“We will live lives of daily Worship, Discovering the adventure of our destinies, Unifying worlds, Stewarding our resources, and sounding light at the speed of love to Austin, TX, and to the ends of the earth!“
-Tribe of Light Christian Church Purpose Statement
Welcome to TOLCC! We are a Christian Church that is getting back to the basics of our faith. In a word, “relationships”! That’s it, we are all about people and relationships, all about establishing and nurturing a healthy community. We are continuing a “lighthouse legacy” in Austin, TX that started around 1955 when we were founded by Pastor C.E. Courtney! In the 1960s, our official name became “Trinity Chapel,” under the leadership of Pastor Melvin Ray and Rosalee Clearman. Throughout the years several pastors and added their time, talents, and treasures to the mission, including Rev. Ron and Jeannie Gratehouse for 22 years. Trinity Chapel, now embodying our mission with the name Tribe of Light Christian Church, has remained rooted in and built upon the foundation and legacy of those who have come before us, for whom WE ARE GRATFUL! Tribe of Light Christian Church (TOL or TOLCC) is led by Pastor Michael and Jennifer Lytle and a growing team of Kingdom Chasers! We are still located in the North Loop neighborhood of Austin, TX: 5201 Martin Ave to be exact. Here is a glimpse of what Tribe of Light currently looks like as well as the vision that God has given us for the next couple of decades. (P.S. – The harvest is plentiful…if you are a harvester looking for a mission to join, let’s meet and see what God has in store!)
Mission and Vission
To be a Community Center (yes, the CC stands for that too!) for total being health and healing. We are a:
✦ Missional Church (that just means we want to love our neighbors…near and far!)
✦ Counseling Center (we are also a counseling center with licensed professional and Christian counseling)
✦ Library and Prayer Garden (coming soon; two of our core values are prayer and reflection)
✦ Coffee Shop and Indoor/Outdoor Playground with Splash Pad (coming soon)
✦ City Camp, Retreat Center, and Recreational Center (for kids camps, marriage retreats, educational conferences, etc., coming soon)
✦ Christian Education Hub [Pre-K through Graduate schools] (coming soon)
TOLCC Leadership Team
Chief Executive Officer – Jesus Christ
Although it is a little funny to add Jesus to our leadership team, this is no joke! At TOLCC we want to keep the reality that Jesus is the head of the Church at the forefront of our thoughts and plans. “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church;” Colossians 1:17-18
(Photo coming soon…circa, The Second Coming ;))
Pastor – Michael and Jennifer Lytle
Michael and Jennifer Lytle have actively sought and served the Kingdom of God in various ministry roles for over 20 years. (Lytle is pronounced “light-awl or “light-ull”.)In the early years of their marriage, they were Youth Pastors for Tribe of Light Christian Church, then known as Trinity Chapel. Next, they became “apartment missionaries”, living and serving in a local Austin apartment. At that time they also continued their educations at the graduate level to become better equipped to serve the Kingdom. Most importantly, along the way, their family grew! They have four amazing children between young adult and elementary age (a few of them pictured below). Jennifer is a master of counseling and Michael is a master of theology and martial arts. You can learn more about them on their websites:
Jennifer Lytle: Joyful Journeys Counseling
Michael Lytle: Morteltyme
Doctrinal Statement – “Rooted in the Word, Led by the Spirit”
Our doctrinal statement is also one of our core values and sums up what we believe. We believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We believe that God has revealed the essence and nature of Truth and Love through the written Word, the Bible, and in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus came to earth as God in bodily form in the First Century, to make things clear for us in regards to the potential for being in a real relationship with the Creator! These events are recorded in the Bible, in the New Testament. Although Jesus died and then rose from the dead while here on earth, He is now back in heaven. When He went to heaven the Holy Spirit remained here on earth to be our Constant Contact with/to the Creator. This is why we stress the need to know what the Bible teaches (being rooted in the Word), and thereby learn to communicate with the Creator (led by the Spirit). You can read more about the Tribe of Light CC doctrines and beliefs here: What We Believe and Why…creatively written! (The more formal presentation is below).
In addition to being a part of the Christian Church…wait, what does that even mean you ask? Imagine an umbrella. That umbrella is a symbol of Jesus Christ and etched into the handle and woven into the covering of that umbrella is the tenant of our faith: Jesus is LORD. That’s the Christian umbrella. Under that umbrella are ALL the Christians of the world and the Christian organizations who believe that Jesus is God. There are three main streams of the faith under that umbrella: Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant. Tribe of Light CC is in the Protestant stream. Just as with the other streams of the Christian faith, the Protestant stream includes many denominations. Denominations are kind of like seasonings or various flavored gummy bears. The goal of Tribe of Light Christian Church is simply to be fruitful for the Kingdom of God…fruitful like a yummy gummy bear! We also love the various streams and denominations of Christ’s followers and see them as the various reflections of our Creator. Just as life would be boring with one gummy bear flavor or a single type of fruit, the Christian church would be boring and unappealing with a single stream or denomination. Although the streams and denominations don’t agree on everything, we do agree that Jesus is LORD. For that reason, Jesus is our savior and King and we are brothers and sisters in Christ. Through Christ, we celebrate our UNITY in DIVERSITY! We encourage you to come and learn more about our denominational flavor! Who knows, you might find it just right.
Tribe of Light Christian Church
“Sounding Light at the Speed of Love.”