The Lighthouse Church, at 5525 W Illinois Ave in Dallas, is known for bringing English, Spanish, and Portuguese worship together within one spirit-filled church family. Its four-part vision - Love God, Grow Together, Serve Others, and Extend Our Reach - links Sunday worship and prayer with ministry for children, students, young adults, families, and seniors, along with small groups, worship and media arts, learning programs, and missions in Dallas and around the world.
Four Directions, Twelve Cultural Values
The Lighthouse is a diverse, spirit-filled family. Its first direction is love God through prayer, worship, and the Word. Growth happens through fellowship with other believers in small groups. Service takes two forms: using spiritual gifts in church ministry and sharing faith through missions. Extending the reach includes music, media, missions, and multi-campus endeavors.
The twelve cultural values
- The Bible Is Everything
- The Spirit Takes The Lead
- We Celebrate, We Don't Compete
- Beautifully Authentic
- We Say The Hard Things
- We Increase Our Circle
- Generosity Is Our Norm
- We Love Our Community
- We Lead the Hurting to Wholeness
- Action Over Comfort
- We Choose To Stick Together
- We Get To Do This
Sunday at 5525 W Illinois Avenue
At 9:30 a.m., Lighthouse Groups gather in English and Spanish. Lighthouse Prayer begins at 10:15 a.m. At 10:30, English and Spanish worship services begin together on the Dallas campus and online, and Lighthouse Kids has a separate 10:30 service. The English gathering is available through the livestream, with Facebook and YouTube options, and a sermon library is also available.
The Worship Ministry's first aim is to minister to the Lord; its second is to minister to the people. The church's singing practice includes standing and clapping, which it connects to worship passages in 2 Chronicles 20:19 and Psalm 47:1. The service also centers prayer, worship, and the Word.
English, Spanish, and Portuguese Gatherings
Spanish worship takes place at 10:30 a.m. Sunday in Hibbard Hall. The gathering includes 'Comunión, Adoración, Palabra y Comiditas,' meaning fellowship, worship, the Word, and snacks. Portuguese worship is Friday at 7 p.m. All three language streams can be viewed on Facebook and YouTube. Spanish-language Lighthouse Groups also meet Wednesday at 7 p.m. Kedney and Vivian Simao lead the Spanish and Portuguese ministries with a focus on the Hispanic community in the Oak Cliff area.
Children from Six Weeks Through Fifth Grade
Sunday and Wednesday groups
Children from six weeks through fifth grade are a central part of Lighthouse Kids. The ministry uses age-appropriate Bible lessons, worship, and activities to help each child have a personal relationship with God and be empowered by the Holy Spirit. Sunday's 9 a.m. Growth Group Bible study is for ages 4-11. At 10:30, nursery serves children six weeks to two years, preschool serves ages two to five, and the elementary class covers kindergarten through fifth grade. Wednesday at 7 p.m., nursery and preschool cover ages six weeks through five years, while Kids Club serves kindergarten through fifth grade. The ministry also has a junior Bible quiz for ages 6-11.
Secure check-in and practical care
Check-in is computerized, and every child receives a matching parent tag for entry and pickup. The children's area is secured by a safety team member throughout the Sunday service. Every adult serving there has passed a background check, no adult is permitted to be alone with a child, and parents receive a text if a child needs them.
The kids area is peanut free, and the preschool class provides a nut-free snack designed to be allergy-sensitive. Allergy or dietary information is recorded on a child's name tag, and parents are asked not to bring peanut products. Diapered children may bring a diaper bag and bottle or cup, while elementary children are encouraged to bring a Bible and journal. The team also works with families to support children with special needs.
Students and Young Adults Grow Together
Lighthouse Students serves grades 6-12. Its Wednesday gathering runs from 7 to 8:30 p.m., and students also meet in Growth Groups at 9 a.m. Sunday. Its rhythm is summarized as love, grow, serve, and reach, with the stated aim of helping young people step into their calling and discover what the Holy Spirit can do through them. Students also take part in a youth camp for grades 6-12.
Young adults ages 18-29 gather around one purpose: bringing God glory through everything they do. They share discipleship and community through a Wednesday night class, monthly services, and home groups. The college-age group meets at 7 p.m. in the Fireside Room, while the wider young adult gathering also takes place at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Lighthouse Groups and Circles of Connection
Lighthouse Groups organize connection around three formats: accountability groups, Bible groups, and connect groups. Sunday Bible groups begin at 9:30 a.m.; Wednesday Bible groups meet at 7 p.m. in seasonal six-week terms, as do connect groups. The named mix includes Men of Valor, Bible study, discipleship, young families, families with late-elementary and teenage children, single and single-again ladies, adults in their thirties and young professionals, empty nesters ages 40-50, and military veterans.
A senior adults group for people 55 and older includes a third-Sunday home group and monthly activities, while the ladies' prayer gathering meets Tuesday at 10 a.m. Connect gatherings meet around Mansfield, Cedar Hill, South Dallas, Duncanville, and Grand Prairie, with youth, family, and age-based options around the church.
Worship, Media, and Resources for Growth
The Worship Ministry expresses love to God through prayer, worship, the Word, and the creative use of music and media. It also emphasizes spiritual, relational, and musical development. Members train others in their gifts to raise up servant leaders, while songwriting, released worship albums, and social media extend the church's musical reach. The Lighthouse Worship EP includes 'Every Nation,' 'Thank You,' and 'At the Table.' Service teams include acoustic and electric guitar, brass and winds, drums and percussion, piano and keyboard, background vocalists, lighting, audio, video, camera, photography, and social media roles, plus seasonal productions.
RightNow Media is a faith-based on-demand streaming service with thousands of video teachings and Christian entertainment for children. The church also provides a spiritual gifts survey, daily confessional scriptures, resources for love, sex, and dating, a 21-day prayer and fasting program, and materials addressing Catholic, atheist and evolutionary, Muslim, Mormon, and Jehovah's Witness beliefs.
Learning Center, Recreation, and Family Life
Lighthouse Learning Center provides a preschool and extended-care program with the aim of sharing Jesus with the next generation. Its director, Sonia Cordiva, has served at The Lighthouse since 2013. Lighthouse Recreation is another family-facing ministry, directed by Kids Pastor Isabella Pereira. The church offers forms for baptisms, child dedications, ministry sign-ups, and a new-family connection, as well as Faith Promise Cards in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
The church accepts one-time or recurring online gifts, gifts through the Church Center app, text gifts, and mailed checks. Designated funds include tithes, the building, offerings, benevolence, and other purposes. Visitors may give online.
Missions in Dallas and Around the World
The Lighthouse Missions Family connects the congregation with missionary families and Christian organizations across several regions. The family includes missionary service in India, Nepal and Bhutan, the South Pacific, Jamaica, Italy, Nicaragua, Mexico, Ukraine, Vietnam, Estonia, Cuba, France, Namibia, Slovakia and Malaysia, the Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Scotland, and Cote d'Ivoire. Local and national partners include Chi Alpha at TCU, Christ For The Nations Institute, Dallas Metro, Exodus Ministries, a Family First foster care initiative, Prestonwood Pregnancy Services Southwest, Pleasant Hills Children's Home, Dallas Adult Teen Life Challenge, Wycliffe Bible Translators, and Nelson University.
Music and media also extend that reach through social media, songwriting, and released worship albums. Four kinds of outreach shape the church's wider vision: music, media, missions, and multi-campus endeavors.
Leaders and Their Ministry Focus
Pastoral and ministry leadership includes Darius and Cindy Johnston as interim pastors, Jeremy Moss as executive pastor, Romulo Pereira as youth and stewardship pastor, Isabella Pereira as kids pastor and recreation center director, Ashley Reising as connections and young adult director, Kedney and Vivian Simao as Spanish and Portuguese pastors, and Sonia Cordiva as learning center director.
- Darius and Cindy Johnston have more than 40 years in pastoral ministry and also work as coaches and consultants to churches and ministry leaders. Darius serves as regional executive presbyter with the North Texas District of the Assemblies of God.
- Jeremy Moss has served at The Lighthouse since 1999 and emphasizes discipleship, worship, media, and the arts.
- Romulo Pereira is an ordained minister through CFN-FMC and is passionate about multigenerational, multiethnic service, leadership, and stewardship.
- Isabella Pereira is an ordained minister through CFNetwork and leads children's ministry and recreation.
- Ashley Reising served seven years as an AGWM missionary in Moldova, pioneering a young adult ministry and a church plant before taking the connections and young adult role.
- Kedney and Vivian Simao earned pastoral theology degrees at Christ For The Nations Institute and are ordained ministers through CFN-FMC.
- Sonia Cordiva directs the preschool and extended-care learning center.
The Beliefs That Shape The Lighthouse
The Lighthouse holds to six core beliefs:
- The inspiration, infallibility, and authority of the Bible as the Word of God.
- One God, eternally existing in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
- Salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ.
- The baptism of the Holy Spirit, with speaking in other tongues as the initial physical sign.
- Divine healing, provided in the atonement and available to the believer through prayer.
- The blessed hope of the Rapture of the Church.
Together, these convictions shape a church known for trilingual gatherings, age-specific discipleship, secure children's ministry, expressive worship, trained worship and media teams, broad small-group options, and a shared commitment to missions. At 5525 W Illinois Ave in Dallas, The Lighthouse Church carries that identity into worship, community, family life, and service.