Trinity Bible Church meets in a quiet corner of northeast Portland, a short street off 148th Avenue between Airport Way and Sandy Boulevard, on the same block where the men of the congregation gather on Saturday mornings to pray. The fellowship was started in January 1981 with a single, plain purpose: to proclaim the sovereign grace of God to the glory of the triune God, and to build up the people of God through the expositional preaching and teaching of the Holy Scriptures. More than four decades later that purpose still shapes the rhythm of the week at 14333 NE Whitaker Way.
Proclaiming the Sovereign Grace of God
The church's stated aim is that the Word of God, which it calls powerful for the transformation of the lives of God's people, would be the focal point of all ministry. The same sentence is repeated in two places on the church's own materials, treated as a kind of motto. In a Sunday bulletin or sermon introduction the pastor will often begin with the words, "Trinity Bible Church proclaims the sovereign grace of God to the glory of our triune God and edifies the people of God through the expositional preaching and teaching of God's Holy Word, which is powerful for the transformation of the lives of His people." The signature is on every page of the church's online presence and on the very first line of the Statement of Faith.
Sunday on Whitaker Way
Trinity Bible Church runs three Sunday gatherings in the same building. Sunday school for adults begins at 9:30 AM, and the morning worship service follows at 11:00 AM. In the evening, a third gathering is held at 5:00 PM. The evening service follows a monthly pattern: a corporate prayer meeting on the first week of the month; a sermon on the second week; a sermon and the Lord's Supper on the third week; and a sermon, shared meal, or hymn sing on the fourth week. On a five-Sunday month, a sermon fills the final evening. Visitors arriving for the morning service can expect congregational singing, prayer, Scripture reading, and a sermon that works steadily through a book of the Bible.
The 9:30 AM Sunday school hour is set aside for the adult Bible study class. The booklet that members and visitors use is freely available online. Past fall studies have worked through the Psalms, Isaiah, the Minor Prophets, Jeremiah, and the Exodus. The summer quarter is given to doctrinal studies, and the spring quarter has covered subjects such as the Sermon on the Mount, the Epistle to the Hebrews, and the life of Christ in the Gospels.
Midweek and Saturday Rhythms
Small groups meet throughout the week in homes at 7:00 PM. The groups take different shapes: some are discipleship Bible studies, some walk through a book together, and others review the previous Sunday's sermon. The intent is the same in every case: to apply the same Word preached on Sunday morning in a smaller setting where questions can be asked and lives can be shared.
On Saturday mornings at 8:30 AM, the men of the church gather at the building on Whitaker Way to pray for the ministry of the church and for the needs of the people. The ladies of the church have their own fellowship through an annual Bible study, and a 2026-27 ladies' study has recently opened on the book of Revelation. A separate Bible memory program offers booklets each year: the 2026 set, "Forty-Eight More Verses Every New Christian Should Know," is offered in the King James Version, the New American Standard Bible, the New King James Version, and the New International Version.
The Teaching Team
The preaching rotation is led by two pastors and supported by the elders and deacons of the church. James Wierson, III, who grew up in Portland and earned a Master of Divinity from The Master's Seminary in 2022, has served as Assistant to the Pastor at Trinity from June 2024 and assumed the full responsibilities of pastor in September 2026. Will Custis continues in pulpit ministry as well, working his way through the Genesis account on Sunday evenings and through shorter pastoral series on Sunday mornings. Other members of the teaching rotation are Mr. Brad Reay, Mr. Joe O'Banion, Mr. Kelly Spafford, and Mr. Dillon Rowe.
The eldership team is made up of James Wierson, III, Kelly Spafford (an elder since 2014), Jonathon Spafford (an elder since 2023), Dillon Rowe (an elder since 2023), and Stephen Nagai (treasurer since 2021 and an elder since September 2026). The deacon board is chaired by David Overlin and includes Brad Reay (a deacon since 1998), Joe O'Banion, and Kyle Kieswether. Members are expected to be devoted to prayer, to the apostles' teaching, and to the fellowship, in the pattern of Acts 2:42, and a new-member welcome series is taught in the summer to help new families settle in.
The Statement of Faith
Trinity Bible Church adopted its Statement of Faith in June 1986 and revised it in September 1999. The document is divided into eight articles covering the Bible, God, angels, Satan and demons, man and sin, salvation, the church, and the last things. Three emphases are lifted up at the front of the statement: a strong emphasis on God, who sovereignly rules His creation; a strong emphasis on Scripture, the only written revelation from God and the focal point of all ministry; and a strong emphasis on salvation, in which God is sovereignly working out His redemptive plan throughout human history.
The church holds that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, inerrant in the original manuscripts, infallible, and the sole authority on matters of faith and holiness. It teaches the historic Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the full deity and full humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, the virgin birth, the substitutionary atonement, the bodily resurrection, the ascension, and the bodily return of Christ in glory to reign with His saints upon the earth. The church is governed by elders and deacons under the headship of Christ, observes the ordinances of believer's baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper, and gathers regularly for expository preaching.
Preaching Through Books of the Bible
The pulpit is committed to expository preaching, working through books of the Bible in long, ordered series. Recent series have included "Behold the Lamb of God," a twenty-one-week walk through the book of Revelation; "Equipping the Saints for the Work of the Ministry," a thirteen-week study of what the church is, how it is organized, and what it should be doing; "The Law of God," a fourteen-message series on the Ten Commandments; "Abundant Life in Christ," a study of 2 Corinthians and Philippians; and the long-running "Genesis 25-36: God's Faithfulness Continues to Isaac and Jacob." The summer of 2026 brought the family camp series through the book of Colossians, taught by Pastor Luke Abendroth of Faith Bible Church in Springfield, Illinois.
A Deep Sermon Archive
Sermons are recorded each Sunday and made available in audio, video, and written form. Audio and transcripts are hosted through SermonAudio, and the same messages are mirrored on YouTube. The archive goes back many years; a search on the church's message library shows 4,344 messages on file, and a separate series-by-series view stretches across Revelation, Genesis, 2 Timothy, Colossians, 1 Timothy, and many doctrinal and topical sets. Selected messages are also broadcast on Sunday afternoons at 4:00 PM on KPDQ 93.9 FM, reaching listeners across the Portland metro area and beyond. The most recent broadcast, "The Gospel We Have Received" from 1 Corinthians 15, was preached by Pastor James Wierson, III.
Family Camp and the Wider Fellowship
Every summer the church hosts a family camp for its members and the wider fellowship. In 2026 the family camp was held August 17 through 21 and featured eight messages through the book of Colossians. The event doubles as a retreat and a teaching intensive, with morning and evening sessions across several days. The church also has a regular ladies' Bible study, a series of small booklets for Bible memory, and an annual discipleship curriculum that walks members through subjects such as the Christian's prayer life, family relationships, marriage, the work of the Holy Spirit, and the believer's responsibility to others.
The church maintains warm ties with two sister congregations: Hillcrest Bible Church in Portland and Grace Bible Chapel in Kinkai, Japan. The materials that the church recommends to its members include the Los Angeles Bible Training School, the ministry of Grace To You, the SLJ Institute of S. Lewis Johnson, the MacRae Studies in Isaiah, and the long-running online libraries at biblebb.com and gospelgems.com.
What to Expect on a First Visit
Visitors coming for the first time will find the building easy to reach. From I-205, take the Airport Way East exit, turn right on 148th Avenue, and then right on Whitaker Way. From I-84, exit north at 181st Avenue and continue until 181st becomes Airport Way, then turn left on 148th Avenue and right on Whitaker Way. The street is short and is also reachable from Sandy Boulevard by turning north on 148th and then left on Whitaker Way. Services are held in English. Members are happy to answer questions about the church's beliefs and practices, and the pastor's office can be reached at info@tbcpdx.org. Those who listen from a distance can join the Sunday morning service on KPDQ 93.9 FM at 4:00 PM, watch the livestream on YouTube, or download audio and transcripts through the church's SermonAudio page.