Christian Peterson
Reporter@riverbendnews.org
Earl Green is a chart-topping musician, in fact, he is a multiple time chart topping musician. However, his greatest work is much humbler. Green is the pastor of Lighthouse Christian Center in Mayo and has become an integral part of the church and the community.
Green was born June 7, 1959, to two loving parents, his father was a pastor. He grew up in Lake City, Fla. for most of his life. Near the end of his primary education, his family moved to Live Oak where he graduated from Suwannee High School in 1977. The church he grew up in was Watertown Congregational Holiness Church in Lake City. It was there that he found his first love, music. Green’s church was full of talented and professional musicians who were constantly amazing him. One day, Windy Johnson and the Messengers came to visit the church and Green saw his future before him. During the car ride home that night, Green told his father that he was going to be a musician when he grew up.
In November of 1975, when the Green family moved to their next church, Suwannee River Community Church in Live Oak, he accepted Jesus. After graduating, Green began exploring career options, he attended the Suwannee VoTech receiving certification in advanced forest technology. He eventually formed his first quartet, the Singing Reps, they toured performing for everyone and spreading the good news. However, his most recent band, the Mercy Mountain Boys, is one of his most impressive feats. They had a number one song in 2018 titled, “Come on back.” Green toured for a total of 40 years; and during this time, he released 16 albums had seven top 40 songs and even opened for Charlie Daniels. Throughout all this he never forgot to care for others and show Christ’s love wherever he went. The Mercy Mountain Boys’ main mission was to help Veterans, especially homeless Veterans.
Green pastored at Christ Central in Mclenny, Fla. and had a missions work called Mercy’s well in Lake City. However, in September of 2020, Lighthouse Christian Center in Mayo asked Green to come preach for them. He told them that he was not interested in being the pastor of the church, but God had different plans. He felt inspired after serving as the interim pastor and by January 2021, Green became the official pastor of Lighthouse Christian Center.
Green’s favorite verse is John 3:16, “for God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son, that whosever believes him shall not perish but have eternal life.” His favorite book of the Bible is James. He has been married to his wife, Wanda, for 29 years and they have two children, his son Travis Green and stepson Michael Housch. On top of that they adopted Green’s 10-year old granddaughter Sammi, who they love very much. When asked to sum up his experience in one sentence, Green said, “it’s the feeling of being a servant to those searching.”
Lighthouse Christian Center is located at 772 Fl-51 in Mayo and meets every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. They also meet on Wednesday nights, adults meet at 7 p.m. for a bible study and prayer. The youth meet at 6 p.m. for the Army of Fire and the children meet at 7 p.m. for their Kids of the King program. Lighthouse Christian Center also has a school called Lighthouse Christian Academy with almost 200 students. “We don’t care who you are, where you’ve been, what you’ve done or what your reputation is, come on down,” Green stated.