Lighthouse Bible Church started as a dream back in the mid-1980s when a group of students at UCLA started to dream about planting a church that would minister to the spiritual needs of second generation Korean-Americans. While there were numerous parachurch ministries on college campuses, there were very few churches that understood and ministered to the unique issues facing second generation Korean Americans.
In 1996, Pastor John Kim, who was pastoring in Maryland at the time, prayed along with his wife Angela about planting a church in San Diego. A number of people were consulted to pray for this vision of planting a church, including several families that would have an instrumental role in the starting and developing of Lighthouse.
Various circumstances caused this vision to be put on hold, but in the spring of 1998, it was renewed as several families started to meet together for prayer and planning of a church plant in San Diego. Over Mexican food every Wednesday night, these families prayed and fellowshipped as they started the humble beginnings of Lighthouse.
July 15, 1998 saw the first Bible study begin at the home of Peter and Jinny Lim where fifteen people came together to study the gospel message. Our first Sunday service was on December 6 where we met upstairs at what was then Faith United Methodist Church. The official inaugural service took place on May 2, 1999 as Pastor Chris Mueller spoke to usher in Lighthouse Bible Church officially into the community.
Since our modest beginning of around 30 people that first year, our church has grown tremendously as God has blessed us with many people from all over San Diego. From the military, to people moving to San Diego from out of town, to collegians at UCSD, there are many backgrounds represented at LBC. God has also brought people from various ethnic backgrounds to bring a greater diversity to what was originally a predominant Korean-American congregation. While we still see great opportunities to minister to the needs of second generation Korean-Americans, we see that God is also allowing us to reach out to everyone who needs to hear the good news of the gospel and grow in their faith.
As we are committed to upholding a high view of God and His Word in all that we do, it is our great hope that God`s faithfulness would continue to show grace to us as a church body in standing true to God`s character and truth without apology or compromise. We have seen so many lives changed, especially those who had thought they were Christians but realized it was nothing more than just a name. We look forward to the years ahead as we seek to be faithful to God and His Word.