On February 3, 1961 the following pastors met in the manse of the Clarksonville Baptist Church. The Rev. John Knight of the Clarksonville circuit of Independent Baptist Churches, Rev. S.I. Cummings of the Independence Hall Baptist Church, Rev. Austin McKenzie of the Buff Bay circuit of Independent Baptist Churches and Rev. James T. M. Green and Pastor Robert Clubine, both of BMM.
The following resolution was presented and passed: “Be it resolved that we as Baptist Ministers representing our groups of churches here and now organize into an Association of Independent Baptist Churches.”
Pastors Green and Clubine were asked to draft the Constitution and Statement of Faith of the Jamaica Fellowship of Independent Baptist Churches. This proved to be more difficult than at first though, as BMM was ‘Pre-millennial’ in Eschatology and used the word ‘Imminent’ in describing the Return of Christ, while one of the other founding pastors was ‘A-millennial.’
In order to accommodate him, the administrative council of the Baptist Mid Missions was asked to withdraw the word ‘Imminent’ as a basis for fellowship in the Jamaica Fellowship of Independent Baptist Churches. The following reasons were given:
v In October 1959 the Administrative Council gave permission to proceed with such a fellowship
v The Jamaica Fellowship of Independent Baptist Churches was formed with five (5) Baptist Mid Missions churches as charter members
v Because Fairview Baptist Bible College teaches the Pre-tribulational, imminent return of Christ and the Association of Baptist Mid Mission churches is based on the Baptist Mid Missions Statement of Faith
v Because over the years BMM missionaries have had close fellowship with those of differing views of Eschatology
The Administrative Council granted permission to drop ‘imminent’ as far as our fellowship was concerned.
Dr. Fetzer observed, “I think we should make it very clear that this is just a loose organization of separate Baptist Churches in Jamaica, in no way organic in form, and that its purpose is to give evangelical Baptist churches official representation and to set up an organization for the defense of the faith. On that basis we can participate”.
