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About Us

Rev. Dr. R.J. Lightsey

BA English, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania

M. Div., D. Div., Christian Bible College and Seminary

We Be Buds - Sharing Life as Partners, Best Friends, & Husband and Wife

Rev. Dr. R.J. Lightsey

We have been happily married for thirty-six (36) years. Our marriage experience has been productive and rewarding, but we have also had to face challenges and push through difficult times. Through it all, and by God's grace we have realized blessings and favor. As "Buds" (best friends) we share our relationship experience with other couples: dating, engaged, married, separated, or divorced. As Marriage Educators and Certified Pre-Marital Counselors we host and facilitate retreats and seminars to assist other couples in achieving and maintaining loving and lasting relationships.

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Rev. Sharen K. Lightsey

Rev. Dr. R.J. Lightsey

Rev. Sharen K. Lightsey

BA English & Psychology , Rutgers University

MBA Finance, Baker College

Themes & Topics

Couple Stresses, Relationship Dynamics, Blended Families

Emotional Cheating, How Stress Affects a Relationship, Preventing Infidelity, Rebuilding Trust After an Affair, Strategies for Couples Dealing with Financial Strain, How to Romance Your Partner on a Budget, 10 Things You Can do to Have a Healthy Marriage, Getting Married Again: Tips for Blended Families, and much more.

Interactive Lectures, Group Sessions, Couple Breakouts, Role Play

Group Sessions

What Do You Really Know About Your Spouse?

Remembering the Engagement

We Be Buds Can Provide You with information to Transform your Marriage from a Simple Spark to a Ferocious Fire!

Testimonials

James and Jessie Massenburg

This is definitely what we needed. It will help us to better our relationship - even after 20 years of marriage. What a blessing! Thank you.

Umi and Samanthia Khari

James and Jessie Massenburg

The We Be Buds Marriage Enhancement Class held at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Waxhaw, NC was a great experience. The opportunity for couples to open up and share their successes and challenges was necessary and appreciated.

Founders Bios

R.J. Lightsey, D. Div.

Dr. R. J. Lightsey II was born in Albany, GA and grew up in the outskirts of Pittsburgh, PA.

After graduating from college in 1975 and working in the Pittsburgh area for six years, his employer, Equitable Life Assurance, transferred him to its Philadelphia office. He resided across the state line in the city of Willingboro, NJ. From 1985 to 1991 he served as trustee, trustee chairman, men’s fellowship director, Sunday school teacher, and associate minister at Deliverance Evangelistic Church in Burlington, New Jersey under the leadership of Rev. Eric F. Ricks. A vital part of his ministry included the married couples fellowships he and Sharen participated in.

In August of 1991 God led Dr. Lightsey and his wife, Pastor Sharen, to begin a ministry work in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, where he became Vice President and General Manager of 1270 AM KPBA, a radio station that offered all gospel programming. Dr. Lightsey left KPBA in 1993. Returning to secular employment, he concurrently served as associate minister at Abundant Life Church of God in Christ under the pastorate of the late Dr. A. L. Hunt and he served as assistant pastor at United Missionary Baptist Church under the pastorate of Rev. Michael Williams. In 1993 he became the interim pastor at Christian Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church and was installed as pastor in 1994. He remained there until 1997. It was then that God commissioned him to found Jubilee Christian Center where he served as pastor for fifteen years. 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.

He was the Chaplain for Tyson Foods in Monroe, NC (retiring in 2019) and is Co-Founder of Lightsey Ministries, Inc. and also of Faith and Favor Ministries, in Indian Trail , NC. In addition to his thirty-three years in ministry, Dr. Lightsey has also spent 35 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, and United Way among others. Since 1993 he and his wife have counseled many couples through all stages of marriage, performed wedding ceremonies, and conducted private and group bible studies, fellowships, workshops and seminars throughout the country and in St. Marteen and India.

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 Blue Springs, Missouri.

Dr. Lightsey is the author of "Living in Praise," a collection of Christian/Inspirational poetry. In 1980 he received the Outstanding Young Man in America Award for outstanding professional achievement, superior leadership ability, and exceptional service to the community. He is a Lifetime Member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Dr. Lightsey and his wife, Rev. Sharen K. Lightsey, also own an accounting firm - Numbers 2 Numbers, Inc. They have two adult sons: Jay (Ramira) residing in New Jersey, and Jerius, residing in North Carolina. They have five grandchildren.

Sharen K. Lightsey, BA Psychology, MBA Finance

A native of New Jersey, Sharen resides in Indian, NC where she serves as Co-Founder of Lightsey Ministries, Inc., We Be Buds Marriage Educators, and also of Faith and Favor Ministries with her husband, Dr. R. J. Lightsey.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and Psychology from Rutgers University, and a Masters in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Baker College. She is currently pursuing a doctorate degree in Christian Leadership and Management. She is a 2010 Fellow of the Institute for HIV Prevention Leadership (IHPL) from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The Association of Schools of Public Health. She has been active in ministry for thirty-five (35) years.

Her extensive ministry experience began in New Jersey where she taught Sunday School for primaries. She co-created and developed curriculum for children/teens, and has facilitated teacher-training workshops for various churches to better equip staff to teach more effectively. In 1987 she began serving in women's ministry as a facilitator for women's retreats and seminars. In 1991 God called Sharen and her husband for a work in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, where they resided for twenty (20) years.

Sharen received her ministerial license in 1998 and earned her ordination in 2000. She taught and ministered while at JCC, and continues to co-facilitate marriage classes, provide pre-marital and post-marital counseling, and co-write monthly mini-sermons on their website www.lightseyministries.org.

In 2007, she launched a ministry at JCC to address and educate the community in the prevention of HIV/AIDS. She was appointed by Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe to serve on the newly formed HIV/AIDS Minority Taskforce.

In addition, Sharen owns an accounting firm, Numbers 2 Numbers, Inc. The company provides general accounting, payroll, tax, and consulting services. She has worked in various facets of business. Additionally, Sharen has provided financial training workshops for local churches and civic groups. She has also been an adjunct professor at Arkansas Baptist College in Little Rock.

Sharen and RJ have been married for thirty-six ( 36) years. She and her husband have two (2) adult sons Jay (Ramira) and Jerius, and five grandchildren.

Welcome to We Be Buds: Marriage Educators

About Us

Rev. Dr. R.J. Lightsey

Rev. Dr. R.J. Lightsey

Rev. Dr. R.J. Lightsey

We Be Buds - Sharing Life as Partners, Best Friends, & Husband and Wife

Rev. Dr. R.J. Lightsey

Rev. Dr. R.J. Lightsey

Rev. Sharen K. Lightsey

Rev. Dr. R.J. Lightsey

Rev. Sharen K. Lightsey

Themes & Topics

Couple Stresses, Relationship Dynamics, Blended Families

Group Sessions

Remembering the Engagement

Testimonials

Testimonials

James and Jessie Massenburg

James and Jessie Massenburg

James and Jessie Massenburg

Umi and Samanthia Khari

James and Jessie Massenburg

James and Jessie Massenburg

testimonials

David and Zena Dail

We Be Buds Marriage Enhancement Class Attendees

In Attendance

Founders Bios

R.J. Lightsey, D. Div.

Sharen K. Lightsey, BA Psychology, MBA Finance

We Be Buds Marriage Enrichment Weekend Retreat

We Be Buds Marriage Weekend Retreat

Contact Us

webebuds1@gmail.com

We Be Buds

Drop us a line!