Elim Bible Institute
Encyclopedia
Elim Bible Institute is a Bible college
in Lima, New York
, offering a three-year non-degree diploma program intended to prepare Christian
leaders and workers for revival ministry
.
, by Ivan
and Minnie Spencer. The school is named for a biblical location named in Exodus 15:27, wherein Elim
was an oasis
in the wilderness.
In the 1920s, the school moved to Rochester
and Red Creek
, and in 1932 to Hornell, New York
, where it was located until 1951, when the Spencers moved Elim to its current site in Lima.
Beginning in 1948, Elim was a center for the Latter Rain Movement.
Ivan Spencer headed Elim Bible Institute for many years. In 1949, he was succeeded in that position by his son, I. Carlton Spencer, who also led Elim Fellowship
for many years. Subsequently, H. David Edwards and Mike Webster each served as president of the institution. Paul Johanson, who was a student at Elim from 1956 to 1959, became the school's president in 1994. In 2006, Jeff Clark, who completed his own studies at Elim in 1978, succeeded Johanson as president.
(opened in 1831), one of the first coeducation
al schools in the United States. Genesee College was founded on the same campus in 1849. The two institutions shared the campus until 1870 when Genesee College relocated to Syracuse
, where it became the basis of Syracuse University
. The seminary continued to occupy the campus until it closed in 1941.
Shortly thereafter, the National Youth Administration
(NYA), a New Deal
project championed by Eleanor Roosevelt
, briefly made the campus the location for one of the NYA's experimental resident work centers. The center provided vocational training to underprivileged students until its closure in the summer of 1942.
The Methodist Church operated Genesee Junior College at the site from 1947 to 1951, when Elim Bible Institute bought the 75 acres (303,514.5 m²) campus and buildings for $75,000. Two campus buildings, Genesee Wesleyan Seminary and Genesee College Hall
, were listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1976.
and does not award degrees, thus avoiding violations of laws and regulations that prohibit the awarding of degrees by unaccredited institutions. (Elim graduates receive diplomas and certificates.)
The institution's promotional materials state that its students are successful in transferring most of their credits to other Christian colleges and some public colleges and private universities, where they can complete four-year degrees.
The institution is currently seeking New York
state approval to grant associate's degree
s.
in Buffalo, New York
. Founded as Buffalo School of the Bible in 1977, the Buffalo campus serves commuter students.
was formed in 1933 as an informal fellowship of churches, ministers, and missionaries originating from a nucleus of people who had attended Elim Bible Institute. The Fellowship continues to support Pentecostal and Charismatic
churches, ministers, and missions, providing credentials and counsel for ministers, encouraging fellowship among local churches, sponsoring leadership seminars, and also serving as a transdenominational agency sending missionaries and other personnel to other countries.
Elim Gospel Church, an interdenominational Full Gospel
church, was established near the Elim campus in 1988 and is attended by a significant number of the Institute's faculty and students.
(class of 1981) and Rob Schenck
founded the anti-abortion activist group Operation Rescue
after studying together at Elim in the early 1980s. Their activism was motivated by their exposure at Elim to the teachings of theologian Francis Schaeffer
, whose then-recent book A Christian Manifesto encouraged evangelicals to engage in political activism to combat secular humanism
.
Pro-life activist and religious leader Paul Schenck
, twin brother of Rob Schenck, also attended Elim.
Bible college
Bible colleges are institutions of higher education that specialize in biblical studies. Curriculum is Bible-based and differs from that of liberal arts colleges or research universities. Bible colleges generally exclude the study of philosophy, unlike seminaries and theological colleges...
in Lima, New York
Lima (village), New York
Lima is a village in Livingston County, New York, USA. The population was 2,459 at the 2000 census.The Village of Lima is in the Town of Lima and is nineteen miles south of the city of Rochester, NY.- History :...
, offering a three-year non-degree diploma program intended to prepare Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
leaders and workers for revival ministry
Christian ministry
In Christianity, ministry is an activity carried out by Christians to express or spread their faith. 2003's Encyclopedia of Christianity defines it as "carrying forth Christ's mission in the world", indicating that it is "conferred on each Christian in baptism." It is performed by all Christians...
.
History
Elim was founded in 1924 in Endwell, New YorkEndwell, New York
Endwell is a hamlet located in the Town of Union in Broome County, New York, United States. Its population was 11,706 at the 2000 census.Endwell is adjacent to the Village of Endicott and the Village of Johnson City...
, by Ivan
Ivan Q. Spencer
Ivan Quay Spencer was an American Pentecostal minister who founded Elim Bible Institute and the Elim Fellowship....
and Minnie Spencer. The school is named for a biblical location named in Exodus 15:27, wherein Elim
Elim (Bible)
Elim was one of the places where the Israelites camped following their Exodus from Egypt. It is referenced in Exodus 15.27 and Numbers 33.9 as a place where "there were twelve wells of water, and seventy date palms," and that the Israelites "camped there near the water".From the information that...
was an oasis
Oasis
In geography, an oasis or cienega is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source...
in the wilderness.
In the 1920s, the school moved to Rochester
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
and Red Creek
Red Creek, New York
Red Creek is a village in Wayne County, New York, United States. The population was 521 at the 2000 census.The Village of Red Creek is in the eastern part of the Town of Wolcott. The village is west of Syracuse, New York.- History :...
, and in 1932 to Hornell, New York
Hornell, New York
Hornell is a city in Steuben County, New York, United States. The population was 9,019 at the 2000 census. The city is named after the Hornell family, early settlers. Its current population has not yet been released by the new census....
, where it was located until 1951, when the Spencers moved Elim to its current site in Lima.
Beginning in 1948, Elim was a center for the Latter Rain Movement.
Ivan Spencer headed Elim Bible Institute for many years. In 1949, he was succeeded in that position by his son, I. Carlton Spencer, who also led Elim Fellowship
Elim Fellowship
The Elim Fellowship is a North American based Pentecostal/charismatic Christian denomination that emphasizes the spread of revival and renewal.- History :...
for many years. Subsequently, H. David Edwards and Mike Webster each served as president of the institution. Paul Johanson, who was a student at Elim from 1956 to 1959, became the school's president in 1994. In 2006, Jeff Clark, who completed his own studies at Elim in 1978, succeeded Johanson as president.
Campus history
The Elim campus in Lima was originally the site of Genesee Wesleyan SeminaryGenesee Wesleyan Seminary
The Genesee Wesleyan Seminary was the name of two institutions located on the same site in Lima, New York.The Genesee Wesleyan Seminary was founded in 1831 by the Genesee Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The plan for its establishment dates to 1829 when the Conference...
(opened in 1831), one of the first coeducation
Coeducation
Mixed-sex education, also known as coeducation or co-education, is the integrated education of male and female persons in the same institution. It is the opposite of single-sex education...
al schools in the United States. Genesee College was founded on the same campus in 1849. The two institutions shared the campus until 1870 when Genesee College relocated to Syracuse
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
, where it became the basis of Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
. The seminary continued to occupy the campus until it closed in 1941.
Shortly thereafter, the National Youth Administration
National Youth Administration
The National Youth Administration was a New Deal agency in the United States that focused on providing work and education for Americans between the ages of 16 and 24. It operated from 1935 to 1939 as part of the Works Progress Administration . Following the passage of the Reorganization Act of...
(NYA), a New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
project championed by Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
, briefly made the campus the location for one of the NYA's experimental resident work centers. The center provided vocational training to underprivileged students until its closure in the summer of 1942.
The Methodist Church operated Genesee Junior College at the site from 1947 to 1951, when Elim Bible Institute bought the 75 acres (303,514.5 m²) campus and buildings for $75,000. Two campus buildings, Genesee Wesleyan Seminary and Genesee College Hall
Genesee Wesleyan Seminary and Genesee College Hall
Genesee Wesleyan Seminary and Genesee College Hall are two historic buildings located on the campus of Elim Bible Institute at Lima in Livingston County, New York. The Genesee Wesleyan Seminary building was constructed in 1842 and now serves as the college Administration Building. It is a -story...
, were listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1976.
Accreditation status
Elim Bible Institute is not accreditedEducational accreditation
Educational accreditation is a type of quality assurance process under which services and operations of educational institutions or programs are evaluated by an external body to determine if applicable standards are met...
and does not award degrees, thus avoiding violations of laws and regulations that prohibit the awarding of degrees by unaccredited institutions. (Elim graduates receive diplomas and certificates.)
The institution's promotional materials state that its students are successful in transferring most of their credits to other Christian colleges and some public colleges and private universities, where they can complete four-year degrees.
The institution is currently seeking New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
state approval to grant associate's degree
Associate's degree
An associate degree is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges, technical colleges, and bachelor's degree-granting colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study usually lasting two years...
s.
Buffalo campus
Elim also offers one- and two-year programs at a satellite campusSatellite campus
A satellite campus or branch campus is a campus of a college or university that is physically detached from the main university or college area, and is often smaller than the main campus of an institution....
in Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
. Founded as Buffalo School of the Bible in 1977, the Buffalo campus serves commuter students.
Related religious organizations
Elim FellowshipElim Fellowship
The Elim Fellowship is a North American based Pentecostal/charismatic Christian denomination that emphasizes the spread of revival and renewal.- History :...
was formed in 1933 as an informal fellowship of churches, ministers, and missionaries originating from a nucleus of people who had attended Elim Bible Institute. The Fellowship continues to support Pentecostal and Charismatic
Charismatic movement
The term charismatic movement is used in varying senses to describe 20th century developments in various Christian denominations. It describes an ongoing international, cross-denominational/non-denominational Christian movement in which individual, historically mainstream congregations adopt...
churches, ministers, and missions, providing credentials and counsel for ministers, encouraging fellowship among local churches, sponsoring leadership seminars, and also serving as a transdenominational agency sending missionaries and other personnel to other countries.
Elim Gospel Church, an interdenominational Full Gospel
Full Gospel
The term Full Gospel is often used as a synonym for Pentecostalism, a Protestant movement originating in the 19th century. Early Pentecostals saw their teachings on baptism with the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, and divine healing as a return to the doctrines and power of the Apostolic Age...
church, was established near the Elim campus in 1988 and is attended by a significant number of the Institute's faculty and students.
Notable alumni
Randall TerryRandall Terry
Randall Almira Terry is an American pro-life activist and candidate for the Democratic Party's nomination for President in 2012. Terry founded the pro-life organization Operation Rescue. The group became particularly prominent beginning in 1987 for blockading the entrances to abortion clinics;...
(class of 1981) and Rob Schenck
Paul Schenck
Paul Chaim Benedicta Schenck is an ordained Catholic priest who is a pro-life activist along with his twin brother, Robert Schenck...
founded the anti-abortion activist group Operation Rescue
Operation Rescue
Operation Rescue is a pro-life organization which originated in California and is now based in Kansas....
after studying together at Elim in the early 1980s. Their activism was motivated by their exposure at Elim to the teachings of theologian Francis Schaeffer
Francis Schaeffer
Francis August Schaeffer was an American Evangelical Christian theologian, philosopher, and Presbyterian pastor. He is most famous for his writings and his establishment of the L'Abri community in Switzerland...
, whose then-recent book A Christian Manifesto encouraged evangelicals to engage in political activism to combat secular humanism
Secular humanism
Secular Humanism, alternatively known as Humanism , is a secular philosophy that embraces human reason, ethics, justice, and the search for human fulfillment...
.
Pro-life activist and religious leader Paul Schenck
Paul Schenck
Paul Chaim Benedicta Schenck is an ordained Catholic priest who is a pro-life activist along with his twin brother, Robert Schenck...
, twin brother of Rob Schenck, also attended Elim.