The Lighthouse Story
Year Thirteen
Gerry White

Praise the greatness of the Lord, who loves to see his servants do well.

Psalm 35:27 (NCV)

See the Big Picture

In 1993, God spoke to me while driving on RT 60 right in front of G & A Stone toward Milton to start a church here in Hurricane. I believe the key issue for church today is church health not church growth. When congregations are healthy, they grow the way God intends.

It is from him that all the parts of the body are cared for and held together. So it grows in the way God wants it to grow.

Col. 2:19 (NCV)

In April of 93 we met a group of people at the John Henson Center to begin a new church in Hurricane. With great enthusiasm and energy, about seventy-five people said they wanted to start a new church.

In 1981 I began training for ministry at Liberty Baptist College. I was so impressed with Dr. Jerry Falwell. He was a giant among little people in my eyes. He had a large church of over 22,000, a college of 7,000 and ministries reaching around the world. I felt like a little fish in a big pond.

As I listened to a great man of God preach, I received my calling from God to be a pastor. I promised God there I would do whatever He wanted me to do for him. I changed my major and began a new life.

The Story behind the Methods

I was taught church growth using Dr. Falwell's methodology. In my heart I wanted to build a large church just as Dr. Falwell did in Virginia and be as successful as he is. We saturated our community doing everything possible to build a large church. Unfortunately, having bigger crowds and larger offerings seemed to be the standard of measuring success. We went though a building program, adding five new parking lots, a volley ball court, lots of canvassing our neighborhoods and this place was on fire.

Please don't do this!

Don't follow the model I began with. Success is not the size of the crowd nor the amount of money people give in offerings. The truth is we've tried many things that didn't work. I was afraid of failure after being taught from a "Giant In The Faith." Today I could fill a book of stories about our failures and call it 1000 ways to NOT grow a church!

My Search for Principles

Principle #1 - Our church's foundation will determine both its size and strength.

Clarifying in the minds of everyone involved exactly why the church exists and what it is supposed to do benefits everyone.

Let there be real harmony so that there won't be splits in the church. I plead with you to be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.

1 Cor. 1:10 (Living)

In the last two years, we've maintained a warm fellowship because our members are committed to a common purpose.

  1. Lighthouse is a place where the hurting, the depressed, the frustrated, and the confused can find love, acceptance, help, hope, forgiveness, guidance, and encouragement.
  2. Sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with hundreds of residents in Putnam, Cabell and Kanawha Counties;
  3. Welcoming many members into the fellowship of our church family;
  4. Developing people to spiritual maturity through Bible studies, small groups, and seminars;
  5. Equipping every believer for a significant ministry by helping them discover the gifts and talents God gave them;
  6. Sending out hundreds of career missionaries and church workers all around the world and empowering every member for a personal life mission in the world.

The secret of our effectiveness is knowing what really counts, doing what really counts, and not worrying about the rest. A clear purpose defines what we do and what we don't do.

Any goal or idea that fulfills one of those five purposes gets approval. If a goal doesn't meet one of those five purposes we don't do it.

If your goals are good, you will be respected.

Proverbs 11:27 (TEV)

Telling people up front where Lighthouse is headed lets people join and get on board. You are able to see the destination, find meaning, purpose and direction to life.

Tell us how to proceed in setting things straight, and we will fully cooperate.

Ezra 10:4 (Living)

Explaining our purpose before people join reduces conflict and disappointment. Some people will realize they should join another church and that's OK.

  1. So, we define our purposes
  2. We communicate our purposes to everyone in the church
  3. We organize our church around those purposes
  4. And we apply the purposes to every part of our church

Jesus said the church is to be and do two things:

THE GREAT COMMANDMENT

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' [39] And 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

Matthew 22:37-39 (NIV)

THE GREAT COMMISSION

Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)

These two passages summarize everything we do at Lighthouse church. If an activity or program fulfills one of these commands, we do it. If it doesn't we don't. We are driven by the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. Together they give us the primary tasks the church is to focus on until Jesus returns. These two are the foundation of Lighthouse.

Principle #2 – Lighthouse is committed to fulfilling all five tasks that Jesus Christ ordained for his church to accomplish.

Purpose #1 – Love the Lord with all your heart
Purpose #2 – Love your neighbor as yourself
Purpose #3 – Go and make disciples
Purpose #4 – Baptize them
Purpose #5 – Teaching them to obey

We are a church on purpose to bring people to Jesus and membership in his family, develop them to Christ-like maturity, and equip them for their ministry in the church and life mission in the world, in order to magnify God's name.

At Lighthouse, we identify the results we expect to see coming from fulfilling each of the five purposes of the church. We focus on growing people with a process – people come in, we build them up, train them and send them out.

We bring them in as members, we build them up to maturity, we train them for ministry, and we send them out on mission magnifying the Lord in the process. This is our total focus at Lighthouse!

Principle #3 – Lighthouse has a process for moving people from little or no commitment to deeper levels of commitment and maturity.

This morning we have highly committed and vary mature people and uncommitted and spiritually immature people. Between these two groups are other people at various stages of spiritual growth.

Notice the Five Circles

They represent different levels of commitment ranging from very little commitment to very mature commitment.

The Community – Represents people who live in driving distance from Lighthouse that have made no commitment to Jesus Christ or this church.

The Crowd – Represents everyone who shows up on Sundays for services. These are the regular attenders and they are committed to attend a worship service every week.

The Congregation – Represents members of lighthouse who have been baptized and made a commitment to be a part of the Lighthouse family. They have committed to the purpose of fellowship and belong to a spiritual body of people.

The Committed – Represents people who are real serious about their faith, they pray, give and are dedicated to growing in discipleship.

The Core – Represents the deepest level of commitment. They are the dedicated workers and leaders who are committed to ministering to others. They lead and serve in various ministries like, Awana, Sunday school, Small group, Nursery, Deacons, Musicians plus a whole lot more. These people are the core workers which form the heart of Lighthouse.

When people get to the core, we move them back out into the community for ministry.

Jesus knew every person was at a different level or spiritual commitment. He would capture their interest and create a desire to know more gently defining more clearly the kingdom of God.

Applying the Purposes

  1. Assimilate new members on purpose – Notice again the circles, we grow the church from outside in rather than from the inside out.
  2. Program around our purposes – The five circles of commitment are the strategy for all our programming.
  3. Educate people on purpose – Notice the diagram of the baseball diamond. Each base represents a completed class and a deeper level of commitment.

    101 level classes - lead people to Christ and church membership
    201 level classes – grow people to spiritual maturity
    301 level classes – equip people with the skills they need forministry
    401 level classes – enlist people in the worldwide mission of sharingChrist

    Our ultimate goal at Lighthouse is to turn an audience into an army. Youdon't judge the strength of an army by how many soldiers sit and eat in themess hall but how they perform on the front line. Like Lighthouse outstrength is not seen in how many show up for services (the crowd), but howmany serve in the core.

  4. Start small groups on purpose – we don't force every one to conform into a "one size fits all" mentality, we allow people to choose the type of small group that best fits their needs, their interests, their stage of life, or their spiritual maturity. We don't expect each small group to fulfill every purpose, but we do require that each one must be organized around at least one purpose of the church.
  5. Add Staff on purpose – Every person is passionate about something they are self motivated about. We look for that passion and ask them to lead that ministry. A year and a half ago, God gave me a vision of 4 men joining me as pastor of this church then 1 more man God would call. John Hannah is just that man. He told me a couple months ago that God was leading him to join the pastoral staff. I was overcome with excitement, for God had completed the vision. John Hannah was ordained in 1972 in Columbus Ohio. Thirty-four years later God led Marietta and John to come to the Lighthouse and join our pastoral team. He begins today as the pastor of 201 – helping people grow to spiritual maturity.
  6. Structure, budget, calendar, and evaluate on purpose
  7. Preach on purpose – Every message is centered around explaining andapplying the Bible for life change.

In addition to being a wise man, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge; and he pondered, searched out and arranged many proverbs. [10] The Preacher sought to find delightful words and to write words of truth correctly.

[11] The words of wise men are like goads [it spurs people to action], and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails [people will remember it! Firmly embedded]; they are given by one Shepherd.

Eccles. 12:9-11 (NASB)

Our Future

Relocation to I-64

On February 07, 2006 I had a dream of our church building and grounds. I was standing outside and told a couple "go ahead and sell the property, put the whole thing up for sale." Then I saw the house I was to go up to and ask them if they had land for sale.

On February 08, 2006, I asked the lord when I was to go up to the house. I saw a man laying on a bed, so I took a nap on the couch in my family room. In about twenty minutes, I had a vision of a man standing in front of me and he held out his hand and pointed. I knew I was to go now.

I did and drove over to the house in my dream. I introduced myself to the man who came to the door. I told him "God had given me a dream of relocating our church and He showed me this house. Do you have land for sale?" The man said "yes, over by where Wal-Mart is locating over Interstate 64." I asked him "how much are you asking for the property?" He said "two million seven hundred thousand." I swallowed, and asked are "you wanting anything in trade for the property." He said "No!" So I asked him what was the least amount you would take for the property." He said "Well Wal-Mart property got more than that so I guess I'll take the listing price." I said "ok, let's see what God will do." I shook his hand and left in my vehicle.

What do we do next? We wait for God to open the next door. All the while we begin making preparations, praying, planning, and moving ahead as God leads.

Principle #4 – [everyone say together] At Lighthouse I will be asked to raise my level of commitment, develop spiritual growth habits, take Christian Life and Service Seminars, build my life on the purposes of God and the power of the Holy Spirit and expect results from God.

Ordain Pastor John Hannah – ask all the male members to join me in laying on hands.