OUR PASTORS AND CHURCH

Pastors James and Barbel Prior are 1983 graduates of Zion Bible Institute in East Providence, Rhode Island. They attended Barrington College and later received their Bachelor of Science in Theology from International Bible Institute and Seminary in Plymouth, Florida. From June, 1983 until September, 1988, they were the Youth Ministers at Community Chapel World Outreach of Cranston, RI. While there, they were trained in all areas of the ministry.

This church ministry was established on September 18, 1988. The first meetings were held in the Cumberland Grange Hall, until God opened the door for us to make the Lippitt Estate Clubhouse our home. By 1994, we needed more classroom space and started looking for a larger facility. On June 25, 1995, after months of preparation, we dedicated the building at 22 Clark Street. This is where we began our Lighthouse Community Outreach Ministry with the opening of the Lighthouse Emergency Food Pantry at 30 Meeting Street in Cumberland. In August 2007, an opportunity arose for us to move the church to a more modern facility at 322 Eddie Dowling Highway, North Smithfield, RI, on Route 146A, just past the traffic light at the entrance to the Dowling Village Super WalMart Store in North Smithfield. The Lighthouse Food Pantry is still at the Cumberland address. We are a family-oriented, non-denominational, Christian charismatic church.

We believe the family to be very important (and often neglected due to lack of knowledge and understanding as to the great significance of the family nucleus). Our teaching and activities are directed toward the building, nurturing and strengthening of the family structure, be it a single-parent or two-parent family. We have many children's classes and exciting "fun" fellowships. The Bible tells us to "train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it" and we feel a strong responsibility to fulfill this word. We also feel that it is important to do our best to meet the needs of the community as we are able. We believe in the power of prayer and have experienced God's healing and delivering power in our lives. We strive to do His will as He has declared in his word (the Holy Bible).