Lighthouse Christian Fellowship
Lighthouse Christian Fellowship, a non-denominational church in Nashville.
210 Battle Rd, Antioch, TN 37013
Service Time: 10:15am Central
Lighthouse Christian Fellowship is a church in South Nashville that doesn’t hold back on it’s desire to hug you. I had the opportunity to visit the church on Sunday August 20, 2023. The short version is they like to hug people.
Let’s start outside. The parking lot has a few levels but is easy to use. There is a door to enter the church and thankfully there is a greeter, otherwise it can be a little awkward until you get inside.
Inside the Lighthouse Chrisitan Fellowship building is where the service is held. There is the usual stage, confidence monitor, and projection screens as well as a wide array of seating. I wa able to sit in the very back row against the wall and was greeted by a few people before service started.
As service started, the worship set was short. I was a bit surprised but after the worship set of fairly traditional songs, there was an extended period of announcements and event recap that I believe demonstrated the closeknit community this church strives to be, which is probably fairly well funded based on the robust attendance in the room.
Speaking of the Tithe and Offering, there was no bag passed, just an announcement and a dropoff point in the back. This seemed to be fairly convenient as the message began at this non denominational church in Nashville.
The message was a bit all over the place as far as I could try to follow but then there was an invitation to hug other people in the congregation. I’m not a hugger. The speaker then noted that other people may not be huggers then doubled down for a time of more hugging at Light House Christian Fellowship, a non denominational church in Nashville.
If you are a hugger, this group is definitely for you.
Update: I emailed Light House Christian Fellowship regarding the service. There was no reply as of blog time.
In lieu of a first-time visitor connection card I wanted to send this email. I have been doing a series of first-time church visits. I had never been to a Light House Christian Fellowship service before. I ended up walking out of service – stating to someone in the lobby why I was walking out – without any real kind of response. It was not comforting.
First Time Visitor Guest Card Sunday August 20, 2023″
I was very uncomfortable. When the preacher insisted on people hugging each other I was uncomfortable but made it through by stating I was not a hugger. When he stated he knew some people were not huggers and then doubled down I found it pretty disturbing. I had already set my boundaries with the person near me.
Boundaries. I have never in my life seen that kind of behavior. Conceding some people aren’t huggers then doing a call to action to hug people at that moment – to me that’s just flat out borderline abuse. The preacher knowingly addressed where some people are at but then called the congregation to go a second round of hugging, which wasn’t a misunderstanding.
One call to action with a misunderstanding could be understandable but then conceding you know and ordering your flock to do it anyway. That’s wrong. This kind of lack of understanding that all people are not alike (diversity) would cause me to reconsider inviting anyone to Light House Christian Fellowship.
I wouldn’t invite anyone to be honest especially people who have experienced trauma. “No” means “no” in my book. “No” should not require an explanation however it could be PTSD, never having a good touch vs. a bad touch defined, or just personal preference. As a first time guest, it should not matter which it is.
At the end of the day, this is my comment card as a first-time guest. I was deeply disturbed as a new visitor. I’ve done a few first-time church visits over the last few weeks, but this was the first time I walked out. I am not doing do-overs at this time, but I did want to fill-out the card so-to-speak and give my feedback as a first-time visitor.
Regrets,
Ron Hall
Springfield, TN
