What the CBM does
The Christadelphian Bible Mission (CBM) was formed in response to the command of Jesus to ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation’. The hope of the gospel is available to anyone willing to read the Bible and turn to God, no matter who they are or where they live. With God’s blessing, the CBM serves in areas of the world where Christadelphians need help to preach the gospel and support its members.
CBM UK operates in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. It works alongside its sister organisations – Asia-Pacific CBM, CBM of the Americas and CBM of South Africa – which all operate under the same Biblical principles.
Preaching
In responding to Jesus’ command, the CBM supports and facilitates preaching to help bring others to the hope of the Gospel message. The CBM organises preaching in several ways:
- Direct preaching. This might include public Bible talks, presentations, seminars and conversations with contacts.
- Supporting existing and future preaching efforts of Christadelphian ecclesias in CBM areas.
- Through the internet, such as the dedicated Christadelphian website thisisyourbible.com.
- Correspondence courses led by teams of dedicated tutors. Every year we advertise our courses in newspapers and magazines throughout the world. In this way, we come into contact with those who have an interest in the Bible. We can receive over 400 replies from one insert, spread over a period of 2 to 3 years. Each person who responds is allocated to a tutor, who takes him or her through the course, charts their progress by means of the answers given to questions on the lessons, and responds to any questions raised by the student. Thus each student receives careful, individual teaching from the Scriptures. If a student shows sufficient interest, he is put in touch with local Christadelphians or a visit is arranged to meet him. There are a number of correspondence courses available to meet various needs.
Note: To distinguish the group of people from a building or ‘church’, Christadelphians typically refer to their congregations using the Greek Bible word ‘ecclesias’.
Supporting ecclesias and individuals
The CBM also provides welfare to ecclesias and individuals where this is necessary. The Bible teaches that we have a responsibility to ‘love one another’, ‘especially those who are of the household of faith’. Welfare is generally provided in the following ways:
- Spiritual support through God’s word. This support might include meeting to break bread, discussion on Bible readings, Bible schools, teaching children and young people, and providing advice on spiritual matters.
- Mentoring the development and growth of ecclesias and their members.
- Practical welfare support, such as providing aid for food, winter fuel and medical help.
Where possible, the CBM aims to bring ecclesias to a position where they are self-sufficient and are able to fund and maintain their own preaching and welfare activities.
Much of the work carried out by the CBM UK is in the developing world, where there is real physical and material need. Whilst CBM can provide temporary help with food and medical need, CBM’s prime aim is to preach the eternal and saving gospel message contained in the Bible.
Administration
CBM work is voluntary. Country teams are overseen by ‘linkmen’ and have responsibility for organising CBM activities in their area. Activities include organising visits, looking after correspondence, organising Bible Schools, dealing with welfare issues and managing country budgets. Teams visit countries once or twice a year, following the example of the apostles in Acts 15 who set out to ‘visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are’.
Area secretaries (East and West Africa and East and West Europe) and CBM Council also provide oversight of CBM activities. This includes handling CBM governance, policy, finance, insurance, and publicity. The overriding principle governing all CBM work is that all things should be done ‘decently and in order’ and ‘to the glory of God’.
Funding
CBM is a registered charity funded by donations from Christadelphians. The CBM spends around 1% of its income on administration, two thirds on preaching activities and a third on welfare.
CBM also sponsors individual projects known as ‘Project Aid’. These projects provide for an individual or ecclesial need, such as furniture, hymn books, financial help to attend a Bible School, and transport, such as bicycles.
This video shows a little bit about the different work CBM does by God’s grace in the different places it had the privilege and blessing to be involved with. Music is by kind permission of Damascus Road.
CBM in numbers
- CBM UK operates in 72 counties in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.
- There are around 26,000 Christadelphians in these countries in around 1,000 ecclesias. The majority of these ecclesias are in East Africa.
