Lighthoue Baptist Church threw a dedication party and grand opening of its new 13,000-square-foot facility that drew hundreds of visitors on Sunday. The church, now located at 1349 Green St., Franklin Township, has grown from three families meeting in a storefront in Lehighton to a building that is large enough to accommodate 300 visitors a week.

The Rev. Marshall Wolverton welcomed everyone to the dedication service which he said was being held to recognize the many supporters of the expansion project at the church. The church recently completed an addition that doubled the size of the church. The new 13,000 square foot wing includes a gymnasium, more classrooms, a kitchen, and church offices."I appreciate everyone being here on this beautiful day," said the Rev. Wolverton. "It's a wonderful day of victory at Lighthouse Baptist Church."He said that the service was being held to thank God and the ladies and men who worked so hard to put everything together."There was a lot of hard work and dedication," he said. "We appreciate the men who not only worked long hours, which involved physical labor but the many people who invested their money, talents and time."The Rev. Wolverton said that investment of physical labor likely saved at least 50 percent of the cost of the building when it did not have to hire out people.He invited several of the more generous supporters to come forward to accept plaques which recognized them for their service they did for the Lord while building the church.Several members of Lighthouse Baptist Church were recognized with plaques including Duane Gleason, who installed 3,000 square feet of tile; Dave Sillers for doing the electrical work; Tim Dubler, who did the asphalt paving and cement work; Wayne Kleintop, owner of Blue Mountain Evergreen, who did the landscaping, shrubbery, and hydroseeding; Kip Hoffman, owner of Kip Hoffman Construction, who did miscellaneous construction work, such as building the front porch, installed siding and installed the handrails; Chet Jones, owner

C.L.S. Jones, Inc., who did miscellaneous jobs, plus installed the doors and windows and did the cement work; Walt Bell, who worked on the interior trim; Gerald Pritchard, owner of The Pritchard Company, a drywall company, who did the interior framing, drywall, and drop ceilings; and Mike Peach, owner of Mike Peach Excavating, who did excavating and electrical work and consulting.Two other men who were not members of the church were also recognized for their help, Frank Tamburri, who served as the liaison with steel company and contractor consulting; and Terry McLean, architect, who provided his services.The churches' roots go back to October of 1975, when three families desired to start a baptist church in Lehighton.The church, originally called Calvary Baptist Church, changed its name to Lighthouse Baptist Church in 1989. Calvary Baptist Church held its first service in June 1976.From those initial storefront church services, the church moved to a hold services in a little white church building on the corner of Long Run Rd. and Vine Street in Franklin Township. The last place the church met before moving to their permanent location was the grange hall on Pohopoco Drive.While the church was still meeting in these rented facilities, the congregation received a donation from the Kriss family of a three-plus acre parcel in 1979 where the church is located. The church then purchased the adjoining 18-acre parcel from the Kriss family.The original building, built in 1979-80, was a modest 30 by 60 foot building, which included an auditorium, a few classrooms, bathrooms, and a small kitchen.In 1991, the church grew to a 40 by 90 foot building that included a new auditorium upstairs, and a large fellowship hall downstairs. This building was connected to the old facility. In a prior construction project, the original auditorium was divided into more Sunday school rooms, bathrooms, and offices. In 1991, they added space for bus parking and in 2002, they paved the gravel parking lot. In 2003, they expanded the parking lot.The church has a rather large transportation ministry said the Rev. Wolverton. The buses normally seen parked at the church are heavily used by a large number of people to frequent church services.Over past several years, the momentum to grow continued, when the congregation upgraded the church by dividing the fellowship hall into classrooms. They also added carpeting, built new nurseries, added a new roof, and expanded the ladies' restroom. The latest construction began in 2008 and was only recently completed, except for the rubber flooring.The Rev. Wolverton said while once the rubber floor is in place, the building will be used for a variety of purposes, including holding gym nights, such as basketball for men and ladies volleyball.He said the church offers a small Christian school, Reformers Anonymous Classes, Bible Study at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Childrens King's Kids also at 7 p.m. Wednesday, and he also hoped to add a food bank now that there is space.