Lighthouse Tabernacle: An Apostolic Pentecostal Church in Sulphur, Louisiana
Lighthouse Tabernacle stands on Prater Road in Sulphur, Louisiana, an Apostolic Pentecostal church whose Sunday and Wednesday services draw families from across Calcasieu Parish. Three generations of Apostolic preaching run through the Upton family, and that heritage shapes a congregation that takes seriously what it calls anointed worship, Bible-based preaching, and a Spirit-led welcome for every person who walks through the door.
A Heritage Rooted in Sulphur
The congregation's roots in Sulphur go back to the 1940s, when a small Pentecostal fellowship known as the Pentecostal Gospel Lighthouse began meeting on Bayou D'Inde Road. The church was chartered in 1954 and later took the name Lighthouse Tabernacle. Today the church patterns itself after the New Testament church described in the Book of Acts in doctrine, in worship, and in lifestyle, and allows what it calls His Spirit to reign supreme in its services. A legacy of prayer, healing, and changed lives frames the way the congregation talks about its own story.
Sunday and Wednesday Word & Worship
The week centers on two Word & Worship services. On Sunday mornings at 10:00, the main sanctuary fills with a Spirit-filled gathering that runs about 75 minutes, beginning with the worship team leading the congregation in music before the pastor or another speaker shares a Bible-based message. Wednesday evenings bring a second service at 7:00, held in the main sanctuary in a casual, relaxed setting. It is offered both in person and online. Lighthouse describes its services as high-energy, with congregational clapping, shouting, and Spirit-led prayer as a normal part of the atmosphere.
Sunday School for Every Age
On Sunday evenings at 6:00, the campus opens up for Sunday School. Classes are organized by age, grade, or stage of life and meet in different areas across the Lighthouse campus. The gathering lasts about an hour, and child care is provided for infants through two year olds. The church sees this hour as a time of Bible-based learning where the whole family can find a class suited to their season of life.
LTI Kids: From Nursery to Super Church
Children from birth through fifth grade have a place of their own at LTI Kids. The nursery, staffed and stocked with age-appropriate toys that are cleaned regularly, cares for infants and toddlers up to two during the Sunday evening service. At 6:00 on Sunday evenings, preschoolers from three to five gather for a class that mixes a Bible lesson, hands-on crafts, and Bible action songs in a small-group setting. Elementary-aged children, ages six to eleven, attend Super Church, a kids' service built around an engaging Bible lesson, games, dynamic worship, and a weekly Bible memory verse, all designed to help God's Word come alive. A kids' choir is also part of the LTI Kids rhythm. Education Director Emily Raggio oversees the children's work.
Legacy Youth: Students Making an Impact
Junior high, high school, and college students find a home in Legacy Youth, the student ministry of Lighthouse, led by Youth Director K.D. Monceaux. The ministry runs on several tracks. Weekly classes meet on Sunday evenings at 6:00, with an Early Teen class for ages 12 to 14, a Teen class for 15 to 17, and a young adult class in the sanctuary for 18 and older. Once a month, Legacy Youth gathers for IMPACT, an evening focused on Godly living and serving the local community. Monthly Hangouts offer game nights, volleyball, scavenger hunts, and other activities. Youth services put student teams in charge of singers, musicians, media, and sound, with contemporary music and applicable messages geared to their peers.
What Lighthouse Believes
Lighthouse is an Apostolic church rooted in the Oneness tradition. The congregation teaches that the Bible is the infallible and immutable Word of God, perfect in doctrine and pure in content, and confesses the Oneness of the Godhead, holding that God manifested Himself as Father in creation, as Son in redemption, and as Holy Spirit in regeneration. Salvation comes through the new birth taught in Acts 2:38: repentance, water baptism in the name of Jesus, and the infilling of the Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of speaking with tongues. Lighthouse also teaches that believers are called to a continuing life of holiness, and affirms a literal heaven as the eternal home of the redeemed and a literal hell for the unbelieving and disobedient. An Apostolic Doctrine study booklet is available to help newcomers explore these teachings.
Reach. Go. Serve. Grow.
Four words frame the church's vision. REACH into a hopeless world with a message of hope in Jesus. GO into all the world in obedience to His commandment. SERVE Jesus Christ by serving others. GROW continually in faith and help others do the same. Worship, ministry, giving, and education are the avenues through which the congregation pursues the glory of God.
Pastor Allan Upton and Family
Allan Upton has served as pastor at Lighthouse Tabernacle since 1998. He grew up in a minister's family and is a third-generation Apostolic preacher. His family moved to Sulphur in 1972, where he met and married his wife, Stella. Allan and Stella have served in ministry together since 1978. They reside in the Sulphur area and have three children, one son and two daughters along with their spouses, and six grandchildren.
Welcoming the First-Time Visitor
Lighthouse has planned for first-time guests without making the experience feel staged. Services are casual and relaxed on Wednesday nights, and the church invites anyone to come as they are, with questions, hopes, and doubts in hand. The congregation puts it this way: we are not a gathering of perfect people; we are a gathering of imperfect people who have encountered the perfect love of Christ. Nursery care is available during the Sunday evening service, a Plan Your Visit option and a prayer request form are available online. Giving is accepted through the church's online giving platform.