Church Profile: Lighthouse Community Church 

Continuing our series of features which highlight churches from across our region, we find out more about Lighthouse which is aiming to be a community hub in North Norfolk. Tony Rothe reports.

Name of Church: Lighthouse Community Church
Location: 62 Cromer Road, Sheringham, NR26 8RT
Denomination:  Member of Baptist Union and part of the Pioneer movement
Leader: Ian Savory
Contact information: office@lighthousesheringham.org, phone 01263 825155
 

What is Lighthouse like during a main weekly meeting?
We gather in our modern building from 10.15am until around 11.30am every Sunday. There are generally between 100 and 150 people of all ages attending, including holidaymakers and visitors. The children and young people usually leave after about 15 minutes for their own activities, re-joining towards the end of the main service. There is also a creche.
We gather simply to praise and worship God, and there is an engaging talk. The morning is centred on Jesus, and we expect to hear from Him. The songs are generally contemporary, accompanied by our music group. 
 
What else do you have going on during the week?
Lighthouse Café, below right, is open from 10.30am to 2.30pm from Tuesday to Friday every week, serving fine teas and coffees, home-made cakes, and light lunches. Alongside the café is our Soft Play zone aimed at children under five with their parents and carers.
 
The café is also the base for Family Fridays, where local families can come and enjoy a free meal on a Friday teatime every fortnight along with a time of fun and games for the children. There is also a weekly community lunch, known as “Meet and Eat” on Thursdays offering a two-course meal for only £6, which is open to anyone who wants to just meet up with other people to enjoy lunch together. Food hampers are also given out to those in need, usually during school holidays.
 
The ThreadBear community shop is open during Café opening hours, selling pre-loved children’s clothes, toys, and equipment. This meets a very real need in the community, as well as providing funds to support our outreach efforts, and there is also a textile recycling bin for anyone to use. 
Little Ones is the Thursday morning toddler group, which is gaining in popularity, with Who Let the Dads Out? taking place once a month on a Saturday morning, which includes breakfast, and is aimed at fathers with their children.
 
Other church activities include the Kapel Tuesday worship time, Kaleidoscope social group, Table tennis, prayer meetings, youth discipleship, and we open the building to several other groups, such as choirs, Pilates, theatre rehearsals, local clubs and societies, etc to use during the week.
 
Beyond the Lighthouse building, the Sheringham Shed is located in the town centre, with separate workshops for men and women, to help combat loneliness and build community. There has been a recent Christians Against Poverty Life Skills course. Associated with the Shed is Priory Patch, a community fruit and vegetable garden in nearby Beeston Regis, where anyone can come along to help develop the plot.
 
Lighthouse plays a major role alongside other Sheringham churches in BeachLife, which provides free activities to children and young people for a week in the summer holidays and at other times. We have also partnered with the Christian charity Hope Into Action to house a homeless family in Sheringham.
 
How have you seen God at work at Lighthouse over the last year?

• We moved into our brand new building in 2013, and in 2023 the last of our loans was repaid, meaning we are now debt-free.
• Work amongst the youth is thriving, and many are coming to find God for themselves, which is a real blessing.
• There are growing numbers coming to our toddler group, and using our Soft Play facilities, which are now sometimes full to capacity, and Family Fridays is often fully subscribed. The connection with young dads is now growing with the new “Who Let the Dads Out?” group
• The work of Lighthouse in the community has been received well by the town, and the church seems to be really respected, which is a true blessing in today's world.

 
What is the main thing you would like someone who has never been to Lighthouse to know?
The Lighthouse brochure says “We are a work in progress – a family on a mission, a messy church – something just beautiful. The fragrance of Christ – the broken body made strong. We love our communities, our county of Norfolk, our nation, the whole world. We believe in the gospel of Jesus – we’re just nuts about Him! That’s us – we are His – we are Lighthouse!”
 
What are your hopes for the future of Lighthouse Community Church?
On a practical level, the church has launched a project to extend the building to expand the Soft play area – read all about that here.

Leader Ian Savory said, “We want to be Kingdom Come in our immediate community of Sheringham, Cromer, and Holt, and in the surrounding villages and beyond. We are not the only thing God is doing in this area, but we do have our hearts set to the beyond, that we might be influencers of nations, inspired by the Holy Spirit and doing Church with the servant-heart of Jesus.”
 
To find out more, visit LighthouseSheringham.org and the Lighthouse Facebook page.

Read our previous article about Lighthouse, from November 2022, here.

Do you have a news story or forthcoming event relating to Christians or a church in North Norfolk?  

If so, e-mail tony.rothe@networknorwich.co.uk with details and, if possible a suitable picture.