Free Gospel Bible Institute

[Knight of Ni]

I don’t see where we mentioned this school before but I stumbled on it during a web search. This school has some of the most restrictive rules I’ve ever seen. It’s even worse than the likes of BJU and PCC. Take a look at the student life part of the catalog. Female students are required to wear jumpers and they must be longer than the knee. Even knee length isn’t modest enough. 

[EowynW]

Link?

[Howl]

Yes, I found the ironically named Free Will Bible College, but no Free Will Bible Institute. 

[Knight of Ni]

My apologies it’s called Free Gospel Bible Institute. www.fgbi.org

[imokit]

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Microwaves are permitted in men’s dorms only, with a payment of a nominal fee at the beginning of each semester

Why????

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Economy is requested in the use of water, lights, heating, etc

I really want to know how this is policed  - you you're showers are too long and no I don't care that with that hair it takes a lot of water to wash.  You why is that light on, don't waist electricity and study in the dark.

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No type of sweat pants, long johns, or any other sleepwear with legs is permitted at any time. Ladies should wear sleepwear that is feminine in design (Deut. 22:5). A robe must be worn in the halls and modesty observed in dorm-room activities.

I'm not aware of the fundie colleges policing sleepwear.

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Hair is not to be cut or trimmed during your three years here. Those who violate this will be excluded from student ministry and choir for one calendar year

Hair cuts are to be severely punished.

 

Other gems - 18-21 year olds having a 10:30 pm bed time

phone policy

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3. I understand that my cell phone is to be turned off at lights out and laid on my dresser.

6. I understand that my cell phone is not to be used to connect to the Internet

10. Upon violation of this agreement I will willingly mail my cell phone home for a minimum of 2 weeks.

 

Interestingly very few women are wearing jumpers in the pictures, even the one in the class room studying (despite it being uniform).

 

 

[CTRLZero]

It's an interesting walk down memory lane to look at a sampling of their alumni pages through the years.  The hair and clothing fashions morphed over the decades, until they mostly settled into the Duggar-frumper method of dressing the ladies.  Are there any alumni who have emerged onto FJ's radar?   I didn't notice any.

The website held a charming mixture of typos and random Capitalization that we've come to expect from most fundies (and our president).  

On behalf of the student population, I was relieved to learn that the rural campus is only a short hop from major necessary sources of civilization:

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Although our campus is rural, within minutes you will be able to reach most necessary conveniences such as Laundromats, restaurants, and Wal-Mart.

 

[Ramen Amen]

I haven’t fallen down the rabbit hole of the Bontragers yet, but....... are these the same Bontragers?

 

 

[PennySycamore]

Can females wear long underwear under their nightgowns?  What if you tend to get cold?  I've got one nightgown that most people would hardly call sexy but it is sleeveless with a collarbone exposing neckline and it's made of cotton lisle.  Would that pass dress-code muster?

[Knight of Ni]

Wearing just a t shirt as pajamas satisfies the requirements of not having pants. 

[ViolaSebastian]

I’m so glad I’m not fundie and dan wear pants to bed. I hate how nightgowns inch up while one sleeps. 

[CelticGoddess]

Oh how generous, they get a whole 30minutes of social time in the evenings. 

Cell phone rules:  "I understand that I am not allowed to use my cell phone, because it is a tool of the devil.  I will have a cell phone but agree to never use it.  Not even to call 911.  Even if my dorm is on fire at 3am.  I will not turn on my cell phone and dial 911.  I'll just burn to a crisp."

This is comedy gold what with all the rules and the pictures to go with them.  Honestly, I"m surprised they are allowed such worldly things like trips to Wal-Mart (popular and only 10 minutes away).  Even the dining experience is a testimony to God.

Okay, what exactly is a "conservative" color?  Looking through some of the pictures, some of the ties are not what I would consider "conservative" and I spied a rather bright green shirt on one man.  

[JMarie]

 I found their website a few years ago, and I was fascinated!  I'm okay with the idea of all the women wearing the same thing.  I went to Catholic school, and we all wore the same thing, but we didn't MAKE our uniforms.  And no makeup, jewelry, or TVs in the dorms?  And they have to get up at 6:30?  But, according to their super-strict schedule, they don't get homework, because there's no time allotted for it.

It's interesting that most of the faculty and administration graduated from FGBI.

[Coy Koi]

The catalog mentions a student handbook, but I don't see it on the site. How can I see this handbook?!

ETA: I did a quick search and didn't find it, but I did find this handbook for Ozark Bible Institute and College, which looks just as good. I just started looking through it, but .

[Bethella]

8 hours ago, Piano gal said:

I haven’t fallen down the rabbit hole of the Bontragers yet, but....... are these the same Bontragers?

No, they're not the same Bontragers. Although I wouldn't be surprised if they were related somehow. Marlin Joe and Rebecca Marie (Stoltzfus) Bontrager have 10 children: Chelsy Renee, Mitchell Joe, Allison Nicole, Carson Wayne, Joshua Maxwell, Denver Elliot, Lincoln Taylor, Elizabeth Caresse, Hudson Reed and Rebecca Shania.

[ViolaSebastian]

4 hours ago, Coy Koi said:

ETA: I did a quick search and didn't find it, but I did find this handbook for Ozark Bible Institute and College, which looks just as good. I just started looking through it, but .

Any college or university that actively has a rule limiting what a student can and cannot read is garbage.

Also, what do they have against roller skating?

ETA: And a mandatory child psychology class in the fourth year? Weird. 

[Coy Koi]

I like how using your own fucking car is a privilege THEY bestow upon you, and can remove at any time:

The dating policy was clearly written by extremely petty tyrants, who are also remarkably bad at writing clear, concise rules:

Now, you may be asking, how is anyone going to even know exactly how many hours a week two people are spending together? Well, they will, because:

And, as for the dorm schedule,

I'm scared!!!! What am I supposed to do from 2:50-3:00pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays?!?!?!?! PLEASE ADVISE. I fear Satan will be lurking about to ensnare me in his evil web during those unscheduled 10 minutes. For example, he may tempt me to cut, trim, burn, snip, bite, or etc. my hair.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to send them Electronic Mail at obiwebpage(at)juno.com. (Seriously.)

I am amazed that adults willingly subject themselves to this insanity.

[mango_fandango]

Holy shit. OBI sounds perfect for the Maxwells. Except they’d be exposed to people outside their family who may have been to a brick-and-mortar physical school as opposed to homeschooled. OBI has a schedule in place, their modesty standards are the same (apart from the elbow-length minimum sleeves, even in the frumper days the Maxgirls wore t-shirts) and absolutely no contact or probably even conversation with those of the opposite sex.

Pensacola and Crown sound pretty liberal in comparison to OBI. Sure I’d find the constant Bible crap intensely irritating, but I’d probably be able to at least tolerate some time at either (maybe a few weeks or even just one semester). OBI sounds hell on Earth. 

[ViolaSebastian]

Daily, I ask myself, “is my general deportment above reproach?”

[CelticGoddess]

6 hours ago, Coy Koi said:

The catalog mentions a student handbook, but I don't see it on the site. How can I see this handbook?!

ETA: I did a quick search and didn't find it, but I did find this handbook for Ozark Bible Institute and College, which looks just as good. I just started looking through it, but .

Do these people not proof read?  I love this quote from the handbook:  The one great objective of Ozark Bible Institute and College is that God may help Himself to young lives. 

Perhaps it's my lack of sleep, but this came across to me like God is picking young lives like one would pick a chocolate from a box.

And wow, you aren't even allowed to talk to someone of the opposite sex during the first quarter of freshman year.  And no studying together as a couple.  

Good heavens, prisoners have more freedom than students at this school.  This is crazy!

And they learn how to have confrontational debate?  Polemics, sophomore year.

 

This is just crazy!

[Coy Koi]

Lest anyone believe the rule-makers at OBI are out-of-touch, I will remind you that they allow and even encourage students to bring a typewriter or even a, uh...what are those things called again? Oh yes, a COMPUTER!

They also recognize that in these crazy times, technology has been blended to the point where you can't even necessarily separate tech used for work from tech used for play, for example:

Again, if you have any questions, just send them an electronic telegram at obiwebpage(at)juno.com. They probably won't reply, due to a forgotten password or a malicious computer virus that requests that they update their browser or something, but if you patiently wait for your neighbor to get off the party line, and then ask your telephone operator to put you through to OBI, that should probably work. If not, have your husband walk a handwritten letter to your local post office and request that they summon the Pony Express.

 

[JermajestyDuggar]

7 hours ago, Bethella said:

No, they're not the same Bontragers. Although I wouldn't be surprised if they were related somehow. Marlin Joe and Rebecca Marie (Stoltzfus) Bontrager have 10 children: Chelsy Renee, Mitchell Joe, Allison Nicole, Carson Wayne, Joshua Maxwell, Denver Elliot, Lincoln Taylor, Elizabeth Caresse, Hudson Reed and Rebecca Shania.

The name Bontrager is pretty common amongst people who have Mennonite and Amish heritage. It's like Yoder.

I have a sneaking suspicion that many of those stupid rules are broken all the time. It's almost impossible to follow them all. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

I'm glad they have a nice illustration of how men should wear their hairstyles! So helpful! 

[jerkit]

Serious question: if a married student gets pregnant, does she have to drop out?

[smittykins]

"When work uniforms require short sleeves, the student should change to maintain the spirit of this guideline."  WTF does this even mean?

[ViolaSebastian]

“Motion picture entertainment purposes”? The fuck? Why can’t they just speak plain English and say “movie watching” like the rest of us heathens?