Who We Are
"FOR THIS IS THE WILL OF GOD, THAT BY DOING GOOD YOU MAY PUT TO SILENCE THE IGNORANCE OF FOOLISH MEN-- AS FREE, YET NOT USING LIBERTY AS A CLOAK FOR VICE, BUT AS BONDSERVANTS OF GOD."
1 Peter 2:15-16
Liberty Bible Church is a congregation of believers in Jesus Christ, united by mutual agreement for promoting church life according to the New Testament pattern:
Conducting public services of worship and encouragement
Teaching the Word of God
Observing the ordinances as commanded in Scripture
Giving opportunity for Christian service
Promoting evangelistic and missionary endeavors both at home and abroad
We believe the Bible to be the verbally and plenarily inspired Word of God.
We believe in one Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe that Jesus Christ is God and that He came as the Son of God in order to reveal God to sinful man.
We believe in virgin birth of Jesus, His perfect life, and death on the cross for all as a substitutionary sacrifice for sins, and subsequent resurrection.
We believe that man was created in the image of God and that all have sinned. We believe that salvation is a free gift from God because of His grace, and is accessed by anyone exercising personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We believe that all true believers, once saved, are kept saved by God's power and are secure in Christ forever. We believe that every believer is indwelt and gifted by the Holy Spirit for ministry and service.
We believe that the gift of tongues is not for today.
We believe that the church is the body of Christ and that the local church should be autonomous, free from any external authority or control.
We believe in the personal, imminent, pretribulational, and premillennial coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
History
Liberty Bible Church was formed in the fall of 1980 by a group of believers who wanted to see an independent, fundamental church planted in Eureka. With a few committed families and the help of a pastor at a nearby Bible church, services were soon begun in a storefront in downtown Eureka. Gary Hedrick pastored the fledgling group for the first eight years, giving the church a solid doctrinal foundation and a commitment to the Word of God. Through his ministry and the hard work of the new church family, they established an AWANA program that set the tone for a youth ministry that continues to flourish today.
As the church grew, two other storefronts were occupied in Lakeview Shopping Center that accommodated the growth. On August 1, 1988 Tom Zobrist was called to continue the ministry the Lord had blessed.
In 1990, Liberty's first permanent facility was built on land that the church had miraculously acquired five years before. A multipurpose facility now housed Liberty's growing AWANA, youth, missions, and family worship programs. Along with this new building, more growth came, and the addition of Sunday School rooms followed in 1994. Recent years have seen the addition of a picnic and playground area, along with a youth center in 2010, to help with the day camp ministry that resulted from a partnership with Camp of Champions USA in 2004.
God continues to bless at Liberty Bible Church. Numerically and spiritually, we continue to grow and reach out to a lost world. Programs for the young and old alike reach our community with the message of salvation through Jesus Christ. The support of missionaries and the launch of this web site take our ministry around the world. Most of all, our central focus is the preaching of the Word of God. This spiritual food strengthens us and enables us to continue the work of the ministry.
God has truly blessed and we are thankful to Him for His manifold blessings.
Our Staff
Senior Pastor
Tom Zobrist
Pastor Tom and his wife Cindi have been ministering at Liberty Bible Church since August of 1988. Tom is a graduate of Calvary Bible College and Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri. Tom and Cindi both grew up in central Illinois. They have 5 children; Jessica, (married to Robert Reeves) Ben, Serena, (married to Michael Grimm), Peter, (married to Anna) and Noah, (married to Courtney). They also have 10 grandchildren; Lucy, Zion, Dylan, Kruse, Judson, Rex, Blaise, Wesley, Sadie, and Jack!
Administrative Assistant
Cindi Zobrist
Cindi loves working along side her husband serving the people of Liberty Bible Church. She has worked as Liberty’s Administrative Assistant since 1999.
Associate Pastor
Dan Waller
Pastor Dan and Stacy grew up in the Central Illinois area, but never met each other until attending Clearwater Christian College in Florida. They were married in August of 1993. They began attending Liberty Bible Church in 1995. They worked in the Junior High Youth Group until 2000 when Dan felt the Lord calling him to go to Bible College.
Dan attended Calvary Bible College in Kansas City, Missouri graduating with a degree in Pastoral Studies and Christian Camping. After graduation he joined Liberty Bible as an Associate Pastor beginning August 2004. Dan has served as the full time youth Pastor for 15 years and has recently transitioned to Visitation Pastor and Facilities Coordinator here at Liberty.
Dan and Stacy have four grown children. Alison and her husband, Cole Miller; Andrea and her husband, Mitchell Fuller; Meghan, and her husband Zac Peecher; and Clayton. They also enjoy their five grandchildren, Josie, Tinley, Mattie, Tait, and Tripp.
Administrative Assistant/Bookkeeper
Connie Grusy
Connie and her husband of 46 years, Randy have been long time members at Liberty Bible Church and serve in a variety of ways. Connie has been the bookkeeper since 2009 and began working as a part time Administrative Assistant in May of 2018. The Grusy’s have 2 daughters, Jenni (married to Josh Gladson) and Shelly (married to Rob Waldo). They have seven grandchildren, Natalie (married to Max Fotiades), Tanner (married to Kelsie), Hunter (married to Darby), Fisher, Malachi, Daniel, and Arianna and three great-grandchildren, Ellison, Everett, and August.
Music Director
Dustin Garrett
Dustin and his wife Kyndra have been married since 2011. God lead the Garrett’s to Liberty Bible Church in 2019. Kyndra‘s from Central Illinois but spent the majority of her childhood as a missionary kid in the Philippines. Dustin is from Northwest Indiana and struggled most of his younger life with drug addiction. However, Dustin ended up at the Peoria Rescue Mission where God radically changed his life! Dustin later went on to Calvary Bible College with his degree in Counseling and Music. The Garrett’s have one child, Ren born in August 2021.
Dustin and Kyndra enjoy fishing, gardening, bonfires, resting, reading, woodworking, decorating, and coffee roasting.
Biblical Counseling Director
BEN BUSENITZ
Pastor Ben serves as the director of Biblical Counseling. Ben grew up on a family farm near Whitewater, KS. Ben and his wife, Jana, attended church together during high school. They began dating after finishing college and even though they already knew each other, they like to say they met while serving together on a mission trip in Guadalajara, Mexico. Ben and Jana have five children Josiah, Layla, Noah, Luke and Silas. Ben is a graduate of Calvary Bible College and Theological Seminary, now known as Calvary University. He is certified by Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC). Ben is passionate about see lives transformed through the saving grace of Jesus Christ. He and Jana have been personally blessed by biblical counseling and desire to extend this blessing to others.
Youth Pastor
Spencer smith
Pastor Spencer and his wife Abigail began serving at Liberty Bible Church in June 2022. While Spencer grew up in rural Pennsylvania, Abigail spent much of her early life on the mission field in Brazil. They met and graduated from Appalachian Bible College where Spencer majored in Biblical Theology and Youth and Family Ministries (Biblical Counseling concentration). He also has his Master of Divinity through the School of Divinity at Liberty University. Spencer and Abigail desire to see families and teens equipped for life as they are vibrantly transformed by God and his Word. Spencer and Abigail just had their first child, a son named Barnabas.
