Famous Preachers Who Used to be IFB
# Men Who Used to Be IFB: Where Are They Now, and Why Did They Leave?
The Independent Fundamental Baptist movement has produced thousands of preachers, missionaries, evangelists, and church members who have spent their lives standing for biblical fundamentalism. However, it has also produced a collection of former members and ministers who have publicly distanced themselves from the movement. Some have entered other Baptist circles, while others have embraced radically different theological positions.
The reasons for these departures are not always the same. Some people left because they rejected fundamental Baptist doctrine. Others moved into different denominational environments or adopted different philosophies of ministry.
Before examining these men, an important distinction must be established. The IFB is not a denomination with a centralized governing body. It is a loose association of independent churches sharing certain theological convictions and historical connections. Leaving one branch of that movement does not necessarily mean abandoning everything associated with independent Baptist doctrine.
Nevertheless, the stories of men who once identified with the IFB or came from its broader independent Baptist circles raise important questions about the movement's past, present, and future.
1. Greg Locke
Greg Locke is one of the most publicly recognizable examples of a preacher who emerged from Independent Fundamental Baptist circles and eventually embraced a very different theological direction. Locke attended Ambassador Baptist College and spent years working as a Baptist evangelist before founding Global Vision Baptist Church in Tennessee in 2006.
According to a 2022 investigation by The Tennessean, Locke and his church formally separated from the Independent Fundamental Baptist movement in 2011. His congregation subsequently became Global Vision Bible Church.
Locke's transformation has been remarkable. Once identified with fundamental Baptist preaching, even renting office space at the Sword of the Lord, he eventually embraced charismatic teachings concerning spiritual warfare, deliverance ministry, and demonic activity. He has been a full fledged charismatic crazy ever since.
His changing theology represents a significant departure from the cessationist convictions historically associated with many IFB churches.
Some of the practices associated with his ministry would have been strongly condemned by the fundamentalist Baptist circles in which he was trained.
His departure raises an important question. How does someone move from traditional Baptist fundamentalism into theological practices that his former movement specifically rejected? I would suggest it was his carnal hunger to be bigger, more famous, and have no accountability.
Locke's experience demonstrates that rejecting the IFB movement does not necessarily lead someone toward greater theological stability. Sometimes it leads in an entirely different direction.
2. Jerry Falwell
Perhaps one of the most historically significant men to move away from traditional Independent Baptist separatism was Jerry Falwell.
Many Christians today remember Falwell as the founder of Liberty University, a prominent political activist, and one of the most influential figures in the American Religious Right. However, some younger Christians may not realize just how deeply connected Falwell was to independent Baptist fundamentalism.
Falwell attended Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri, an institution closely associated with the Baptist Bible Fellowship. After graduating in 1956, he founded Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia.
For decades, Falwell operated within the broader independent fundamental Baptist world. He fellowshipped with Jack Hyles, Lester Rollof, and even preached in a Sword Conference with Curtis Hutson. His church grew into one of the largest congregations in America, and his television ministry gave him national influence.
However, Falwell gradually developed relationships and partnerships that extended well beyond traditional IFB circles.
His political work through the Moral Majority brought him into cooperation with conservative religious leaders from various denominations. This included working alongside individuals who differed substantially from traditional Baptist doctrine.
For strict separatist fundamentalists, such cooperation represented a serious departure from the ecclesiastical separation they believed the Bible required.
An even more significant change came in 1996, when Thomas Road Baptist Church established a formal cooperative relationship with the Southern Baptist Convention.
This was particularly remarkable because independent fundamental Baptists had historically criticized the Southern Baptist Convention over theological liberalism, denominational structures, and ecclesiastical compromise.
Falwell defended the decision by pointing to the conservative resurgence within the Southern Baptist Convention. He believed that conservative Southern Baptists had successfully challenged theological liberalism and restored a commitment to biblical authority within their denomination.
By 1998, Falwell was participating in Southern Baptist Convention meetings as a messenger.
It is important to acknowledge that Falwell did not simply renounce every aspect of his fundamentalist background. He continued to defend numerous conservative theological convictions and maintained relationships with independent Baptist ministries.
Nevertheless, his movement from the Baptist Bible Fellowship world into formal cooperation with Southern Baptists represented a substantial change in his ecclesiastical position.
Falwell died in May 2007, having become one of the most recognizable conservative Christian leaders in American history.
His story raises an interesting question about the relationship between biblical separation and religious cooperation. Can a man expand his religious partnerships without compromising biblical truth? At what point does cooperation with theological opponents become compromise?
Different branches of fundamentalism have answered those questions differently.
Whatever conclusions one reaches about Falwell, his journey demonstrates that even some of the most influential figures associated with independent Baptist fundamentalism eventually moved beyond its traditional boundaries.
3. David Jeremiah
Another interesting figure with roots in the broader independent Baptist world is David Jeremiah, the nationally recognized Bible teacher and founder of Turning Point Ministries.
Jeremiah grew up in a conservative Baptist home. His father, James T. Jeremiah, pastored Emmanuel Baptist Church in Ohio before becoming president of Cedarville College in 1953. Cedarville was historically associated with the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches, a conservative Baptist fellowship with strong fundamentalist roots.
David Jeremiah graduated from Cedarville College in 1963 and later attended Dallas Theological Seminary.
In 1969, he founded Blackhawk Baptist Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The congregation began with seven families and grew substantially during his twelve years as pastor. Blackhawk was an independent Baptist congregation, and Jeremiah's early ministry reflected the conservative Baptist environment in which he had been raised and trained.
In 1981, Jeremiah moved to California to become pastor of Scott Memorial Baptist Church in El Cajon. That congregation subsequently became known as Shadow Mountain Community Church. Under Jeremiah's leadership, the church developed into a large evangelical congregation with an extensive Christian education system, media ministry, and national influence. Shadow Mountain also became affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, placing Jeremiah in a different institutional environment from the independent Baptist circles associated with his early life.
Jeremiah's theological development should not be confused with the dramatic doctrinal changes experienced by men such as Greg Locke. He has continued to identify with conservative evangelical Christianity, biblical prophecy, and dispensational teaching, however his music standards and refusal to practice separation makes him a functioning evangelical.
Jeremiah's example raises questions about what actually defines Independent Baptist identity. Is it merely the independence of a local congregation? Is it separation from denominational conventions? Is it a particular style of preaching, music, or church organization?
These are questions worth examining because the IFB movement has never possessed a single governing institution capable of establishing universally accepted boundaries for its identity.
What Can We Learn?
These examples illustrate several different directions a person may take after leaving the IFB or moving beyond traditional independent Baptist circles.
Greg Locke moved into charismatic deliverance theology. Jerry Falwell expanded his ministry relationships and entered formal cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention. David Jeremiah's ministry developed within a broader evangelical and Southern Baptist environment. We should resist the temptation to place all these men in the same category.
I remain committed to biblical fundamentalism and the doctrines that make independent Baptist churches distinct. I do not believe the failures of particular preachers justify abandoning biblical Christianity. Nevertheless, I also refuse to believe that defending fundamentalism requires defending every institution, personality, or practice associated with its history.
The future of Independent Baptist churches will not be secured by pretending that nobody has legitimate reasons for criticism. It will be secured by returning continually to Scripture, honestly evaluating our practices, and placing loyalty to Jesus Christ above loyalty to men.
The men discussed in this article took different paths, and those paths led to very different destinations. Their stories should remind us that the question is not simply whether someone stays within the Independent Baptist movement.
The question is whether he remains faithful to the truth of God's Word.
The goal should not be preserving a movement at any cost. The goal should be remaining faithful to the Word of God.
Historical Sources
[Greg Locke's Departure From IFB Fundamentalism, The Tennessean](https://www.yahoo.com/news/greg-locke-timeline-independent-baptist-020112661.html)
[Jerry Falwell's Transition to the Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist Press](https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/jerry-falwell-7-church-members-participate-as-sbc-messengers/)
[David Jeremiah, Official Biography](https://www.davidjeremiah.org/about/biography)
[Blackhawk Baptist Church, Official History](https://blackhawkministries.org/about/history/)
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