Our History

From Mark Lashey - Pastor of LifeHouse Church:


The past fifteen years have been an amazing journey for my family and me.  


In 2002 God called us to "step out" in faith and travel all over the country with an evangelical music ministry, Calling Levi. As a result, one of the first things we considered, prayed diligently about, and were willing to do.... was RELOCATE!  


It made complete sense for us to move to Nashville, Atlanta, or maybe even Jacksonville, FL? First of all, because most of our ministry opportunities were associated with churches; one would think it would have been a wise decision to move to an area where there are more churches to partner with (the "Bible Belt.") Secondly, from a financial standpoint, it would make sense to move to a place where there is a lower cost of living. (As you probably know, the cost of living is much less, comparatively, in the South than in the North East and Delaware specifically.)  


However, despite our willingness to move, and the common sense it seemed to make, God clearly never "released" us from Delaware!!


So, through the years we've held to Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean NOT on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.


For ten years, although my family was "on the road" and often away from home, we were able to build strong relationships with our neighbors and people in our community.  And for ten years we had a strong burden for those relationships.  As a result, we diligently prayed and longed for there to be a church in our community that would minister to their communities physically, emotionally and spiritually.  not every church we encountered had this type of enthusiasm for serving, but those that did created within me the great desire to see the same where I live.


Incredibly, God is faithfully answering our prayers...and surprisingly and humbly, He is directly using US to answer them!!  God called me to be a pastor, and has led my family and others to plant a church in Townsend, DE for His glory!!



We discovered that there are almost 130,000 people living within a 15 mile radius of our home in Townsend and very few evangelical ministries to reach them with the Gospel. In addition, this area (Middletown, Odessa, Townsend, and Northern Smyrna) is expected to experience a 15% population increase by 2015. 


In October of 2010, as God's perfect plan for all of this became clearer, we felt led to start a Bible study in our home. Beyond this plan we had no ideas for the future and the building of a church body. We just took the first step. The adults met in our home and the kids met in our sister & brother-in-law's basement, two doors down. We called it LifeHouse for two reasons: First, because of our desire to share the life Christ offers with those around us; and second, on the practical side, we just so happened to be meeting in a house. John 10:10, "... I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly". 


God called me to boldly proclaim truth from His Word and first led me to start teaching through the Gospel of John. 


Initially, we sent out personal invitations hoping that someone would show up, and when they did, we wondered if they would come back when it was over! 


WELL…People DID come. That first night 15 adults from our neighborhood came. (Incredibly, most of those men and women are still a part of our church today.) In October of 2011, we grew out of the houses and moved the Tuesday Bible study to the Townsend Fire Hall. By this time, even thought we were still only officially meeting on Tuesdays, it was clear that we were becoming more than a Bible study, we were becoming a church!


We soon identified a small core team of committed believers and families who were "all-in" and who agreed to officially be the start of what became LifeHouse Church. That team consisted of the Mark Lashey Family, the Rob Leight Family, Everett and Janet Britton, The Kirby Britton Family, the Drue Matthews Family, The Dan Smith Family, Angela Capito, and Sheri Spurgeon (now married to Pastor Mike Wright of LifeHouse Smyrna.)


On February 12, 2012, LifeHouse Church had our first Sunday Church service and TOGETHER we have been growing in Christ through His Word, prayer, and fellowship....just like the early church in the book of Acts.  


In August of 2012, The Firehall could no longer meet the needs of this growing fellowship & LifeHouse Church moved to Everett Meredith Middle School. In December of 2013 the church started a second service to help with the rapid growth and for the glory of God, we have seen people saved and lives changed FOREVER!


In October of 2016 we were blessed to launch a second/sister church in Smyrna, Delaware and released and commissioned Drue Matthews, as the Lead Pastor and several families with him.

 

I am in awe, humbled, and amazed by what God is allowing us to be a part of; and believe with all my heart that it is for such a time as this, and for such a place as this, that God's perfect plan and purpose for LifeHouse Church unfold!