ABOUT OUR CHURCH
We’re a group of sinners saved by the grace of God so powerfully revealed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Although we meet in Madison, those who attend our meetings come from Lake, Geauga, and Ashtabula counties (that’s why we’re called, “Tri-County”).
WHAT IS TRI-COUNTY BIBLE CHURCH?
Tri-County is a Bible church. We believe that the Bible was breathed out by God, that it’s without error, that it’s been preserved for us, and that it contains everything we need to know about how to please God in life. We’re committed to helping you understand the Bible for yourself through clear, practical teaching. Those who visit our church realize that our services are quite simple: we read the Bible, sing the Bible, pray the Bible, and preach the Bible.
Tri-County is a non-denominational church. We do not belong to any association of churches or denomination. We are a local, independent church that believes in historic evangelical doctrine:
- that God is three persons — Father, Son, and Spirit — in one being,
- that Jesus of Nazareth is God the Son,
- that Jesus died in the place of sinners, then literally rose from the dead three days later,
- that Jesus is alive right now and will soon return to earth as King of kings,
- and that humans are sinners and can be saved from God’s wrath through repentant faith alone in Jesus.
Tri-County is a growing church. One of our goals is to promote positive, Christ-honoring relationships. If you visit, you’ll quickly notice that we’re a pretty simple family. Newcomers tend to feel welcome, yet not put on the spot. Since our inception in 1998 we have slowly grown, by about ten members each year. Although we are far from what we should be, God is changing lives through His powerful word. He’s building families and giving strength to individuals going through trials. We certainly need to and want to grow more, but the Gospel is clearly at work here.
Church Beliefs
Tri-County is a non-denominational church. We’re Protestant, evangelical, and Baptistic. We believe and teach the same biblical truths that Christians have treasured throughout the past two thousand years. While we strive to be personal and relevant in everything we teach, we never strive to be innovative with what we teach.
What is a Bible Church?
Comedian Tim Hawkins jokes that “a Bible church is just a Baptist church with a cool website.” Whether or not we have a cool website is debatable; but, we do have the two distinctive marks of historic Baptist churches: we are congregationally governed, and we only baptize professing believers. So why didn’t we choose to call ourselves Baptist when we organized our fellowship in 1998 years ago? For two primary reasons. First, we didn’t call ourselves Baptist because that term has so many associations in people’s minds. People have had different kinds of experiences (both positive and negative) with independent Baptists, Conservative Baptists, Regular Baptists, Southern Baptists, Northern Baptists, American Baptists, etc. Second, we thought that the designation Bible Church would communicate much more clearly to our community (who, for the most part, doesn’t care much about denominational distinctives) that the Bible is absolutely central in our life as a congregation.
Year Founded
Pastor Joe Called
“At bottom, Christianity is a personal conviction regarding facts: that Jesus is the crucified and risen king, given authority by God the Father to rule creation forever (Matt 28:18). Those who embrace that conviction must let this king rule every aspect of life.”
Joe Tyrpak – Pastor of Tri-County Bible Church
