Lighthouse Evangelism

A night view of Lighthouse Evangelism Woodlands

Lighthouse Evangelism (Chinese: 灯塔教会) is a megachurch in Singapore. It is a non-denominational Church, which means it is often identified as being an Evangelical-Protestant church and its doctrines resemble Charismatic and Pentecostal teachings.

Lighthouse Evangelism was founded on April 16, 1978. Pastor Rony Tan, with 8 other members commissioned by Jubilee Presbyterian Church conducted their first service at Chip Bee Centre. 24 people were present, most of them came as a result of the nine pioneers' door-to-door evangelism.

The church is headed by Senior Pastor Rony Tan, also the founder of the church. It has two church buildings, also known as healing centres. One is in Tampines and the other is in Woodlands. Lighthouse Evangelism Tampines (LET) was completed in 1992 and the first Sunday Service was conducted on August 9, 1992. At that time, the strength of the church was 700. LET could accommodate approximately 2,000 people in total.

On August 9, 2003, Lighthouse Evangelism Woodlands (LEW) was opened and its inaugural service held. LEW was constructed to accommodate the church's growing congregation as by then, some people had to be turned away from the Sunday morning services in LET despite the fact that additional chairs were laid. The new LEW healing centre cost US$21 million (SGD 35 million) and it could accommodate approximately 4,000 people in total.

In 2005, Lighthouse Evangelism's combined weekly attendance hit the 10,000 mark and as of August 2007, the church had a combined weekly attendance of 12,000. As of 2011, Lighthouse has an average service attendance of 15,000.

Mission Statement

To fulfill the Great Commission of saving souls and making disciples by following the Lord's way of imparting divine life, love, power, healing, miracles, signs and wonders upon the needy and afflicted.

Vision

- To be faithful and effective as a healing centre.

- To bring their nation under God's loving, healing and protective care.

- To impact the nations of the world for Christ.

Objectives

1. To mobilize and integrate their members (also known as Lighters) into a cohesive and formidable army of Christ for the defeat of Satan and the glory of God in our nation.

2. To teach, train and equip Lighters to become:

- powerful prayer warriors

- anointed ministers

- effective witnesses

- committed disciplers

Core Beliefs

1. The Bible is God's infallible Word for us to live by. It is God's Written Word that expresses His will and purpose for our lives.

2. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only way to the Heavenly Father and eternal life. God's Living Word shows us the perfect example of a holy, loving and powerful life.

3. The Virgin Birth, the Incarnation, the Sacrificial Death on the Cross, the Resurrection of Christ from the dead and the Ascension to the Father are all actual events.

4. The finished works of Christ at Calvary bring us salvation, healing, deliverance, victory, success, blessings, the fruit and gifts of the Spirit.

5. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ lives in us.

6. The Second Coming of Christ is nigh. We are to redeem the time by being and doing our very best with God's help and for His glory.

7. The final and complete victory over Satan, sin, sorrow and death is ours.

8. Meanwhile, we are to believe and trust Christ for the best, the highest, the grandest and the greatest. We can fulfill God's will for our lives, both individually and corporately by His grace and power.

Miracle Service

Miracle service is held every Saturday at 7.00 pm

Controversies

Pastor Tan's Videos

On February 8, 2010, Senior Pastor Rony Tan was called up by the Internal Security Department over video clips posted on the church's website. The video clips showed interviews with two church members who were ex-Buddhists and Pastor Rony Tan's comments in the video clips (including suggestions that Buddhism and Taoism were satanic) were deemed 'highly inappropriate and unacceptable' by the Ministry of Home Affairs as they "trivialised and insulted the beliefs of Buddhists and Taoists". The video clips have been taken down from the church's website and an apology has been issued by Pastor Rony Tan.

External links

• http://www.lighthouse.org.sg Lighthouse Evangelism
• http://ronytan.com/index.asp ronytan.com
• http://www.lighthouse.org.sg/miracle-testimonies.asp Miracle Testimonies
• http://sg.christianpost.com/dbase/church/2424//1.htm 27 Jan 2010 Hundreds Report Healing, Restoration Through Lighthouse Evangelism