Back to the Bible
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Back to the Bible is an international Christian ministry based in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States, using radio, the internet, television, and other media. Back to the Bible is non-denominational and describes itself as "sharing the Gospel message and helping Christians grow to spiritual maturity through Bible teaching and engagement ... dedicated to leading people into a dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ".[1]
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[edit] History
Begun in 1939 by Theodore H. Epp on radio station KFOR (AM) in Lincoln, Nebraska, Back to the Bible expanded by supporting missionaries and broadcasting via shortwave radio to other countries. In 1954, the organization's first international Bible teaching ministry office opened in Canada. By the time of Epp's retirement in 1981, the Back to the Bible program was syndicated as a daily 30-minute broadcast on more than 800 radio stations worldwide.[2]
Under Epp's direction, the broadcasts were also noted for music by the Back to the Bible Choir and quartet. Several popular phonograph recordings were made by the choir in the 1940s and 1950s. Back to the Bible also had a weekly youth program on Saturdays, featuring a youth choir and serialized adventures with a Christian theme, such as the Danny Orlis series written by Bernard Palmer.[3] Both the music segments and youth program were discontinued in the 1980s. Warren W. Wiersbe, former pastor of Moody Church in Chicago, Illinois, served as leader of the Lincoln-based ministry between 1981–1989.
[edit] Currently
Woodrow M. Kroll succeeded Wiersbe as the current president of Back to the Bible, inaugurated in 1990 as the third person to hold that office.[4] Kroll serves as principal speaker on the ministry's daily worldwide broadcast on radio and television, which has grown to a listenership of millions around the world.[1] Currently the ministry has offices in eleven different countries and broadcasts in twenty-five different languages. Back to the Bible now uses television as well as radio, broadcasting on the Inspirational Life Television (i-Lifetv) cable network in the U.S. along with video streaming of its daily program on the internet at the ministry's website. Beginning in 2008, recording of the daily program in front of a live audience began at the ministry's Lincoln studios.[1]
In addition to its radio and television program, Back to the Bible offers numerous publications, both print and online, about the Bible and daily Christian living. Back to the Bible holds an annual conference at Willowbank Resort in Bermuda for interested radio listeners, where programs are recorded for future broadcasts. Woodrow Kroll has traveled in ministry to over 100 countries and also leads tours annually to Israel.[4]
[edit] Back to the Bible locations
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Back to the Bible website (2008). Retrieved on 2008-04-11.
- ^ Theodore H. Epp biography, Mennonite Encyclopedia online
- ^ Back to the Bible, God at work 40 Years, Lincoln, Nebraska: Back to the Bible (1979)
- ^ a b President's Page. Back to the Bible (2008). Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
