Mission & History

Our Mission:

“All to the praise of God’s glory” (Eph. 1:1-14):

1) By exalting and glorifying Him through faithfully teaching and seeking to obey His Word, keeping the gospel central in everything. 2) By edifying and discipling believers in becoming more Christlike. And 3) By evangelizing, in love, grace, and truth, our community and the nations.

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Ministries and Missionaries we currently support:

• Awana

• Berean Fellowship of Churches

• Bethel Bible Camp

• Hope Venture

• IBMGlobal

• Navigators

• Pioneers

• Todd Becker Foundation

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Our History:

The Berean Fundamental Church in Curtis, now called the Berean Bible Church, began in 1946 with home Bible study classes conducted by Dr. Ivan Olsen of North Platte and Rev. Ray Ransom, pastor and Bible teacher. The emphasis from the beginning was based on the great commission from Jesus, “Go ye into all the world.” Matthew 28:18-20

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In February of 1946, Dr. Ivan Olsen met with a group of interested people from Wellfleet, Maywood, and Curtis to discuss plans to organize a Berean Church in Curtis. Dr. Olsen held meetings in Curtis each Thursday evening for many weeks, assisted by Rev. Ransom and others. Sunday School and morning worship services were held in the Ransom home.

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On May 31, 1946 the following men met to discuss a building program: Dr. Olsen, Ray Ransom, Hugh Clark, Earl Hatch, Glenn Shults, Julius Hasenauer, and Max Hasenauer. They decided to purchase the corner lot at 6th and Prentiss from Ray Bular for $275.00 and the adjoining lot for $2250.00 which included buildings for the parsonage. By 6:00 that evening the contract had been signed and $900.00 received in cash and pledges. An additional loan of $1000.00 was made from the North Platte Berean church.

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The first evangelistic meetings were held in a tent set up in the city park with Rev. and Mrs. Ostrander in charge. Missionary Ronald Winstanley of Evangelistic Union S.A. and other pastors assisted.

Rev. Ransom was pastor through November of 1946. Eli Cook was then pastor until April 1947. April 17, 1947 the men started digging the basement for the church which was to be a cinder block structure, 30’x 60’ with full basement and classrooms.

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Gilbert Gustafson came as pastor in May, 1947 and on August 31 the first services were held in the church, though there was still much work to be done. Dedication services were held Sunday evening, November 9, 1947.

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Rev. Gustafson moved on in March of 1949. Ray Fogle was then pastor from July 1949 to January 1950. Jack Lard was interim pastor from February, 1950 until after Easter. John Maret was interim pastor May to September 1950 when Kenneth Martin took the pastorate. He left in December, 1955 to take over duties at Maranatha Bible Camp. Wendell Baxter served from January to August, 1956 followed by J.C. Clasper who was interim pastor from September 1956 to January, 1957. Ward Childerston accepted the pastorate from January, 1957 through September, 1958. Randall Heinrichs began as pastor in September, 1958 and resigned May, 1962 to join the crew in building the senior citizens home in Curtis—Sunset Haven. He became its administrator. Clyde White was installed as pastor August 26, 1962 and he remained through May, 1978.

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In August through October of 1966 the old church building was torn down. Ground breaking for the new building began the first of November. Jim Wagoner was the contractor, but had to cancel due to financial problems so Rev. White took over as contractor. He and other capable workers completed the project. The new building was dedicated to the Lord on July 23, 1967. The debt on the new church was paid in full on June 8, 1983.

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Rev. LeRoy Cook took the pastorate in May, 1978 and stayed until August, 1983. In addition to his duties as pastor, he led a Bible study for the UNSTA students.

Rev. Donald Crisp took the pastorate in November, 1983 and stayed until December, 1988.

Stan Gurney took the pastorate in June, 1989.

Stephen Demoret took the pastorate in November, 1992 and stayed until November, 2000.

Rodney Forrester took the pastorate in August, 2001.

Richard Troup took the pastorate in August, 2004 and stayed until April, 2006.

David Caldwell took the pastorate in February, 2007.

Brian Nicklas took the pastorate in August, 2009 and is the current pastor.

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Our Name:

On Sunday, August 21, 1932, 13 people gathered in a North Platte, NE home to pray and hear teaching from the Bible. God caused the group to grow as many in the community placed their faith in Jesus Christ. Initially known as the “Church of the Open Bible,” in 1935, the fledgling congregation found a more fitting name as “The Berean Fundamental Church.” Though the word “fundamental” has since lost favor in our culture, to those founding families it had a wonderfully simple depth of meaning: it was based on the “fundamentals” of the Christian faith.

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You might be asking, “What does Berean mean? The word actually comes from Acts 17:11 in the Bible. It says the Bereans were “noble” because they searched the Scriptures to see if what they were being told about Jesus was true. We want to be the same kind of people who search God’s Word, the Bible, to know the truth.

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The Berean Fellowship of Churches’ History:

Our roots date back to the 1930’s, when Ivan Olsen became the first pastor of the Berean Fundamental Church in North Platte, NE. As others witnessed the blessing of God on his work, they began to come to him for counsel and assistance to plant churches in other communities. God’s blessing on those efforts allowed for the establishment of a number of Berean Churches in just a few years. The name Berean Fundamental Church Council, Inc., was chosen to become the legal organizational name for this new Berean Fellowship of Churches. Since those early years, many more churches have been planted. Today, the BFC is comprised of approximately 60 churches throughout the states of: California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Tennessee, Kentucky, and hundreds in India.

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To learn more about the Berean Fellowship of Churches and remain connected and informed go to www.weareberean.org.