PASTORAL TRANSITION

ABOUT OUR CHURCH:

Lighthouse Baptist Church was founded in 1976 as Calvary Baptist Church of Lehighton.  Our church was one of several congregations that Calvary Baptist Church of Lansdale helped to plant around this time.  The church initially met in local rented locations, and within several years built the first part of our current church on Green Sreet in Lehighton.  Today, God has blessed us with beautiful facilities that are very adequate for our church - a larger auditorium was built in 1991, and a 2008 addition added a gymnasium, offices, and classroom space.

The church had its ups and downs over the years, at one point even splitting into two congregations before merging again and renaming to Lighthouse Baptist Church. Pastor Wolverton accepted the pastorate of Lighthouse Baptist Church in 2001, and he has pastored here for 25 years.  He has led our people with a servant’s heart, and has guided us as we have transitioned from a very legalistic mindset to being a grace-focused, Gospel-centered congregation.

Our ministries have also evolved over the years.  A small Christian school was operated for a number of years, but closed in 2015. A bus ministry was also in operation for many years, but dwindled and ended in 2020 during the Covid-19 shutdown.  Today, we are blessed to have a vibrant children’s ministry, and some of our largest outreaches are Vacation Bible School and an annual Fall Festival.  The Fall Festival is a public event, open to our community, that has brought more than 1100 people to our property.  This leads to opportunities to connect with our community, help them feel comfortable at our church, and to share the Gospel.  God has used these outreaches to bring us a number of new attenders and members. Other ministries include: Benevolence, decorations, special meals, coffee shop, janitorial, buildings and grounds, ushers, safety & security.

BELIEFS:

The following paragraphs simply summarize what we believe as a church family.

We believe the Bible and teach it to be perfectly true. Every belief and teaching of Lighthouse Baptist flows from God’s Word. For a more detailed account and description of our doctrine, feel free to request a doctrinal statement from the church office.

The Bible

We believe the Bible to be the revealed Word of God, fully and verbally inspired of God. We believe the Scriptures to be the inerrant, infallible Word of God, as found within the 66 books from Genesis to Revelation. We believe God not only inspired every word, but has preserved them through the ages (Psalm 12:6-7; II Timothy 3:15-17; I Peter 1:23-25; II Peter 1:19-21).

God

We believe in one God, who is eternal, self-existent, infinite, and immutable. We believe He has one nature, one essence, and one substance, yet manifests Himself to man in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Deuteronomy 6:4; I Timothy 1:17; James 1:17; I John 4:4).

Son

We believe Jesus Christ to be the one and only Savior of mankind. We believe Jesus Christ to be eternally God and to possess all the attributes of Deity. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was virgin born, that He was God incarnate, and that the purposes of the incarnation were to reveal God, to redeem men, and to rule over God's kingdom. We believe Jesus Christ never relinquished any attributes of His Deity, but merely veiled them. We believe He lived a perfect, sinless life, at the end of which He was offered for all mankind as a substitutionary sacrifice for man's sin. This sacrifice was a just payment to God for the forgiveness of sin. It was activated by His death through the shedding of His blood on the cross and was accepted by God upon His resurrection. We believe He ascended into Heaven after His resurrection to be seated at the right hand of the Father, waiting for the time of receiving His church at the rapture, and returning seven years later to earth to rule and reign as King for 1,000 years (Psalm 2:7-9; Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, 43:11; Micah 5:2; Matthew 1:25; Luke 1:26-35; John 1:1, 1:3, 14, 18, 29; Romans 3:19-25; Romans 5:6-15; Philippians 2:5-11; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Timothy 2:5; I Timothy 3:16; Titus 2:10-15; Hebrews 7:26, 9:24-28; I Peter 1:19, 2:2; I John 1:3; Revelation 20:1-6).

The Holy Spirit

We believe the Holy Spirit of God is a person who has personality and all the attributes of Deity. We believe the Holy Spirit has always been involved in the affairs of mankind. However, we believe He has a special ministry which began at Pentecost and will continue until the rapture. This ministry includes convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. The Holy Spirit was also sent to regenerate, sanctify, seal, and fill all who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ (John 3:5-6; John 14:16; Acts 1:5; Acts 11:15; I Corinthians 3:16; I Corinthians 6:19-20; I Corinthians 12:13).

Sin and Salvation

We believe all men were born with an inherited sin nature received from our common ancestor, Adam. We believe that because of his nature, man is a sinner by choice, and he is totally incapable of reforming himself or ceasing from his sin by his own power. We believe the only hope of deliverance for man is a total change of mind concerning his sinful condition and inability to change it, and a turning to Jesus Christ as the only Savior. We believe that only through the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ on the cross can a man be delivered from his sin. We believe that all those who reject Jesus Christ as their Savior are already condemned to an eternity in the lake of fire (Genesis 5:1-5; Acts 4:19; Acts 16:31; Romans 3:10-23; Romans 5:6-12; Romans 6:23; Romans 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-6; Revelation 20:11-14).

The New Testament Church

We believe the church began with the calling out of the twelve apostles by Jesus Christ and was empowered on the day of Pentecost. We believe the local church is God's only institution to carry out His work today. We believe the local church is composed of members who have been saved and baptized according to the command of Christ, and have voluntarily united together for the purposes of worship, fellowship, service, and the Lord's Table. We believe all true believers will be taken up at the rapture, just prior to the tribulation (Matthew 16:16-18; Acts 1:15; Acts 2:41-43; Acts 11:15; Acts 20:28; I Corinthians 15: 51-58; Ephesians 1:12-14; Ephesians 5:25-30; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Timothy 3:4-15).

The Last Days

We believe in the literal interpretation of the Scriptures in their grammatical and historical context. We believe in the pre-tribulational rapture of the church saints, followed by the seven-year tribulation. We believe in the pre-millennial return of Christ to the earth and His literal rule of one thousand years. Following this one thousand years is the Great White Throne judgment and then the new heaven and new earth (I Corinthians 15:51-58; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Thessalonians 5:1-9; Revelation 19-22).

About our area:

Lehighton is a borough located along the Lehigh River in Carbon County, Pennsylvania. It serves as the most densely populated municipality and commercial hub in Carbon County. Total Population: Approximately 5,230 to 5,270 residents. There are 3 townships that makeup greater Lehighton.

We have church member from 4 counties.

Top Employment Sectors: Healthcare & Social Assistance, Manufacturing, and Retail Trade.

Church Constitution: To obtain a copy of our church Constitution, please reach out to the Pulpit Committee.  They will be happy to provide the document and answer any related questions you may have.

Email address to contact [email protected] 

Pulpit Committee Members: Ryan Berry, Darrell Bolton, Nathan Foeller, Jon Hittner and Bill Richards