The University Bible Fellowship (Korean: 대학생성경읽기선교회) is an Evangelistic non-denominational Christian organization that originated in South Korea in 1961. It was founded through a partnership between a Korean, the late 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.[1] Some outside observers and former members describe the group as cult-like and/or "abusive."
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The UBF movement began in 1961.[2] 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. 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."[2] They gathered about 80 students from Chun Nam and Chosun Universities to study the English Bible in the Christian Student Center in Kwangju, Korea. Soon thousands of young Korean men and women gathered to study. From the beginning of the ministry, UBF emphasized sending missionaries to the world. In 1964, UBF sent a college graduate named Han-ok Kim to Cheju Island.[2] This marked the beginning of one of the largest Korean missionary sending movements. As of 2006, UBF had sent 1,463 self-supporting missionaries to more than 80 countries.[3]
Barry was appointed General Director in 2002, following the death of Lee, and served until 2006. When Barry resigned, John Jun, formerly the Korean UBF director, assumed the duties of international general director. Under Jun's leadership, the ministry began working more closely with major Christian organizations in various countries.
UBF began as a parachurch organization. In time, the ministry became a church and began having Sunday worship services. UBF is conservative evangelical in doctrine and conservative in Korean values of leadership and mentorship.[4] UBF believes that God is the creator of heaven and earth and all things. They affirm the Apostles' Creed and believe that the Bible is the word of God.[5] They also believe in the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and that they must send out Missionaries to all nations. They invite students and others to study the Bible "inductively from the point of view of the Bible writers." Bible study in the ministry is primarily carried out on a "one-to-one" basis. The ministry also has small group Bible studies and weekly fellowship meetings.[6] They seek to lead those who study the Bible with them to a "saving knowledge" of Jesus Christ, and to help them to grow as disciples of Jesus.[7]
One of the main goals of the ministry is to evangelize college students based on the Great Commission. UBF trains ordinary people who have a desire to study and teach the Bible and do missionary work. The organization has a "medical mission" - Bethesda Mission Hospital in Uganda.[8]
University Bible Fellowship is a member of several Christian organizations including the Evangelical Council For Financial Accountability[9][10] and was accepted to membership in the National Association of Evangelicals in March 2008.[11] The ministry has formed partnerships with over twenty missionary and relief organizations, such as the Midwest University and the Evangelical Missiological Society.[12]
Reactions to University Bible Fellowship have varied between two extremes. A reporter for the University of Maryland, College Park campus newspaper described the local chapter as "...an organization that has students polarized. While some student members have grave concerns about the church, many members love it."[13][14]
In May 2006, Christianity Today magazine published a reader's letter that referred to UBF as a cult; after investigation in July 2006, the magazine published a correction in which the reader retracted the accusation.[15][16]
Some observers and former participants characterize UBF's practices as authoritarian, abusive, and/or cult-like, as members are encouraged to cut ties with friends and family and submit to the demands of chapter leaders.[17][18][19][20] These concerns have arisen at Canadian and German universities as well as in the United States.[21][22][23][24][25]
Some universities have restricted UBF's on-campus recruiting efforts, such as University of Illinois,[20] University of Winnipeg,[26] University of Guelph, University of Manitoba,[24][27] and DePaul University.[28]
UBF is used as one of the case studies in the book Churches That Abuse, published in 1991 by Dr. Ronald Enroth about Christian churches and organizations he perceives as "spiritually abusive" and the effects these groups can have on their members.
As of 2011, UBF continues to be on the lists of several cult-watching groups, such as the Apologetics Index [29], the Rick Ross Institute [30], the New England Institute of Religious Research [31] and the Cult Information Services of Northeast Ohio, Inc.[32]
