University Bible Fellowship

The University Bible Fellowship (UBF; Korean: 대학생성경읽기선교회) is an non-denominational New religious movement that originated in South Korea in 1961. It was founded through a partnership between a Korean, Samuel Chang-Woo Lee, and an American Presbyterian missionary who was sent to South Korea, Sarah Barry. UBF has headquarters in Chicago and Seoul. UBF is present at many campuses from American Ivy league schools to small community colleges. The organization's stated goal is student evangelism. Some outside observers and former members describe the group as cult-like, excessively controlling, spiritually damaging and/or abusive.

History

In the 1950s, an American college student named Sarah Barry had become a Christian and decided to go to Korea as a missionary soon after the Korean War ended. During her first term she studied language and engaged in missionary activities around Kwangju, visiting rural churches, visiting prisons, teaching in the Bible school. After the student revolution of April 19, 1960, she decided to reach out to students with English Bible study. In Korea Barry met Samuel Chang-Woo Lee, who had been studying in a Presbyterian seminary in Seoul. They shared a common goal to "purify Christianity in Korea and find a new vision and hope for Korean intellectuals."

The UBF movement began in 1961 when students from Chun Nam and Chosun Universities gathered to study English Bible in the Christian Student Center, 176-1 Daein-dong, Kwangju Korea. A medical student, John Chang Sun Jun, became Christian and began small group Bible study on his campus. By the end of the year there were 80 small groups studying the Bible on the two university campuses.

In 1964, UBF began expanding through missionary work, suhc as sending a graduate as a missionary to pioneer Cheju University in Cheju Island. They also sent workers to Taejun, Taegu, Chunju and in 1966, established a headquarters in Seoul. From 1970 to 1991, UBF established chapters in 8 African Countries, 18 European Countries, 3 South American Countries, 11 Asian countries, 2 countries of Oceania, 3 North American countries. By 1975, UBF sent more that 700 self-supporting lay missionaries to 50 countries, including 22 immigrant sewing machine workers who pioneered Canada in 1983.

In 1976, 4 senior staff members in Korea raised issues about the authoritarian nature of Samuel Lee’s leadership. They separated from UBF and several of them founded the Evangelical Student Fellowship. In Canada and the United States, some universities have restricted UBF's on-campus recruiting efforts, such as University of Illinois, University of Winnipeg, University of Guelph, University of Manitoba, and DePaul University. UBF is used as one of the case studies in the book Churches That Abuse, published in 1991 by Ronald Enroth about Christian churches and organizations he perceives as "spiritually abusive" and the effects these groups can have on their members.

Concerns and questions about the group continued to be raised by universities, newspapers and television reports. For example, in 2003 Wheaton College hosted a conference organized by University Bible Fellowship, prompting a local newspaper to look into serious allegations of the group being spiritually abusive and overly authoritarian. In the United States and other countries, serious allegations of excessive control and intrusion into student's lives have been documented. These concerns have arisen at Canadian and German universities as well as in the United States.

In 2002, Dr Samuel Lee, who had been in ill health, died of smoke inhalation in a fire that broke out in his house. Sarah Barry was appointed General Director. She served until 2006. She resigned and Dr. John Jun, Korean director, assumed the duties of international general director. Dr. John Jun had been, and continues to be, active in the missionary activities of Korean evangelical churches and mission movements both in Korea and in the USA. The unique aspect of UBF missionary work is that since 1970, UBF's missionary work has been done by self-supporting lay missionaries.

As of 2015, UBF continues to be on the lists of several cult-watching groups in the United States, such as the Apologetics Index, the Rick Ross Institute, the New England Institute of Religious Research, the Apologetics Research Center and the Cult Information Services of Northeast Ohio, Inc. UBF is also listed on the Freedom of Mind website. In China, UBF is on the examination list of CGNER (Concern Group on Newly Emerged Religions).

Beliefs and characteristics

The nature of the UBF organization self-described as an international, evangelical student organization. However, because they hold Sunday worship services some claim it is a church instead of a parachurch organization. The doctrines and statement of faith are conservative evangelical in nature. Little is known about the teachings outside of the group, and since they are rarely documented, the actual beliefs of the group are difficult to discern.

They recruit students on campus, focusing only on new, young students to study the Bible. Bible study in the ministry is primarily carried out on a "one-to-one" basis, with each student being paired up with an appointed shepherd. The group claims to lead the students who study the Bible with them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and to help them to grow as disciples of Jesus. Additionally, the organization has a "medical mission" - Bethesda Mission Hospital in Uganda.

Memberships

University Bible Fellowship is a member the Evangelical Council For Financial Accountability. The group joined the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) in the United States in 1998 until expelled in 2004 by the NAE. UBF was later re-admitted to membership in the National Association of Evangelicals in March 2008.

External links

• Official website