'Breathe Life Into This Community': NE Church Reaches Settlement to Build New Worship Facility

A small-town Nebraska church is celebrating its victory after a lengthy court battle over expanding its building.

First Liberty Institute announced that a settlement was reached last week with the Village of Walthill that will allow Light of the World Gospel Ministries to build a new facility for worship and ministry use.

The church purchased several buildings across the street from its current meeting place on Main Street with the hope of tearing down the deteriorating structures and building a new church to better serve the community.  

Government officials continued to deny the congregation's building and use permits, leading the church to file a lawsuit in 2018. In 2020, the U.S Department of Justice filed a separate lawsuit against the Village.

"Light of the World Gospel Ministries is thrilled that it can now minister more effectively to the area and help revitalize the community," said Roger Byron, Senior Counsel for First Liberty Institute. "Light of the World will transform dilapidated and undeveloped property into a new space to serve all village residents.  We are grateful to the U.S. Department of Justice for its help in this matter, and we are grateful to Village officials for reaching this settlement."

Light of the World is a non-denominational church of 100 people, many of them are young adults. As the congregation continued to grow, church leaders became focused on increasing its space so it could fully minister to the needs of children, teenagers, and its older congregants.

"We are grateful that we can now bring the light and love of Jesus to our community and help revitalize our town," said Paul Malcomson, Light of the World's pastor. "We just want to live in peace, worship, and serve our neighbors."

Malcomson continued, "What we're trying to do is breathe life into this community both spiritually and economically. Our heart is not to fight the politicians; our heart is to work with the politicians and with them to see this community turned around."

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