Great Lakes Bible Institute is a ministry of Grace Church of Mentor, and is located in the church. Mentor is a burgeoning suburban community located 23 miles east of Cleveland. The Institute is located on Reynolds Road (Rt. 306) across from Lost Nation Airport, less than five minutes from Route 2. GLBI is just a short drive from Painesville, Eastlake, and Willoughby.
GLBI is firmly dedicated to “thoroughly furnishing” men and women “unto all good works” through careful study and application of the inspired Word of God. While preparing men and women for full-time Christian service is a primary goal, GLBI also exists to equip believers who may not be headed for formal ministry. To accommodate students who may have divergent purposes for Bible training, the Institute offers courses on both a credit and audit basis. The burden of the faculty is to diligently prepare the believer to correctly understand God’s Word (II Tim. 2:15) and to profitably use it to bring salvation and spiritual growth to those around him (II Tim. 3:16). To that end we hold that the Word of God is verbally inspired and inerrant in its autographs; it is therefore authoritative in any matter with which it deals and sufficient for all matters of life and godliness. That the believer may handle and minister the Word to himself and others with absolute confidence in its veracity and supernatural, life-changing power is the sentiment of instruction at GLBI.
Biblical balance is at the heart of our instruction. Great Lakes Bible Institute subscribes to neither an Arminian nor a Calvinistic system of theology or interpretation. The Institute holds to a separatistic, fundamental stand with regard to theological and moral compromise as found in either liberal or evangelical circles. In order to counter the sectarian tendencies of separatism “gone to seed,” we firmly support evangelism among our lost peers and strongly encourage unity among those who obey the Word. Another balanced pair of emphases at GLBI are the goals of academic excellence and practical application. Our course of instruction provides the student with the solid building blocks of Bible exegesis, offering Beginning New Testament Greek and Hermeneutics. Yet throughout the curriculum stress is placed on deriving legitimate contemporary application justified through a grammatical-historical understanding of the text.
A deliberate local church emphasis enhances the course of study at GLBI. The fact that we are a ministry of Grace Church of Mentor affords us the vital pastoral oversight and direction that many institutions of Christian higher education have lacked in past years. The desired results of this emphasis are that the local church (1) directs and protects this aspect of edification entrusted to it in Ephesians 4 and (2) provides immediate opportunities to apply what is learned in the classroom.
Although Great Lakes Bible Institute does not confer degrees or issue diplomas, we do offer a Certificate of Biblical Training.