Our Pastor
Dr. Sterling Walsh, Jr., Pastor
Our goals are to win as many souls to Christ as we can and help them to grow in the Lord. Every ministry of Lighthouse Baptist Church has these goals in mind. Whether it is the Main Services at 10:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Sunday School where we have classes for all ages, Family of Faith Fellowship designed for married couples, Lighthouse Kids Klub and Kinder Klub for children, our Youth Ministry under the direction of Pastor Greg Miller, Wednesday evening Bible Study for adults and Master Clubs for Children, King’s Daughters Ladies Ministry; Men of Actsion, Reformers Unanimous Addictions Program on Fridays, Ambassadors’ Club Soul Winning Training, Bus Ministry, Choir, Orchestra, or VBS, our longing is to see others come to know Christ as Savior and experience victory in Jesus.
I believe that the Lord’s hand is upon this ministry and you are certainly welcome to be a part of what God is doing.
Dr. Sterling Walsh, Jr., Pastor
Biography:
My wife Janet and I were both born and raised in rural Carroll County Maryland. I was raised in Hampstead in a small country church and accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior at age 11. Later, at age 18, I was privileged to be their choir director. Janet grew up in the small town of Silver Run and received Christ soon after college. We both became music teachers and met while teaching at a local music store.
I felt the call to the ministry while a young teen, but like many, thought that God could never use me. I went on to graduate from Western Maryland College in Westminster Maryland (now McDaniel College) with a B.A. in Vocal Music Secondary Education. Janet graduated from the Peabody Conservatory of Music with a Bachelors of Music Education. Janet became a music teacher for the Carroll County School System. We were married in 1981 and once I graduated college in 1982, I also taught for the Carroll County Schools until 1988.
We joined the Church of the Open Door in Westminster Maryland in 1983, a thriving independent Baptist church pastored by Dr. Shelton Smith, who is now the editor of Sword of the Lord Ministries and Publications. During those years the Lord did many things in our hearts. Under Dr. Smith’s ministry I surrendered to the ministry myself.
In 1990, after two years on staff at the church of the Open Door and Carroll Christian Schools as a music teacher and assistant music director, Janet and I packed up our son, Sterling III (born 1986) and our daughter, Esther (one month old at the time), and headed to Hyles-Anderson College in Crown Point Indiana where I received a Bachelor of Religious Education.
We were able to return to the Church of the Open Door in 1991 where I became Assistant Pastor/Music Director. The Lord blessed us in many ways during those years. I was ordained to the Gospel Ministry by the authority and order of the Church of the Open Door, Westminster, Maryland on January 8, 1992. It was my joy to see the music ministry grow to over 100 in the choir and the orchestra to over 40 under my wife’s direction. During our years at Open Door under the ministries of Dr. Shelton Smith, who is like my father in the Lord, and later with my dear friend, Dr. Norris Belcher, we were able to gain much experience and training for the ministry as we were allowed to share in the salvation of hundreds of souls. During those years the Lord also blessed us with another daughter, Hannah (1992) and another son, Nathan (1994). We are pleased to have our children serving along side of us in the ministry.
During the last few years at Open Door, the Lord began to impress upon my wife and myself that we were to move on to see God do new things. Knowing that the ministry at Open Door would certainly move on without me (having 9 pastors and a regular attendance of 1800+) I felt the Lord would have us go to a church that had no one.
After much prayer and clear leading of the Lord, my wife, my children and I were privileged to be called to The Lighthouse Baptist Church of Greater York on September 21, 2003. We were voted in by the eleven eligible voters present that day. Since that first day of 28 in attendance, the Lord has blessed in many ways. As of June 2006, we average about 190 on Sunday mornings. More than this, the folks of Lighthouse Baptist have grown into a warm loving congregation that wants to see others come to know Christ as well.
We are excited about what the Lord is doing. He has blessed us with a good facility to house the ministry and almost 18 acres into which we can expand. He has provided wonderful people to serve here. We have been excited to see God supply so we could begin a bus ministry to bring boys and girls, men and women to hear of the Amazing Grace and saving blood of Jesus Christ.
I believe that the greatest days are yet ahead. We would love to have you be a part of what God is doing. Please come and see what the Lord can do in your life.
If you have any questions concerning the ministries of Lighthouse Baptist Church, or most of all, if you would like to know more about how to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior so that you can know for sure that you have a home in heaven, please do not hesitate to contact us by phone at 717-292-5000 or through this website by email.