Dr. R. J. Lightsey was born in Albany, GA and grew up in the outskirts of Pittsburgh, PA. In addition to his twenty-three years in ministry, Dr. Lightsey has also spent 30 years in the business marketing and consulting field, in the profit and non-profit sectors. He has done management, marketing, training, special projects, and consulting work for LTV Steel Corporation, Equitable Life Assurance, Volkswagen, Metropolitan Life Insurance, Computer Science Corporation, Family Time Ministries, among others. Since 1990, he has been President and CEO of Higher Ground Marketing Group, a company that promotes and markets online education for entrepreneurs. From 2001 through February of 2008, he served as Director of Community Outreach and then as Director of Constituent Services for U. S. Congressman Mike Ross, Fourth Congressional District, Arkansas. Dr. Lightsey graduated from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 1975 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. He received a diploma in Supervisory Management from LaSalle Extension University in Chicago, Illinois and is also a graduate of the South Jersey Professional School of Business in Marlton, NJ. He earned a Master of Divinity degree and a Doctor of Divinity degree from Christian Bible College and Seminary in Independence, Missouri. Dr. Lightsey is the author of “Living in Praise,” published by Vantage Press. In 1989 he received the Outstanding Young Man in America Award for outstanding professional achievement, superior leadership ability and exceptional service to the community. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Salvation Army ,the Jefferson County Retired Senior Volunteer Program, and the Southeast Arkansas Character Council. He is a member of the Pine Bluff Entrepreneurship Collaborative (PBEC) and a Lifetime member of the Pine Bluff (Arkansas) Branch of the NAACP. He has written grants and has appeared before numerous civic and professional organizations. Dr. Lightsey is the founder and senior pastor of Jubilee Christian Center in Pine Bluff, Arkansas where he and his wife, Rev. Sharen K. Lightsey (Co-pastor) also own an accounting firm, Numbers 2 Numbers, Inc. They have two adult sons, Jay, residing in Willingboro, NJ and Jerius, residing in Pine Bluff, AR.
