Pastor Lyall
MEET OUR PASTOR
LYALL BETHEL
Senior Pastor
Lyall Scott Bethel, the second of two sons born to Wilshire and Yvette Bethel, was born February 1, 1963 in Nassau, Bahamas.
Lyall received his early education at boarding schools in England, Wilton House School in Surrey in 1968–69 and Yately Manor in Sussex in 1969-71. He returned to Nassau in 1971 to begin high school at St. Andrew’s School.
At the age of 17 and after a seven-year hiatus from church, Lyall came to faith through the tireless efforts of his friend Vaughn Treco and the prayers of many. It was a tremendously decisive step taken by this former church-hating, yet moral young man who had been trusting in his own moral character for salvation. From that day, August 1, 1980 until now, he has never faltered or wavered in his commitment to serve the Lord in purity and truth.
Within three weeks of his conversion to Christ, Lyall left for college at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. While there he earned a double major in Psychology and Mass Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1984. He later returned to the Bahamas.
Then in 1987 after working as a Sales Representative at Texaco Bahamas Ltd. (1985-86) and as an Account Executive at The Counsellors Ltd. (1986-87), a local marketing firm, sensing God’s call for ministry, Lyall left to attend Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) in Deerfield, Illinois to better prepare himself for ministry.
While at Trinity, Lyall served as a member of the student council, in the office of President of the International Students. He graduated in 1991 with the Master of Divinity degree (M.Div) and was awarded the prestigious President’s Award.
As part of his field education experience he interned at Circle Urban Ministries (CUM) during 1990–91 which is an inner-city Christian ministry serving the needs of the whole man, where he served as a chaplain-at-large responsible for preaching, teaching, counselling, home and hospital visitation.
After graduating from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, he audited a summer class at Regent College in Vancouver, Canada and then returned to Chicago to continue as a chaplain at Circle Urban Ministries until he returned home to Nassau in 1992. Also during that year, he again began working full-time with The Counsellors and part-time at Grace Gospel Chapel as an associate pastor. In February 1994 he resigned from The Counsellors to work full-time at the church.
Lyall served with Campus Crusade for Christ, Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship and The Navigators during his college years 1980 – 1984. During these years he was involved in Bible studies, personal evangelism and discipleship, and scripture memory. He has been trained in Evangelism Explosion and holds a Certificate in Evangelism from Evantell and a Certificate of Completion in Counselling from The Larry Crabb Biblical Counselling Seminar.
Lyall is one of the founding members of the Youth Development Day Camp, which was an annual summer day camp back in the early 80s. He has been an AWANA leader, vice president of The Ambassadors of Grace (the church’s youth group) and organized and led a men’s discipleship study for three years.
On Sunday, February 12, 1995, Lyall was ordained to the Christian Ministry and installed as an associate pastor of Grace Gospel Chapel. He served in that capacity until January 2003 when he was installed as the second Senior Pastor, replacing retiring Senior Pastor Rex Major. He believes wholeheartedly that a return to biblical values is the only thing that can save The Bahamas from indiscipline and the moral confusion of post-modernistic thinking that denies moral absolutes.
He is a gifted preacher and teacher with a consuming passion to “present every man complete in Christ.” (Col. 1:28). He believes wholeheartedly that the Church must accept its calling as Salt and Light to the world and be actively involved in exposing evil and pushing back the forces of corruption in our societies. Hence he is often heard on local radio talk shows and TV programmes confronting society’s ills and pointing persons to the better way of Christianity.
He also teaches on occasions at some of the local High Schools, and once a year for the past 20 years, presents a devotional word to the Attorney General’s Office during the Easter Week. He has become well-known as a social reformer who deals with social issues like opposition to Gambling, same-sex marriage, the need for political reform, and immigration issues, and is often seen or heard on TV and radio, or writing letters to the papers, or debating in public forums.
Back in 1997, he and several pastors from various denominations sought to broaden the electoral process by insisting that the candidates declare their views on various social issues (answering “The 12 Questions for Candidates”), rather than hiding behind their party’s platform. The pastors maintain that this exercise has broadened the democratic process in the country.
In 2007 he served as one of the plenary speakers at CONECAR (The Congress on the Evangelization of the Caribbean) in Trinidad and as one of the main speakers at The Caribbean Alert 2016 Conference in Barbados that brought together Christian leaders from around the Caribbean to alert them to take action against the rising, global tide of secularism.
He has successfully co-led two national campaigns with a team of pastors to oppose government led referenda – the first against the deregulation of gambling houses, and the second against the misnamed “Gender Equality” bill that many believed sought to open the door to Same-sex marriage.
He can be heard every Sunday morning on ZNS 2 – 107.9 FM on the Church’s radio programme “Grace Presents.” He also hosts a TV program called “Grace Connects” that tackles social issues in an interview format with various guests.
Pastor Bethel believes the Church’s doors should always be open, and so as a community Church, its facilities are always being utilized by the Ministry of Education for training, the wider community for meetings, and the nearby high schools for spiritual emphasis weeks or graduation ceremonies. He is especially pleased to lead a Church with a 40 plus year history of sign language for the deaf members of our society, and that offers “The Grace Initiative Reading Programme” that teaches persons of all ages to read.
He has a strong passion for missions and over the years has co-led up to 20 teams of young persons on mission trips to places like Haiti, the Dominican Republic, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, St. Marteens, Nigeria and Grenada, where they have aided in building Churches, medical clinics, schools and dormitories, as well as providing evangelistic services and medical services.
He has some thirty-four (35) years’ experience in the “Deliverance Ministry” and has taught extensively on the topics of Spiritual Warfare, and The Cults. His life’s focus is to be found faithful in fulfilling God’s purpose in his generation (Acts 13:36).
His service to the community include his being a Judge with the Templeton Laws of Life competition for the last 10 years and serving as a Director with NAD (Nassau Airport Development) from 2016-2020.
During the last two years of his nine year stay in the Chicago area, he met Janell Abrams of Beresford, South Dakota who was attending the sister College to the Seminary just across the road. Their friendship blossomed into love as he recognized in her a kindred spirit, with a keen mind, and a love for the Lord and his people. They were married on October 24, 1992, in South Dakota, and the Lord has blessed their union together with two girls and two boys: daughter, Lauren Larissa (30), son, Lyall Scott II (28), a daughter, Leah Alexandra (20) and son, Logan Arlyn (18), and one granddaughter Brooklyn (10).
EARLY EDUCATION
Lyall received his early education at boarding schools in England, Wilton House School in Surrey in 1968–69 and Yately Manor in Sussex in 1969-71. He returned to Nassau in 1971 to begin high school at St. Andrew’s School.
CONVERSION
At the age of 17 and after a seven-year hiatus from church, Lyall came to faith through the tireless efforts of his friend Vaughn Treco and the prayers of many. It was a tremendously decisive step taken by this former church-hating, yet moral young man who had been trusting in his own moral character for salvation. From that day, August 1, 1980 until now, he has never faltered or wavered in his commitment to serve the Lord in purity and truth.
FUTHER EDUCATION
Within three weeks of his conversion to Christ, Lyall left for college at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. While there he earned a double major in Psychology and Mass Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1984. He later returned to the Bahamas.
Then in 1987 after working as a Sales Representative at Texaco Bahamas Ltd. (1985-86) and as an Account Executive at The Counsellors Ltd. (1986-87), a local marketing firm, sensing God’s call for ministry, Lyall left to attend Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) in Deerfield, Illinois to better prepare himself for ministry.
While at Trinity, Lyall served as a member of the student council, in the office of President of the International Students. He graduated in 1991 with the Master of Divinity degree (M.Div) and was awarded the prestigious President’s Award.
As part of his field education experience he interned at Circle Urban Ministries (CUM) during 1990–91 which is an inner-city Christian ministry serving the needs of the whole man, where he served as a chaplain-at-large responsible for preaching, teaching, counselling, home and hospital visitation.
After graduating from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, he audited a summer class at Regent College in Vancouver, Canada and then returned to Chicago to continue as a chaplain at Circle Urban Ministries until he returned home to Nassau in 1992. Also during that year, he again began working full-time with The Counsellors and part-time at Grace Gospel Chapel as an associate pastor. In February 1994 he resigned from The Counsellors to work full-time at the church.
CHRISTIAN MINISTRY EXPERIENCE
Lyall served with Campus Crusade for Christ, Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship and The Navigators during his college years 1980 – 1984. During these years he was involved in Bible studies, personal evangelism and discipleship, and scripture memory. He has been trained in Evangelism Explosion and holds a Certificate in Evangelism from Evantell and a Certificate of Completion in Counselling from The Larry Crabb Biblical Counselling Seminar.
CHURCH INVOLVEMENT
Lyall is one of the founding members of the Youth Development Day Camp, which was an annual summer day camp back in the early 80s. He has been an AWANA leader, vice president of The Ambassadors of Grace (the church’s youth group) and organized and led a men’s discipleship study for three years.
CALL TO MINISTRY
On Sunday, February 12, 1995, Lyall was ordained to the Christian Ministry and installed as an associate pastor of Grace Gospel Chapel. He served in that capacity until January 2003 when he was installed as the second Senior Pastor, replacing retiring Senior Pastor Rex Major. He believes wholeheartedly that a return to biblical values is the only thing that can save The Bahamas from indiscipline and the moral confusion of post-modernistic thinking that denies moral absolutes.
He is a gifted preacher and teacher with a consuming passion to “present every man complete in Christ.” (Col. 1:28). He believes wholeheartedly that the Church must accept its calling as Salt and Light to the world and be actively involved in exposing evil and pushing back the forces of corruption in our societies. Hence he is often heard on local radio talk shows and TV programmes confronting society’s ills and pointing persons to the better way of Christianity.
He also teaches on occasions at some of the local High Schools, and once a year for the past 20 years, presents a devotional word to the Attorney General’s Office during the Easter Week. He has become well-known as a social reformer who deals with social issues like opposition to Gambling, same-sex marriage, the need for political reform, and immigration issues, and is often seen or heard on TV and radio, or writing letters to the papers, or debating in public forums.
Back in 1997, he and several pastors from various denominations sought to broaden the electoral process by insisting that the candidates declare their views on various social issues (answering “The 12 Questions for Candidates”), rather than hiding behind their party’s platform. The pastors maintain that this exercise has broadened the democratic process in the country.
In 2007 he served as one of the plenary speakers at CONECAR (The Congress on the Evangelization of the Caribbean) in Trinidad and as one of the main speakers at The Caribbean Alert 2016 Conference in Barbados that brought together Christian leaders from around the Caribbean to alert them to take action against the rising, global tide of secularism.
He has successfully co-led two national campaigns with a team of pastors to oppose government led referenda – the first against the deregulation of gambling houses, and the second against the misnamed “Gender Equality” bill that many believed sought to open the door to Same-sex marriage.
He can be heard every Sunday morning on ZNS 2 – 107.9 FM on the Church’s radio programme “Grace Presents.” He also hosts a TV program called “Grace Connects” that tackles social issues in an interview format with various guests.
Pastor Bethel believes the Church’s doors should always be open, and so as a community Church, its facilities are always being utilized by the Ministry of Education for training, the wider community for meetings, and the nearby high schools for spiritual emphasis weeks or graduation ceremonies. He is especially pleased to lead a Church with a 40 plus year history of sign language for the deaf members of our society, and that offers “The Grace Initiative Reading Programme” that teaches persons of all ages to read.
He has a strong passion for missions and over the years has co-led up to 20 teams of young persons on mission trips to places like Haiti, the Dominican Republic, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, St. Marteens, Nigeria and Grenada, where they have aided in building Churches, medical clinics, schools and dormitories, as well as providing evangelistic services and medical services.
He has some thirty-four (35) years’ experience in the “Deliverance Ministry” and has taught extensively on the topics of Spiritual Warfare, and The Cults. His life’s focus is to be found faithful in fulfilling God’s purpose in his generation (Acts 13:36).
His service to the community include his being a Judge with the Templeton Laws of Life competition for the last 10 years and serving as a Director with NAD (Nassau Airport Development) from 2016-2020.
FAMILY
During the last two years of his nine year stay in the Chicago area, he met Janell Abrams of Beresford, South Dakota who was attending the sister College to the Seminary just across the road. Their friendship blossomed into love as he recognized in her a kindred spirit, with a keen mind, and a love for the Lord and his people. They were married on October 24, 1992, in South Dakota, and the Lord has blessed their union together with two girls and two boys: daughter, Lauren Larissa (30), son, Lyall Scott II (28), a daughter, Leah Alexandra (20) and son, Logan Arlyn (18), and one granddaughter Brooklyn (10).