonderful Lord who brought so many ministries together. Out of the BTI came the present Bible Center Church––from the small shoe department of a local department store to a large building on Corridor G––that welcomes almost 1500 folk each Sunday morning. The concept of a Bible Training Institute has been pursued with passion by all the pastors, insuring availability of good foundational teaching to the Flock. It is with great humility and wonder that we bow before our Lord Jesus Christ and thank Him for blessing us so. Appalachian Bible College, the Union Mission, Child Evangelism Fellowship, Christian Business Men’s Committee (CBMC), Grace Bible Church, Highlawn Community Church, and Cross Lanes Bible Church, in some way or another, owe their existence to those who were trained in BTI. The Bible––“the only Book that God ever wrote––,” to quote former Pastor Bob Spradling, was the life-blood of the Bible Training Institute. In a large measure, our church today is what it is, because of what it was yesterday; where the Holy Scriptures were at the center of the all of its ministries.

Important, as well, is why Bible Center Church has been used so effectively in reaching souls for Christ and equipping new believers with tools to serve the Lord: It has been able to “adapt its methods to match the times.” The Message hasn’t changed, but the methods we’ve used to get it out, have. Even more adaptation may be needed as future generations move us further into the twenty-first century. Keeping in touch with our roots will help us cope effectively with the inevitable changes that are bound to come.

Yes, the Bible Training Institute has undergone many changes since it began in 1943 in the building on Hale and Virginia Streets. But the concept; that of Spirit-filled, well-qualified men teaching believers the Word of God, is still in existence and thriving.

The Bible Institute continues with classes Wednesday evenings, Fall through Spring each year. In 2005 Classes are also being offered on Sunday mornings and Thursday evening as well as the advent of online course being offered on the new Bible Center Network at www.biblecenterchurch.net

Many of those interviewed for this history of BTI, related that they have had a special burden for Bible Center Church for the past year. Their prayer has been the same as that of R. M. Maxwell, quoted at the beginning of this history:

“We need much prayer for the Bible Center testimony . . . If the next generation is to have a real testimony, it must be established by us now.” R.M. Maxwell, founder, Dec. 10, 1943.

That it may to be so until the Lord comes, has been the expressed desire of all who have had a part in the early Ministry of the Bible Training Institute.

The following contributed recollections for this article: Eva Ruth Brown, John Dugan, Rev. Robert Guelich, Rev. Bill Hanmer, Dr. Charles Hendricks, George Keller, C.W. Lee , Jim Page, Dr. Carey Perdue, Rev. Bobby Sizemore, Rev. Robert Spradling, Rev. William D. Stevens, Judith Gentry Tidball, Frank Vincent