Capernwray Missionary Fellowship of Torchbearers

Last updated

The Capernwray Missionary Fellowship of Torchbearers
Founded1947 (1947) (bible school)
1998 (1998) (charitable company)
Founder Major W. Ian Thomas
TypeRegistered as a British charity and a private company, limited by guarantee with no share capital
Registration no.Company number 03573958
Charity number 1073139
Location
Coordinates 54°08′37″N2°41′47″W / 54.1436°N 2.6963°W / 54.1436; -2.6963
Area served
UK / World
MethodShort-term Bible schools
Residential holidays and conferences
Key people
Julie Burrows (company secretary)
Derek Burnside (Bible school principal)
Dougie Roy (holiday and events manager)
Subsidiaries Capernwray Parkland Farm Ltd (responsible for the running of the farm and estate of Capernwray Hall)
Revenue
Increase2.svg £1.545m (2022) [1]
Employees
30
Volunteers
20 to 50
Website www.capernwray.org
The Capernwray Missionary Fellowship of Torchbearers is an autonomous body but is part of a broader fellowship known as Torchbearers International .

The Capernwray Missionary Fellowship of Torchbearers (CMFOT), is an evangelical Christian educational organisation based at Capernwray Hall in north Lancashire, England. In 1998 the organisation was incorporated as a UK charitable company.

Contents

CMFOT was founded by Major W. Ian Thomas in 1947. Other centres have since been established around the world and together form a worldwide fellowship known as Torchbearers International, with headquarters at Ravencrest Chalet, Estes Park, Colorado, USA.

Torchbearers International works by providing a number of Bible schools and Christian conference centres on the world.

CMFOT's founder, Major W. Ian Thomas (1914-2007), was an evangelical teacher and has often been identified with the Keswick Convention ministry. The main thrust of his theology is that of the exchanged life or 'Christ in You'. [2] Major Thomas' sons have continued from their father in the wider organisation. Mark Thomas was the managing director at Capernwray Hall, Chris Thomas was the International Director and Director at Ravencrest, Colorado, United States and Peter Thomas is director at Capernwray New Zealand and Moss Vale, Australia.

Capernwray Bible School

Capernwray was first used as a Bible School in Autumn 1947, to meet a demand for Bible teaching from the many new converts from holiday conferences held at the Hall. The school has matured and grown over the years and now has intakes each Winter and Spring, to a capacity of around 190 students, from sometimes as many as 30 different nations. During the Summer, Easter and Christmas breaks the facilities are used for Christian conferences and holidays.

Capernwray Holidays

Capernwray initially started off as a Christian holiday centre and this activity continues to be a vital part of the ministry today. The holidays currently on offer cater for a mixed age range of young people, families and a cross-section of adults. Guests come from around the United Kingdom and from overseas, including many from Germany, still maintaining a link that goes back more than 60 years. [3]

Theology

The Torchbearers centres, which are now scattered around the world, are international and interdenominational by nature. [4]

Related Research Articles

The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) is an association of evangelical denominations, organizations, schools, churches and individuals, member of the World Evangelical Alliance. The association represents more than 45,000 local churches from about 40 different denominations and serves a constituency of millions. The mission of the NAE is to honor God by connecting and representing evangelicals in the United States.

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA is an inter-denominational, evangelical Christian campus ministry founded in 1941, working with students and faculty on U.S. college and university campuses. InterVarsity is a charter member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, a network of similar campus ministries around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christianity in Malaysia</span>

Christianity is a minority religion in Malaysia. In the 2020 census, 9.1% of the Malaysian population identified themselves as Christians. About two-thirds of Malaysia's Christian population lives in East Malaysia, in the states of Sabah and Sarawak. Adherents of Christianity represent majority (50.1%) of the population in Sarawak, which is Malaysia's largest state by land area. The major Christian denominations in Malaysia include Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Baptists, Brethren, non-denominational churches, independent Charismatic churches, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians and Sidang Injil Borneo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship</span>

Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship is a UK-based charity that was founded in 1928 as the Inter-Varsity Fellowship of Evangelical Unions. UCCF's dual aims are:

  1. To advance the evangelical Christian faith amongst students, graduates and former members of universities; and
  2. To promote biblical scholarship and research.
<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capernwray Hall</span> Historic site in Lancashire, England

Capernwray Hall is a former country house situated 3 miles east-northeast of Carnforth, Lancashire, England, and is currently used as a Christian Bible school and holiday centre. The house is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. It stands in grounds included in the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens at Grade II.

Emmanuel Bible College is an interdenominational Evangelical Christian Bible college located in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.

The South Pacific Association of Evangelical Colleges (SPAEC) was an association of independent evangelical Bible colleges that operated from 1969 until the end of 2018. Colleges were located in Australia, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and New Zealand.

The Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (AFES) is an evangelical Christian parachurch organisation that aims to encourage university students to believe in and follow Jesus Christ. It is affiliated with, and in 1947 was a founding member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyndale House (Cambridge)</span> Biblical studies library in Cambridge

Tyndale House is an independent biblical studies library in Cambridge, England, with a Christian foundation. Founded in 1945, it aims to provide specialist resources in support of research into the Old and New Testaments, along with relevant historical backgrounds.

Torchbearers International consists of an affiliation of 25 centers around the world. Torchbearers International was founded by evangelist and author Major W. Ian Thomas, in England, in 1947. The headquarters is now at Ravencrest Chalet, Estes Park, Colorado, USA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protestantism in Thailand</span>

Protestants in Thailand constitute about 0.77% of the population of Thailand. Protestant work among the Thai people was begun by Ann Judson in Burma, who evangelized Thai war captives who were relocated to Burma. Protestantism was introduced to the country of Thailand in 1828 through the work of Karl Gutzlaff and Jacob Tomlin, the first two resident Protestant missionaries in Thailand.

W. Ian Thomas was an evangelist, Christian evangelical writer, theological teacher and founder of the Torchbearers Bible schools.

Elmbrook Church is a non-denominational, evangelical Christian megachurch located in the Milwaukee suburb of Brookfield, Wisconsin, in Waukesha County. Since the church's founding in 1958, it has become one of the largest churches in the United States. Weekly church attendance averages 7,000, making it the largest church in Wisconsin and one of the 100-largest churches in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuart Briscoe</span> British evangelist (1930–2022)

D. Stuart Briscoe was an evangelical Christian author, international speaker and senior pastor of Elmbrook Church, in Brookfield, Wisconsin, United States. Elmbrook is the largest church in Wisconsin, averaging 7,000 in attendance per week, making it one of the 100-largest churches in the United States. Briscoe is credited with transforming Elmbrook from a church of 300 members to one of the largest churches in America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japan Evangelistic Band</span>

The Japan Evangelistic Band (JEB), or 'Kyodan Nihon Dendo Tai' (日本伝道隊) in Japanese, is an evangelical Christian group founded in England in 1903 with the original aim to "initiate and sustain evangelistic work among Japanese wherever they are found". Within thirty years the organisation grew to 180 workers from many countries, but most of them from Japan. The JEB's primary field was the Kansai region of South West Japan and the island of Shikoku but missionaries worked among Japanese living on the West Coast of Canada and the USA, and in the UK. In 1999 the organisation in the UK adopted the name Japan Christian Link for their operations in the UK, while work in Japan continue under the name of JEB.

Capernwray Harbour Bible Centre is a evangelical Christian Bible School & Conference Centre located on Thetis Island, British Columbia, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capernwray Chapel</span> Church in Lancashire, England

Capernwray Chapel is in the village of Capernwray, Over Kellet, Lancashire, England. Formerly the chapel to Capernwray Hall, it is now an independent Evangelical chapel. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.

The Open Brethren, sometimes called Christian Brethren, are a group of Evangelical Christian churches that arose in the late 1820s as part of the Assembly Movement within the Plymouth Brethren tradition. They originated in Ireland before spreading throughout the British Isles, and today they have an estimated 26,000 assemblies worldwide.

References

  1. UK Charity Commission website, 2022
  2. "History". Torchbearers International. Archived from the original on 11 March 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  3. "Our Story - About". Capernwray. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  4. "Who we are". Torchbearers International. Retrieved 30 October 2019.