Rhema Bible Church Tradition Lights Up Tulsa Area

The Christmas Lights at Rhema Bible Church have become a mainstay of the Oklahoma holiday season, experiencing a lot of growth over the past three decades.

With SkyNews 6, you get a beautiful view of the Christmas lights at Rhema, 2 million lights, displays and much, much more.

"Every year, they come up with something new… you can rest on the successes of the past, and every year they challenge themselves with new ideas," Rhema Bible Church's David Wildman said.

Every year, the Rhema lights get better.

It all started back in 1982, with 60,000 lights as an idea to brighten the holiday spirits of people in the Tulsa area.

"I'm just thankful we were able to bless some people," Rhema pastor Kenneth Hagin said.

The anticipation of the event has grown enormously since those early years in the 80s with new displays.

On into the 90s it kept growing and becoming even more popular.

"There are many times I've walked in this park when it is fully illuminated, and people are drawn to peace," Hagin said."In the dark, it becomes a sparkling winter wonderland."

He never envisioned it would get so large and attract so many visitors.

But now, 200,000 people come to see the lights each year.

Rhema's campus lighting became a very special event for our Jim Giles.

A crew of 15 people work six months to make it happen.

"It may be trouble, it may be expensive, but to watch peoples' faces light up, especially the kids, it's well worth it," Hagin said.

And the next 30 years? It's only expected to get bigger and better than ever.

"The advancement that we have, we're looking at options of pixel mapping, in the future, actually portraying content on LED's the sky is the limit, who knows where it's going to go," Wildman said.