BY RUDY TAYLOR
Montgomery County Chronicle
TYRO — The Tyro Christian Church will celebrate its centennial anniversary on Sunday, Aug. 9, and a full day of events are planned for the occasion.
David Bycroft, minister for 40 of those 100 years, said it will be a day of praise and worship, touring the half-completed building project, getting re-acquainted with many former members who plan to attend and listing to a 100-voice choir totally composed of TCC members.
“We’re making an all-out effort to get all our members to attend on Sunday,” said Bycroft, “and we hope they will bring along a friend or two to help us mark this occasion.”
The usual two worship services will be held Sunday morning. A traditional service will begin at 8:30 a.m. and a contemporary praise and worship service will follow at 11 a.m. with Sunday School classes held in between at 10 a.m.
The 100-voice choir and a brass ensemble will be featured that evening at the 6 p.m. service, and there will be informal testimonies, songs and congregational singing at the service. Several “Timothies” (young people who grew up in the Tyro congregation who now work in full-time ministries) will be present.
At the morning services, three former Tyro ministers will be introduced: Ted Omart, Bill Burr and Kenny Boles.
The congregation filed its first charter on Aug. 11, 1909, as the Tyro Church of Christ and later changed the name to the Tyro Christian Church.
During the time a new building was being built, the congregation met jointly with the Tyro Methodist Church and that church is still a vital part of the Tyro community.
The Tyro Christian Church has grown to become one of the largest churches in southeast Kansas with nine ministers on staff: David Bycroft - evangelist, Jeff Davis - Christian education/children’s minister, Myron Klesner - youth minister, Doug Songer, worship minister, Joyce Andres, early childhood director, Roger Twitchell, world evangelist, Adam Green, college age/technology minister, Chris White, youth intern, Terry Byrd, administrator of Tyro Community Christian School.
The congregation has been the center of considerable attention over the past 40 years as it has grown from a Sunday morning attendance of 40-50 to a current attendance that exceeds 1,000 and sometimes more. Those planning the centennial are anticipating a large attendance on Sunday morning, perhaps more than 1,500.
“We will not be giving out awards to anyone and we’re not trying to break any attendance records,” said Bycroft. “We just want to celebrate what the Lord Jesus Christ has done with a church in a small town that is made up of regular people.”
Bycroft is often asked what he considers to be the reason for such growth and enthusiasm in such an unlikely place — a town of 250.
“All I know is that God gets all the glory,” Bycroft said. “It shows what can happen when people focus their attention on Jesus Christ and not on their individual talents, programs or personalities.”
He adds, “I certainly didn’t do this by myself — far from it. I’m not that good. But my wife Kathy and I have always tried to be vessels that God can use for his purpose, his timing and his glory.”
In 1976, the church built a new sanctuary with a seating capacity of 400 and experienced an overflow crowd at its first service. Since then, a new gymnasium and education building have been added, and in 2000 an 800-person capacity sanctuary and children’s wing were added. It requires two services each Sunday morning to accommodate the large gathering of members and guests who come from a wide area to attend services.
Services at Tyro are signed for the deaf, video and audio recorded and CDs are made available in the church foyer each Sunday morning.
With ministries in evangelism, music, counseling, kids, teens, nursery, multi-media and numerous others, every member at Tyro Christian Church helps to keep the enthusiasm high.
A new building is currently under construction which will be larger than all the existing buildings combined. It will house the Tyro Christian Community School, Sunday School classes for all ages and a state-of-the-art infants, toddlers and pre-school center, all in a secure setting.
An all-new teen building also has been constructed and it goes by the name, “Faze2.” It includes high tech video and sound systems, a refreshment bar, an indoor climbing wall and plenty of space for game tables and gatherings.
Senior citizens enjoy attending monthly meetings of “The Joy Group” which takes frequent trips, also enjoying lunches together and holding Bible studies.
“I sometimes look at our past and present ministry and cannot believe what has taken place myself,” Bycroft said. “But I believe God wants to duplicate what has happened at TCC all over this land. I don’t believe for one second that God somehow chose Tyro as a place where he would pour out blessings that no one else could receive. I believe he longs to do this and even more wherever people are willing to catch the vision of reaching the lost world.”
Tyro has been home to David and Kathy Bycroft since they got married while still attending Ozark Christian College in Joplin. David started driving each weekend to Tyro, which was Kathy’s hometown, to serve as part-time minister then he started full-time after his graduation.
Bycroft said the outreach programs at Tyro have changed immensely over the years. For the first 25 years, he emphasized calling nights and holding twice-yearly revivals. The follow-up to those revivals kept members busy as they made contacts with visitors who attended.
“You might be surprised to know that our two biggest outreach programs today are ROCKS (TCC’s version of Vacation Bible School) and our big car show which we hold in the fall,” said Bycroft. “Many of our current members first came to this church to attend a car show, or to a ROCKS carnival, or maybe to the big Easter cantata and drama that we have presented so many times.”
At the beginning of his ministry in 1969, it took only about 10 people to do most of the work. Today it takes about 225 volunteers each week to make the church and its ministries run effectively.
Over the past 40 years, the Tyro Christian Church has sent more than 40 young people into ministry, of whom 36 are still in full-time Christian service.
The Bycrofts raised all three of their children in Tyro. Today, Matt and Jenn Bycroft reside in Iola where they lead the Rivertree Christian Church and Luke and Stephanie Bycroft live in Iola where he is city recreation director. A daughter, Krista Thomison and her husband, Brian, are involved with leading the Lifetrack Christian Church in Frontenac.
The Bycrofts have eight grandchildren.
David and Kathy believe there are lots of ingredients that have come together to cause a church to rise up and do a significant work. They have always stood on a favorite verse as their motivation: “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.” (Ephesians 3:20)
They invite everyone to attend the Sunday morning and Sunday evening services as the congregation marks 100 years.
