| Child Evangelism Fellowship |
Article Index for Child |
Shopping Fellowship |
Website Links For Child |
Information AboutChild Evangelism Fellowship |
Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) is an international Evangelical Nonprofit organization founded by Jesse Overholtzer in 1937 , headquartered in Warrenton, Missouri , most notable for its development and promotion of the Wordless Book , and for its Good News Clubs. The organization lists as its purpose to teach the Gospel to boys and girls in neighborhood settings and to get them involved in local Christian churches. It has programs established in all 50 states and 159 countries around the world, with 700 full-time workers and an estimated 40,000 volunteers in the USA and Canada, and over 1,200 missionaries overseas, approximately 1,000 of whom are nationals. CEF is a member of the Evangelical Council For Financial Accountability (ECFA). The organization has fair, camping, open-air, telephone and correspondence outreach programs for children, and provides classes to train their workers and other Christians who are burdened for evangelizing children. Additionally, CEF Press produces and distributes Bible and missionary lessons and related materials for use in teaching children to help accomplish the goals of the ministry. They also publish a bimonthly magazine which offers instruction, teaching tools and inspiration for children's workers called Teach Kids. One evangelistic tool that CEF promotes is The Wordless Book . BREAKOFF GROUPS In the mid-1980's a small segment of Child Evangelism Fellowship staff members left CEF because of disagreements with the organization's stands on "theology, purpose, organizational structure and integrity." Although some of the breakoff groups continued to use copyrighted names and trademarks of the parent organization, any formal association with the ministry ended when the small breakoff groups separated from CEF. Although reconciliation attempts have been made over the years the breakaway groups have preferred to continue independently.Bauch, Alvin, Al Buhler, Phillip Crompton, Jim Dowdy, Ken Dowdy, Rita Lobdell, Paul Refior, Mable Ruth Way. Document of Crucial Concerns, Child Evangelism Fellowship Conservative. This segment disagreed mainly with the theological position of Paul Tarro, whom they felt was embracing Liberal and Incarnational Theology - both of which they objected to. After Tarro's removal they continued their objections based on the assumption that the leadership of the time was in essential agreement with his positions. The two leaders of this movement were Alvin Bauch (CEF of Winona Lake, Indiana) and Al Buhler (Regional Director for the Mid-Antlantic and New England Regions of CEF). EXTERNAL LINKS NOTES |
|
|