Beliefs
The Bible | We believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God
The Trinity | Father, Son and Holy Spirit and these three are one God.
The Church | We believe the church is not a building but a people that love Jesus
The Savior | We believe Jesus came to save us by forgiving us of the things we have done wrong (sin) when we choose to follow Him.
The Healer | We believe Jesus is the Healer
The Baptizer | We believe Jesus is the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit. We believe the Holy Spirit enables the believer in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
The Coming King | We believe Jesus will return.
The Future State | We believe by God's grace all who have faith in Jesus have an eternal home in heaven.
History of the Lighthouse
Lighthouse Church was started in a small Californian town called Mammoth in 1998 by Dave & Stevie Nelson (left photo below), being a mountain town with relaxed and relevant services the church was popular with young people, especially those involved in board sports and grew quickly.
Wanaka Lighthouse was the first international church to be planted out of the Mammoth Home Church, it was started in 2005 by Dave & Stevies daughter Natalie Nelson (centre photo, with Jamie), some early members are still here today - special mention to Jay and Trudie Millar (right photo) who you can see here in this photo with baby Saffron who is now 18 years old and drums in the music team! Other early members are Amy and Mikey Northcott, both couples are still on our leadership team today.
Natalie led the church and ran it in various venues around the town until 2011 when she returned to the States to marry her fiancee Jamie McLeod. Natalie and Jamie are now the pastors of the Lighthouse Church in Mammoth USA.
OUR VISION: BELONG, BELIEVE, BECOME
As both Mammoth and Wanaka are mountain towns that attract people from all over the globe the Lighthouse very naturally became a global movement as those that visited to work or play and attended the churches in winter took the Lighthouse ideals (believe, belong, become, relaxed and relevant church) back to their homes.
There have been Lighthouse Churches or home groups running in Scotland, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and France, usually in mountain towns similar to Wanaka and Mammoth. We currently have bi-monthly Global calls which anyone is welcome to tune into and people from all these countries plus more regularly join in as part of the Lighthouse Global family. There are also annual Global Lighthouse Family gatherings.
After 2011 the church was run by various people and went through different seasons as leaders came and went.
Latest Leaders
Josh and Jaz Robbins came along in the winter of 2022 and in 2023 took a more active leadership role. They have been senior leaders in both Christchurch and Rotorua churches for over 20 years and also helped set up Snowboarders for Christ in NZ back in the early 2000’s so have many links with Global Lighthouse members. In 2023 they ran a 12 week winter series of church services which was really successful and had great feedback so in 2024 Wanaka Lighthouse church went back into full swing growing rapidly. Josh and Jaz volunteer their time and continue to lead the church, alongside a great leadership team.
Latest Leaders
In 2024, The Lighthouse Wanaka employed a part time assistant Pastor - Theo Greenwood. Theo has a Theology degree and considerable experience pastoring. He has a great teaching gift and also sings and plays in our church band.
Our Team
Here is just some of the team. We are committed to creating a church that is relevant; inclusive; creative; generous, fun; grace filled; non judgmental; relaxed; and inspiring.
(From the Left) Theo Greenwood, Mike Northcott, Peter Ward, Jaz & Josh Robbins; Reuben Ward, Amy Northcott, Trudie and Jay Millar