Elim Bible Institute
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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.
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[edit] History
Elim was founded at Hornell, New York by Ivan Q. and Minnie Spencer in 1924. The school is named for a Biblical location named in Exodus 15:27, wherein Elim was an oasis in the wilderness.[1]
In 1951 the Spencers moved the school to its current site in Lima.
[edit] Campus history
The Elim campus in Lima was originally the site of Genesee Wesleyan Seminary (opened in 1831), one of the first coeducational 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.[2]
Shortly thereafter, the National Youth Administration, a New Deal project championed Eleanor Roosevelt, briefly made the campus the location for one of the Administration's experimental Resident Work Centers. The center provided vocational training to underprivileged students until its closure in the summer of 1942.[3]
The Methodist Church operated Genesee Junior College at the site from 1947 to 1951, when Elim Bible Institute bought the 75-acre campus and buildings for $75,000.[2]
[edit] Accreditation
Elim Bible Institute is not accredited and does not give out "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.[4]
The institution is currently seeking New York state approval to grant associate's degrees.[5]
[edit] Buffalo campus
Elim also offers one- and two-year programs at a satellite campus in Buffalo, New York. [6] Founded as Buffalo School of the Bible in 1977, the Buffalo campus serves commuter students.
[edit] Related religious organizations
Elim Fellowship 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.[7][8]
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.[9]
[edit] Notable alumni
- Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue [10] [11]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Prospective Students" on Elim website
- ^ a b Joyce Rapp, Historic Lima
- ^ Gordon Halstead (Project Director of NYA Resident Work Center, Lima, NY), Work—Study—Live: The Resident Youth Centers of the NYA, The New Deal Network website (accessed June 25, 2007)
- ^ Elim Bible Institute: Transfer Credits (accessed June 25, 2007)
- ^ Tracy Williams, Elim Online, 5 December 2006
- ^ Elim Buffalo Campus Programs
- ^ Elim Fellowship: About Elim
- ^ Wellsville Full Gospel Church website
- ^ Elim Gospel Church website
- ^ Garry Wills, "Save The Babies", Time Magazine, May 01, 1989
- ^ Randall Terry biography, Newsblaze (accompanying op-ed column by Terry, "Why Do Muslims React With Violence When Mohammed is Satirized?")
