Jacob B. Reaume is a Canadian pastor and author best known as the Senior Pastor of Trinity Bible Chapel in Woolwich Township, Ontario, just outside Waterloo. He became a national figure in Canada in 2020 and 2021 when he and his church’s elders were charged and fined for holding in-person worship services during Ontario’s COVID-19 lockdowns. Reaume is also the author of Bible-Based Marriage, a 2024 book on Christian marriage, and he writes regularly on theology and culture at the church’s Pastor’s Blog.
| Personal | |
| Full name | Jacob B. Reaume |
| Born | Guelph, Ontario, Canada (exact date not publicly confirmed) |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Spouse | Joanna Reaume (high school sweethearts) |
| Children | Six children |
| Education | |
| Seminary | The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky (Master of Divinity) |
| Ministry | |
| Title | Senior Pastor |
| Church | Trinity Bible Chapel, Woolwich Township, Ontario (near Waterloo) |
| Denomination | Reformed Baptist, holds to the 1689 London Baptist Confession |
| Since | August 2009 |
| Website | trinitybiblechapel.ca |
| Career | |
| Books | Bible-Based Marriage (Asser Press, 2024) |
| Net worth | Not publicly available; no verifiable figure exists |
[IMAGE: Pastor Jacob Reaume preaching at Trinity Bible Chapel]
Early Life and Background
Jacob Reaume was born and raised in Guelph, Ontario, a mid-sized city about 100 kilometers west of Toronto. Public details about his childhood, parents, and upbringing are limited, which is common for pastors who lead independent congregations rather than large media ministries. What is documented is his theological training: Reaume pursued a Master of Divinity at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, one of the largest and most influential seminaries in the Southern Baptist Convention and a center of Reformed Baptist scholarship.
That seminary background shaped the direction of his ministry. Reaume emerged from his studies committed to Reformed theology, credobaptism (believer’s baptism, as opposed to infant baptism), and complementarian church government, all positions that would define his approach once he took a pulpit of his own.
Ministry and Career
Becoming Pastor of Trinity Bible Chapel
Reaume became pastor of what is now Trinity Bible Chapel in August 2009. The church was originally known as Harvest Bible Chapel Waterloo Region, part of the church-planting network founded by James MacDonald. Over time, the congregation rebranded as Trinity Bible Chapel and settled into its own distinct theological identity, adopting the 1689 London Baptist Confession as its doctrinal standard.
The church spent years without a permanent building. That changed in June 2019, when Northside Baptist Church voted to give Trinity Bible Chapel its property at 1373 Lobsinger Line in Woolwich Township, just north of Waterloo and south of St. Jacobs. The congregation held its first service in the new building on June 14, 2020, the first Sunday after Ontario’s initial pandemic lockdown lifted.
The COVID-19 Court Case
Trinity Bible Chapel’s stand against Ontario’s pandemic restrictions is the single most searched and most reported chapter of Reaume’s ministry. The church continued holding in-person Sunday services through the winter of 2020 into 2021, arguing that the province had no authority to shut down corporate worship. Bylaw officers ticketed the church on December 27, 2020, and again on January 3, 2021, for exceeding gathering limits.
The Ontario Attorney General responded with a court injunction ordering the church to comply. When roughly 225 people gathered for a service on January 24, 2021, in direct defiance of that injunction, the Region of Waterloo laid charges against six church elders, including Reaume, plus the church corporation itself. A Kitchener court found the church in contempt. By February 2021, Trinity Bible Chapel and its elders were fined $38,000, with an additional $45,000 ordered in legal costs.
Reaume was among several Canadian pastors, alongside figures like Aaron Rock of Harvest Bible Church in Windsor, who were charged for defying public health rules during 2020 and 2021 gatherings.
The case made Reaume a recognizable name in conversations about religious freedom in Canada. He was later featured in the documentary Antichrist and His Ruin, discussing the episode and its broader implications for church-state relations. He has also spoken about the ordeal on multiple podcasts, framing it as a defense of the church’s independence from state control over worship. [IMAGE: Trinity Bible Chapel building, Woolwich Township, Ontario]
Writing, Speaking, and Public Ministry
Beyond the pulpit, Reaume maintains an active presence as a writer. He publishes regularly on the church’s Pastor’s Blog, tackling topics ranging from the doctrine of election and paedobaptism versus credobaptism to commentary on current events touching Christian faith. He has also cross-posted content to Substack under his own name.
Reaume has appeared as a guest on several Christian podcasts, including the Ezra Institute’s Podcast for Cultural Engagement, where he has discussed both his book on marriage and the broader mission of Trinity Bible Chapel. He has also appeared on Undaunted.Life to discuss the COVID-era prosecutions and his role in the documentary Antichrist and His Ruin.
One notable thread in his public output involves theologian and former Meeting House pastor Bruxy Cavey. Reaume publicly critiqued Cavey’s teaching on the Rebel Alliance Media podcast years before Cavey’s later, unrelated misconduct scandal became public, framing his objections strictly around points of doctrine and biblical interpretation.
Books and Publications
Bible-Based Marriage
In 2024, Reaume published Bible-Based Marriage through Asser Press. The book draws on his years of pastoral counseling to address subjects many marriage books skip past, including how Christian couples should handle finances and how they should think through birth control from a biblical framework. It’s built for practical use in premarital counseling, marriage tune-ups, or couples reading together, and it reflects the complementarian, Reformed convictions that shape his preaching.
The book expands on themes Reaume has taught from the pulpit for years: forgiveness as the foundation of a lasting marriage, the domestic household as a building block of a healthy church and society, and a rejection of egalitarian models of marriage in favor of what he describes as God’s created order for the home.
Theology and Ministry Philosophy
Trinity Bible Chapel operates under the 1689 London Baptist Confession, placing Reaume firmly in the Reformed Baptist tradition. That means he holds to credobaptism, a complementarian view of church leadership and marriage, and a high view of biblical sufficiency in matters of doctrine and practice.
Reaume’s preaching and writing consistently return to a few core convictions: the authority of Scripture over cultural trends, the church’s independence from state interference in worship, and marriage and family life as institutions worth defending on biblical grounds rather than reshaping to match contemporary norms. His blog output shows a pastor unafraid to wade into contested doctrinal debates, from the mechanics of salvation to disputes within evangelicalism over how churches should engage the surrounding culture.
Personal Life
Reaume is married to Joanna, whom he has described as his high school sweetheart. Together they have six children. Beyond that, the family keeps a fairly private profile online, a choice consistent with how Reaume presents himself: as a working pastor and writer rather than a media personality.
Influence and Legacy
Reaume’s influence runs along two tracks. Within Reformed and Baptist circles in Ontario, he’s known as a doctrinally serious pastor whose blog and podcast appearances carry weight among readers interested in Calvinist soteriology, church polity, and complementarian family life. Outside those circles, he’s known first for the COVID-era court case, which turned Trinity Bible Chapel into a reference point in Canadian debates over religious liberty and government authority during public health emergencies.
That dual identity, theological writer and religious-liberty case study, has given Reaume a reach beyond what a single mid-sized Ontario congregation would typically command.
Criticism and Controversies
The defining controversy of Reaume’s ministry is the 2020–2021 confrontation with Ontario health authorities. Critics argued that the church’s decision to hold services well above the legal gathering limit during an active public health emergency put attendees and the wider community at risk, and that defying a court injunction crossed a legal line regardless of the underlying religious liberty argument. Reaume and the church’s elders maintained that the state had overreached into an area, the internal governance and worship of the church, where it had no legitimate authority.
Both the contempt finding and the $38,000 fine plus $45,000 in legal costs are matters of public court record, not disputed claims. Readers researching the case are encouraged to consult the original CBC News coverage for full legal detail, as the underlying regulatory framework and court proceedings involve nuances beyond the scope of a biographical summary.
Interesting Facts
- Trinity Bible Chapel’s current building was a gift: Northside Baptist Church voted to hand over its entire property to Reaume’s congregation in 2019.
- The church’s first service in that new building landed on the first Sunday after Ontario’s initial COVID lockdown lifted, June 14, 2020.
- Reaume trained at the same seminary system associated with major Reformed Baptist voices in the United States, having earned his M.Div at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville.
- He was one of several Canadian pastors, including Aaron Rock of Harvest Bible Church in Windsor, prosecuted for COVID-era gathering violations, a detail that likely explains why searches sometimes wrongly associate Reaume with Windsor rather than Waterloo.
Timeline
- August 2009: Jacob Reaume becomes pastor of what would become Trinity Bible Chapel.
- June 23, 2019: Northside Baptist Church votes to transfer its property at 1373 Lobsinger Line to Trinity Bible Chapel.
- June 14, 2020: The congregation holds its first service in the new building.
- December 2020 to January 2021: Trinity Bible Chapel is ticketed for exceeding pandemic gathering limits and is later found in contempt of court.
- February 2021: The church and its elders, including Reaume, are fined $38,000 with $45,000 in legal costs.
- 2024: Reaume publishes Bible-Based Marriage through Asser Press.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Jacob Reaume from Windsor, Ontario?
No. Jacob Reaume pastors Trinity Bible Chapel in Woolwich Township, near Waterloo, Ontario. The Windsor association likely comes from confusion with Aaron Rock, pastor of Harvest Bible Church in Windsor, who faced similar COVID-era charges around the same time.
Where can I read Jacob Reaume’s blog?
Reaume writes regularly at Trinity Bible Chapel’s Pastor’s Blog, covering theology, current events, and church life. He has also cross-posted material to Substack under his own name.
Is there a Jacob Reaume Reddit discussion people talk about?
No single, well-established Reddit thread centers on Reaume specifically. Most online discussion of him traces back to news coverage of the 2020–2021 COVID court case rather than any dedicated forum thread.
What is Jacob Reaume’s book Bible-Based Marriage about?
Published in 2024 through Asser Press, the book offers biblical guidance for Christian couples, including topics like handling finances and thinking through birth control from a biblical framework, drawn from Reaume’s years of pastoral counseling experience.
Why was Jacob Reaume charged during COVID-19?
Reaume, along with several Trinity Bible Chapel elders, was charged for hosting in-person worship services that exceeded Ontario’s pandemic gathering limits and for violating a subsequent court injunction. The church was found in contempt and fined in February 2021.
What denomination is Jacob Reaume part of?
Trinity Bible Chapel holds to the 1689 London Baptist Confession, placing Reaume in the Reformed Baptist tradition, with complementarian church government and credobaptist practice.
