“Out from the ashes, hope will arise” is a lyric from the song “Raise a Hallelujah” by Bethel Music. It is also the motto for Lighthouse Church after the church building burned down on February 3, 2022.
After struggling to find a new building, Lighthouse Church found a new home in one of the oldest churches in Bradley County, Ebenezer Baptist Church located at 113 Bradley 7 Road South. The church building was built in 1904, and with several add-ons to it through the years, has continued to remain. The church got their insurance settlement last December and First State Bank gave them the interest on the money to help pay for the church building.
Lighthouse Church is also in the process of constructing a new church building where the old Lighthouse Church building was that burned down. The new building will be 11,500 square feet compared to the old building which was 20,000 square feet. There will be three buildings; a main building and two smaller buildings for the church offices. The plan is for it to be completed in about a year and a half.
Lighthouse Church Pastor Vernon Colvin told The Eagle Democrat he hoped to have the new facility be a multi-purpose facility like New Life Assembly of God in Monticello. He wanted it to have a more modern feel.
It was not an easy road to get to the building they’re at now.
After the church burned down, the congregation moved into a building in downtown Warren.
“When we moved downtown, we thought that was a great location being downtown, and the church invested close to $10,000 in that building as far as renovations, repainting, pressure washing, roof repair, window repair, and a lot of facility work that we did in there. We were getting ready to build a classroom before the city condemned the buildings.”
Attendance also began to grow when the church was downtown.
After the buildings’ condemnation, Pastor Colvin asked Warren Mayor Gregg Reep and people in town for help in finding a new facility to no luck.
It was hard to find a new building. Pastor Colvin said they only had one offer to purchase a church building for $199,000 but he said he didn’t want to make a purchase for that price.
The city of Wilmar offered the church to meet there at the old high school building that was turned into a community building. Pastor Colvin said it was good, but it wore them out because they had to set up and take down their stuff each time because it was used by the community.
The Baptist Association contacted Lighthouse Church about the vacant Ebenezer Baptist Church building. There were discussions whether to rent it, sell it, or buy it. After months of negotiation, Lighthouse Church purchased the building. Pastor Colvin said when the congregation voted on it, there were 100 percent votes for purchasing it. The church parking lot is shared and the cemetery is owned by Ebenezer Cemetery Association. The congregation began to meet at the church in late April.
Since they moved to the church, attendance has grown about 20 percent. Pastor Colvin said they had not advertised it because they are still working on the buildings. He said word of mouth has helped them grow.
“We’re enjoying our time here and what God has seemingly opened the door for us,” said Pastor Colvin. “It just feels very comfortable. It felt good. It feels like you’re in a good country church.”
With all the changes the church has gone through, Pastor Colvin commented it made him rely on the fact that God is still faithful.
His personal Bible verse is from Proverbs 3:5-6 which states, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path.”
“Even though I can’t make sense of a church burning, the thing that happened to the building downtown, it still doesn’t make sense to me, it feels like a great loss,” said Pastor Colvin. “But throughout all those losses it seems like God is still directing and ordering our paths, even going to Wilmar, even coming to Ebenezer Church.”
The word Ebenezer comes from the Bible and means “stone of help”.
“For us, it’s a little like God’s message to us that this little church is going to be a help for us to get to the next place in process,” said Pastor Colvin. “As we keep our hope in Jesus and we found that even when things don’t make sense, we still trust in Him and He’s been faithful to direct our steps. That’s what I’m learning even through everything in life, you still have to learn to trust Him. It might not be easier, but His faithfulness is still very evident in our lives.”
The church is in the process of renovating some of the rooms and doing various projects, but Pastor Colvin commented the building was still in good condition.
On Sundays, Lighthouse Church has Sunday School at 9:30 a.m. and church service at 10:30 a.m. On Wednesdays, the church serves a meal at 6:15 p.m. and service at 7 p.m.
