Who we are, and what holds us up
The short version: ordinary people, an old building, and a very great God. The longer version is below.
A tent revival that never went home
First Light started in 1954 as a two-week tent meeting on the east edge of Milburn. The two weeks ran long. The tent became a hall, the hall got brick walls, and seventy years later the same family names are still in the pews next to brand-new ones.
We have stayed small on purpose. Small enough that you get missed when you are gone, and noticed, in the good way, when you are new.
“I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
John 8:12The essentials, in plain words
Written for the kitchen table, not the seminary. Ask us about any of it; we love the question.
God has spoken
The Bible is God’s Word: true, trustworthy, and the final measure for what we believe and how we live. It is why the sermon walks through it, book by book.
2 Timothy 3:16One God, three persons
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: one God, eternally, the maker of everything and everyone, including every person who walks through our doors.
Deuteronomy 6:4 · Matthew 28:19Fully God, fully man
Jesus Christ lived the life we could not, died in the place of sinners, and rose bodily from the grave. Everything at First Light hangs on that.
1 Corinthians 15:3–4Grace, not a resume
Nobody earns their way in. Salvation is God’s gift, received by faith in Jesus, which is why we can be honest here about how we are actually doing.
Ephesians 2:8–9A family, not an audience
The church is the gathered family of everyone who belongs to Jesus. We baptize believers, share the Lord’s Supper monthly, and carry one another’s burdens.
Acts 2:41–42The light is coming back
Christ will return, every wrong will be set right, and everyone who is his will be raised. We grieve, work, and worship in that hope.
1 Thessalonians 4:13–14(Template note: this is a placeholder statement. A real congregation replaces this section with its own statement of faith, in its own words.)
What Sundays are built on
Nothing fancy, and nothing accidental: singing that the whole room carries, prayer that names real needs out loud, preaching that starts in the text and ends in your week, and the Lord’s Supper together on the first Sunday of each month.
If that sounds plain, it is. Seventy years in, plain has held up fine.
The people responsible for the place
Ray Boone
PastorPastor of First Light since 2009. Preaches through whole books of the Bible, drinks his coffee black, and stands by the east door after every service. Married to Carla; three kids, two of them taller than him now.
Gene Faulk
ElderRetired ag teacher, at First Light for forty years. If the building is unlocked early, it was Gene. Leads the Wednesday study when Ray is away.
Marcus Osei
ElderRuns the Tables small groups and most of the meal trains. The first phone call when a family in the church hits a hard season.
Donna Reyes
Deacon · First Light KidsBuilt the kids’ check-in system and trained every volunteer on it. Twenty-two years of Sunday mornings covered in glitter.
The best introduction is a Sunday
Everything on this page is easier to understand from a pew, with a donut. We keep a good seat open.
Plan your visitQuestions first? Call (555) 011-3316 or send a note.