Who We Are

Mission

Christian Bible Fellowship (CBF) serves as a non-denominational community of believers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) who live, study, and grow together spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually.

History

Christian Bible Fellowship started in 1972 when a group of 6 students started meeting to study the Bible and encourage each other in their journeys of following Christ. In the spring of 1973, CBF headed to Jaffrey, NH to hike Mt. Monadnock with the Framingham State Christian Fellowship group – the first CBF retreat! Members of CBF have always known how to have fun. This is the sign language choir practicing on the quad in spring 2000. God has continued to bless CBF for nearly half a century now! We are so excited to be at WPI, serving God, loving each other, and reaching out to our campus.

Leadership

Matthew Wong

Matthew Wong
mwong2@wpi.edu

Aria Yan

Aria Yan
adyan@wpi.edu
Treasurer

Emma Bass

Emma Bass
eebass@wpi.edu

Gabby Conard

Gabby Conard
ggconard@wpi.edu

Walter and Shelley Teal

Walter and Shelley Teal
tealw.navs@gmail.com
teals.navs@gmail.com
Advisors/Mentors

Constitution

Preamble

We, a gathering of Christian students, rejoice in the work of the Holy Spirit in the initiation and growth of a Christian Fellowship on the Worcester Polytechnic Institute campus and realize that through His will and grace alone, will this fellowship be allowed to continue. After prayer and deliberation, we feel it is God's will that this constitution be developed in order to maintain the structure of the fellowship and to establish qualifications for leadership. We thank God for His personal role in our lives to date and pray that all future decisions regarding the fellowship will be made according to His will.

Article I - Name

The name of this organization will be WPI Christian Bible Fellowship (CBF)

Article II

Section I - Articles of Faith

  1. The belief in the scripture of the Old and New Testaments as inspired by God, their entire trustworthiness, and their supreme and final authority in faith and life.
  2. The belief in one God, eternally existing in three persons; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
  3. The belief in the ultimate literal fulfillment of every prophecy in scripture.
  4. The belief in accordance to the Genesis account, that man was created in the image and likeness of God, that he sinned and thereby incurred physical and spiritual death which is separation from God.
  5. The belief that Jesus Christ is true God and true man. That He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of Mary, a virgin.
  6. The belief that Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our sins by His substitutionary sacrifice on the cross.
  7. The belief in the bodily resurrection of the crucified Lord Jesus as supported by scripture and historical evidence.
  8. The belief that regeneration by the Holy Spirit is accomplished by the grace of God alone, through faith.
  9. The expectation of the personal return of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Section II

All officers of this organization and leaders of Bible studies shall subscribe without reservation to the above articles of faith.

Article III - Purpose

The purpose of this organization shall be...


  1. To witness to the Lord Jesus Christ as God incarnate and to seek to lead others to a personal faith in Him as Savior and Lord.
  2. To fulfill the desire of Christians on campus to deepen and strengthen their spiritual life by fellowship, the study of the Bible, and prayer.

Article IV - Membership

Section I

Membership is open to anyone in the college community who is interested in the purpose of the organization and desires to take part in its program.

Section II - Voting

Voting membership, in order to preserve unity in the Holy Spirit, will be limited to those participants who have personally accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. A voting member also must have attended two soley-CBF sponsored meetings and/or events in the current academic year.

Article V - Structure

Section I - Officers

  1. All officers must be WPI students, full-time and in good academic standing.
  2. The coordinator is equivalent to WPI's club president role.
  3. A core group consisting of at least three members provides, with God's help, the spiritual leadership of the organization. "Spiritual leadership" here refers to qualities mentioned in 2 Corinthians 4:2, 1 Thessalonians 2:4, 2 Timothy 2:2, and similar passages of Scripture. The coordinator must be a member of the core group.
  4. As required by Student Government Association, there are at least three other officer positions: a vice president, treasurer, and secretary.

Section II - Responsibilities

  1. The core group is to carry out the purpose, general policies, and program of this organization as effeciently as possible.
  2. The core group is responsible for the continuation of this organization from year to year.
  3. The coordinator is the principle officer responsible for the organization's activities. They are the liaison between CBF and WPI offices.
  4. The treasurer is responsible for consistently maintaining the budget, in communication with the Student Government Association.
  5. The secretary will take notes at all lead team meetings
  6. Other leaders can be appointed by the core group.

Section III - Elections

  1. Each spring the core group or a committee it appoints shall nominate persons to serve as core group members, and one or more persons for each specific office such as coordinator and treasurer, for the following academic year. The core group may revoke a nomination before the election on the basis of an objection by any member of the fellowship.
  2. Each core group nominee shall be elected or rejected by majority decision of the voting membership.
  3. Specific offices shall be filled by majority election, subject to the condition that the new coordinator must be a member of the new core group.
  4. The core group may appoint officers as needed, including additional core group members, subject to the approval of the voting membership.
  5. Any officer may be recalled by 2/3 vote of the voting membership.

Section IV - Advisor

  1. A WPI faculty or staff member must advise the group, refferred to as the advisor. The responsibility of an advisor is to attend at least one meeting per term and be available for any advice regarding WPI's organization of clubs. The advisor is selected and removed by the core group. The advisor is a non-voting member.

Article VI - Amendments

The core group can propose amendmentss. This constitution may be amended by a 2/3 vote of the voting membership after a unanimous vote by members of the core group providing there be no change in Article II and Article III. The exception is Article VII, which can be amended by the core group.

Article VII - Example Operations

The purpose of this article is to provide the current assembly plan in order to assist in understanding club activity. This article is not binding. Though CBF is a student-run organization founded at WPI, it has held a partnership previously with The Navigators for mentors, offerings of retreats, and lots of other generous support, mentorship, faith resources, and faith community connections.

  1. The Lead Team which is the core group meets weekly and intentionally spends time studying the Bible to remain spiritually sharpened. There is also time to review all parts of CBF and go over logistics. The Lead team has chosen to delegate specific responsibilities to Teams.
  2. The Seventy is a leadership team composed of the bible study leaders, team leads, and discussion group leaders. There are formal meetings twice a term. One meeting evaluates the past term and what went well as well as ways to improve. The other meeting is intended to help the members grow as spiritual leaders by holding a workshop.
  3. Bible studies are offered weekly.
  4. The general body meeting, Friday Night Fellowship, is held once a week. Operations are managed by Friday Night Fellowship Team. This general body meeting consists of games, worship music, and a sermon given by a speaker. Discussion groups are held at the end to discuss the speech.
  5. All events are managed by Events Team.
  6. Social media, the website, and similar public relations are managed by Public Relations Team.
  7. Retreats occur in B and D terms. Retreat planning is managed by Retreat Team.
  8. Worship and AV team practice and prepare to play at Friday Night Fellowship.
  9. The Coordinator nominations are made by Lead Team members. For a nomination to stand, a second is required. All nominated people can accept or deny. The following meeting consists of all accepted candidate's speeches on why they should be Coordinator. Opposing candidates do not listen to other candidate's speeches and once speeches are completed, all candidates step out so that remaining members can come up with questions. Individuals are brought in independently to answer questions. Once all candidates have been individually asked questions by the lead team, the remaining lead team decides consensus on the Coordinator.

Article VIII - Enabling Clause

Christian Bible Fellowship agrees to abide by the policies of Worcester Polytechnic Institute as well as all federal, state, and local laws. Any changes to this constitution and/or bylaws will follow, in word and spirit, all WPI policies and all federal, state, and local laws.