God Spoke To Me While I Lay In A Hospital Bed After A Fight

Rushed to hospital and on the verge of death, Paul Hallam somehow recovered. It was a seminal moment. Decades later he leads one of Manchester’s thriving churches

- Paul Hallam

Paul Hallam says it’s a miracle he’s alive, let alone a pastor. Now the senior leader of The Lighthouse Church in Manchester and Salford, with outreach projects in Romania and India, Paul is amazed at how his life has panned out.

But it could have been so different – he walked away from his family home and church as a teenager, turning his back on his Christian faith.

Paul says: “I was very young when I first gave my life to Christ, I was about six years old and I was baptised in the Holy Spirit at nine and preached my first sermon on the fiery furnace a few months later. 

“However, when we moved to a new town I left a thriving youth group to be a part of a small church with no young people, and that caused a serious backslide for me. It was fatal to be honest and I always say to parents, it is crucial to have your children involved in active kids’ and youth work.”

Paul found the move so difficult that his life began to spiral out of control. “I spent six or seven years in rebellion, running from God.

“I got myself in trouble with the police, was banned from driving at 17 ye rs of age on a provisional licence. I was of probation, spent several nights in police cell and was on my final warning before young offenders’ institute.