Arlington Baptist College

Arlington Baptist College is a private, four-year Bible college in Arlington, Texas. It is the official education institution of the World Baptist Fellowship which offers both undergraduate and graduate level degree programs.HistoryThe college was founded by J. Frank Norris in 1939 as Fundamental Baptist Bible Institute. The college started with sixteen students and held classes at the First Baptist Church of Fort Worth. The college's first graduates became pastors or missionaries through the World Fundamental Baptist Fellowship (as World Baptist Fellowship was then known).In 1945, the college was renamed the Bible Baptist Seminary. Norris stepped down as the college's president, and George Beauchamp Vick became the new president. Shortly thereafter, Norris worried that Vick had been given too much power, so Norris regained control over the school and removed Vick as president. Vick's removal angered many pastors who had reportedly grown tired of Norris' ways and who began to pull away from him, the college, and the World Baptist Fellowship. By 1950 these pastors had established the Baptist Bible Fellowship International and Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri, with George Vick as president.After Norris died in 1952, the college no longer met at his church, and therefore moved to temporary facilities in downtown Fort Worth.Earl K. Oldham became the college's president in 1953. During Oldham's tenure, the college's name was changed to Arlington Baptist College, and it was moved to its present location in 1955.