The Church is the temple of God, given as a gift to man. It is a center of worship for Christian believers so that they may come together on one accord to praise the Lord.

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In 1914 Rev. H. H. Williams, being led by the Holy Spirit, with a small band of Christian believers came together for their first worship service. This service was held in an old skating rink on Haskell Street. A Sunday School and Missionary Society was organized.

After having worship service in the old skating rink for a time, the Pastor and congregation decided it was time for a permanent place of worship. A building was purchased and moved to the present location of Starlight Baptist Church, at 311 South First Avenue. 

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Starlight Baptist Church, with membership of more than 100, elected Rev. S. S. Captain as its second Pastor in 1919. During Rev. Captain’s leadership the old building was taken away and a frame building was erected. Rev. Captain was called home to be with the Lord in November 1937. After three months without a pastor, Rev. David L. Carter was called to lead the flock in March 1938. During Rev. Carter’s administration the old frame building was torn down and a brick structure was erected on the present site. On December 23, 1976 Rev. David L. Carter was called home to be with the Lord.

After serving as Assistant Pastor of the Starlight Baptist Church, on May 31, 1976, Rev. David Miles was elected Pastor. Rev. Miles, being led and guided by the Holy Spirit, began to lead the church progressively upward in all areas of the Lord’s work until his resignation in November 1993.

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Rev. Julian K. Woods was called by God to lead this flock of Christian believers on April 16, 1994. Under the spiritual vision of Rev. Woods, he enriched and initiated several ministries, striving to add to God’s kingdom. These ministries include:

 

The Prayer Ministry – The goal for this ministry is intercessory prayer.  Prayer leaders meet every Saturday morning from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. at the church under the leadership of the Pastor.

 

The Pantry Ministry –The goal of this ministry is to provide food staples to the needy.

 

The Nursery Ministry – The goal of this ministry is to offer parents a freedom from restless small children during church service.

 

The Evangelistic Ministry – The evangelistic ministry was activated in October 1995. Its goal is to be an outreach to the community, to witness for Christ, and to seek and save those without Christ.

 

The Telephone Ministry – The goal of this ministry to contact sick and shut-ins, and slowful members. It will be staffed by a committee.

 

The Welcome and Hospitality Ministry – The goal of this ministry is to welcome visitors with Christian warmth.

 

The Christian Education Ministry – The goal of this ministry mandates Christian education to the membership and offers courses through the Faith Bible Institute. In 2007 we witnessed our first class of graduates.

 

The Bus Ministry – The goal of this ministry is to provide transportation to members to attend services as well as out of town church meetings.

 

Grief Ministry – This ministry provides support to those who are grieving the loss of a loved one. 

 

New Members Ministry – New Members receive orientation and are taught the fundamentals of why we believe what we believe as Baptists.

 

Our Pastor was inducted into the Baptist Minister’s Union of Lake Charles as its President for the 2005-2006 year. In August 2005 we were faced with one of the nation’s most catastrophic events in history as we watched Hurricane Katrina devastate New Orleans, Louisiana.  As nature brought about a lot of changes, Starlight opened its heart and doors to those who were displaced by the hurricane. God enabled us to become a shelter in the time of the storm. We were able to house a number of families by turning our classrooms into temporary shelters, prepared meals, and provided clothing for those who were sheltered at the Lake Charles Center. 

A few weeks later on September 22, 2005, we faced another catastrophe.  Hurricane Rita forced us to move, not only the Katrina evacuees that were housed at our church, but we now had to find shelter for our own church family. This event caused the cancellation of our 90th Church Anniversary. BUT GOD!  In the wake of the tragedy God led us to El Dorado, Arkansas where he had already prepared a place of shelter for us with the family of the St. John Baptist Church, under the direction of Pastor Dobson.  St. John opened their church for us as a shelter from our own storm.

From what we thought to be tragedies God turned into blessings.  We were connected with a sister church who would eventually become as much a part of “The Vision” given our Pastor, as the saints He sent to us from New Orleans.  During the busy Hurricane Season of 2008, Pastor Woods and members of the Leadership team traveled to St. John Missionary Baptist Church in El Dorado, Arkansas. On the first trip 140 people in passenger vans, trucks, and cars traveled to safety as Hurricane Gustav threatened our area. Just 10 days later Pastor Woods and members of the Leadership Team traveled once more to safety with 80 people to Arkansas as Hurricane Ike threatened the city. We are eternally grateful for the compassion shown to us by Pastor Barry Dobson and his congregation. 

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Our Pastor was appointed as the Hurricane Evacuation Coordinator for the Louisiana Baptist State Convention. As part of his duties, Pastor Woods searched for and found churches in North Louisiana that would serve as shelters for congregations evacuating from the lower parishes in the state. Under his leadership, Standard Operating Procedures for this unit were written and adopted by the convention. He was also implemental in organizing Food Distribution Points in cities heavily affected by Hurricane Gustav. Working with the American Red Cross, Starlight Baptist Church was been designated as a Distribution Point for this region.

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