In 1952 the East Sligh Ave Baptist Church was founded in the Seminole Heights Community. There were many years of successful ministry at the East Sligh Ave Baptist Church which sadly came to a close in 2010. Thankfully, the desire of the few remaining members was to somehow keep a church in Seminole Heights. During the process of closing, the members decided to reach out to Pastor Kerry Nance and the Southside Baptist Church to see if they would be willing to take the property of the East Sligh Ave Baptist Church with the intent of planting another church someday. After much prayer Pastor Nance and the Southside Baptist Church accepted the offer and obtained all buildings and properties at that time.

Over the course of the next couple of years Southside invested a lot of time and money into the buildings and property. Southside also decided to change the name of the church to the Lighthouse Baptist Church. They spent a long time looking and praying for a family to come and partner with them in planting this new church. In July 2018, the Corban Butler family answered the call and moved from Ohio to Tampa to help plant the Lighthouse Baptist Church under the ministry of Southside Baptist Church. With the blessing and help of Southside and Pastor Kerry Nance, Lighthouse Baptist Church opened its doors on August 18th, 2019. Our prayer is that the Lighthouse Baptist Church will give “A New Direction For The Community” by sharing the life changing gospel of Jesus Christ. For more information on our doctrinal beliefs, please read our Doctrinal Statement.

I was blessed to grow up in a church planters home in Holmes County, OH(which is home to the world’s largest Amish population). At the age of 12 years old I realized that my sin had a penalty that needed to be paid in a place called hell. After two weeks of not being able to fall asleep because of the conviction on my life I went to my mother on October 20th, 2004 and at 10:12pm I asked Jesus to come into my heart and to save me from my sin. Just a couple years later at the age of 17 I surrendered to the call to preach on November 7th, 2010. This commitment to the Lord’s work came after two years of running from the Lord, chasing after my dreams of playing professional/college baseball. In the fall of 2011 I enrolled in Massillon Baptist College where I graduated from in 2014 with a degree in Pastoral Theology.

As a young girl I had heard the gospel many times throughout the years from extended family members. Because I was not brought up in church the Gospel never made its way to my heart. Through a rough upbringing I had went down a path at the age of 18 that led me to cry out to the God I “knew about” and say “If there is a God please show me because I can’t do this anymore”. Not long after that I ran into my grandparents who I hadn’t spoken to in a while. They were faithful members in a good Independent Baptist Church. I remembered them one night as I sat in a house where people who I didn’t really know, and who surely didn’t care about me surrounded me. I called my grandparents and asked them if they could get me something to eat because I had not eaten in a while. From there they took me into their home. They always invited me to church and one night I went. After a few times of going something just clicked with me that what I was searching for could only be found in Jesus Christ and that I was in fact lost. For the first time I realized that I knew about Jesus but never believed on Him from my heart. One Sunday after church we went back to the house and I sat on the bed and I cried out to Jesus to save me. I did not realize how vastly my life would change. Just two short months after getting saved I enrolled in the Massillon Baptist College where I graduated with a degree in Missions. I praise God for saving me and changing me and giving me the opportunity and honor of serving Him. My heart is overwhelmed with joy to serve alongside my husband and start Lighthouse Baptist Church.

Just three weeks after graduating college we were married and immediately began working in two different ministries, the Massillon Baptist College and the Sandy Valley Baptist Temple. At the Massillon Baptist College we served for two years as the college representatives traveling Monday thru Thursday going into Christian Schools, camps and churches all across the country. In the summer of 2016 they asked us to become the ladies dormitory supervisors and also teach in the college and the Christian school. At the Sandy Valley Baptist Temple we served as an intern in 2014 and in 2015 I was asked to become the assistant/youth pastor. Upon accepting the offer my pastor asked for me to be ordained which was accomplished in October of that year. In 2017 the Lord started to work in my wife and I’s hearts about the idea of planting a church. We started traveling all over the state of Ohio looking for cities that needed a church. In April of 2018, a pastor friend of mine contacted me to tell me about an assistant pastor’s position that was open with Pastor Kerry Nance and the Southside Baptist Church in Tampa, FL. I had never told anyone about our burden for church planting and we were not looking to make a move to another assistant position. But the Lord gave us peace about it and upon approval from my pastor I called Pastor Nance to inquire about the position. During my conversation with Pastor Nance he asked me what I see myself doing down the road I replied, I would love to plant a church, his response was I think I can help you out with that. He began to tell me about a church on the northside of Tampa in a community called Seminole Heights that had closed its doors in 2010 and had given the property to Southside Baptist Church. Since gaining the property Southside has invested a lot of time and money into the property. The only thing this property was lacking was a pastor. In June of 2018 my family and I made the journey to Tampa to meet Pastor Nance and to see the church property. Our hearts were immediately broken for the need in this community. After two weeks of prayer, the Lord gave us peace about partnering with the Southside Baptist Church to plant the Lighthouse Baptist Church in August of 2019.