Pastor Mike McGlone leads Lighthouse Baptist Church’s first service on Sunday, Jan. 2, at Sequim Senior Activity Center. He’s been knocking on doors and driving around Sequim to meet new people and invite them to church. His hope is that people will consider attending church as a New Year’s resolution.  Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash

Spiritual Spotlight
Sequim Gazette staff

A few weeks ago, Pastor Mike McGlone moved to Sequim after much planning to begin a new church.
Lighthouse Baptist Church, meeting at Sequim Senior Activity Center, holds its first service on Sunday, Jan. 2.

McGlone, a retired U.S. Navy radar technician, said God led him four years ago to change his career and attend Bible College at Salt Lake Bible College to become a pastor.

He was ordained at Baptist Missions to Forgotten People, a worldwide church planting organization out of Jacksonville, Fla., with the desire to plant churches in the Pacific Northwest. Several months into his first pre-field ministry trip, he had preached at several churches and decided he wanted to pastor a small church.

“I visited this area during my time in the Navy and my wife (Lori) and I vacationed here twice,” McGlone said.

“We both fell in love with the people and culture here and set our sights on Sequim or Port Angeles.”

Their home church, Ruby Mountain Bible Church in Spring Creek, Nev., supports their ministry here with the intent that God will provide the rest of their finances as they serve him.

Thus, Lighthouse Baptist Church was created.

“The Bible says that Jesus came to save sinners and so a church should desire to be a light to the lost and a place where Christians are encouraged to live for Jesus and bring glory to God,” McGlone said.

“Lighthouse Baptist Church would endeavor to be just that type of church, a lighthouse to its community pointing people safely to Jesus and a place where the believer could come both for encouragement and exhortation to live for Jesus.”

Background
McGlone said he was raised in a religious home but did not know the Bible teaches where he could spend eternity and that Jesus Christ died for people’s sins.

“(Some churches) do not teach that Jesus came to save sinners and that by turning from your sin and trusting him you will have eternal life,” he said.

“Instead, they teach a system of do’s and don’ts and you are left hoping you have been good enough or feeling guilty knowing you can never meet God’s standards, much less the standards of your religion.“

After he left home, McGlone married a Christian woman who told him about salvation through Jesus.
McGlone rejected her thoughts because he felt it was another religion being pushed on him. Later, he joined the Navy and spent most of his time away from home over the next five years.

On a ship, he met two sailors who would share about salvation in Jesus Christ.

“They helped me understand that no one is good enough or measures up to God’s standards and that we all fall short of his glory, and we must come to trust Jesus for our salvation,” McGlone said.

On his second Western Pacific deployment, he began reading biblical scriptures and learned people can’t earn their salvation and that Jesus’ sacrifice is the way to heaven.

He became a Christian in 1982.

Vision
Lighthouse Baptist believes Christmas celebrates the day God came to the world manifest in the flesh, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the cross, and rose from the dead to save everyone from their sins.

“I would like to find a core group of believers who want to reach their community with the gospel and help new believers to grow to live godly, separated lives that glorify Jesus Christ,” McGlone said.

At Lighthouse Baptist, they want to steer away from tactics to reach certain age groups with gimmicks and worldly music. He doesn’t want the church to be a place of entertainment but for preaching and teaching of God’s word being the most important reason to attend.

“We desire a church where the people are excited about learning God’s word and singing the old hymns to glorify him and the members have a heart for the lost around them, in their work places, their community and where they are encouraged to reach out to them,” McGlone said.

He and his wife prefer smaller church settings where people learn and grow together.

“My wife and I have always been part of small congregations, involved in the outreach ministries of churches during our Christian lives,” McGlone said.

“We always find a joy in seeing a church grow and mature together.”

Lighthouse Baptist Church hosts its kickoff 10 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 2, at Sequim Senior Activity Center.

Lighthouse Baptist Church
921 E. Hammond St., (inside the Sequim Senior Activity Center)
10 a.m. Sunday school,
11 a.m. Worship service
First meeting on Sunday, Jan. 2, and following Sundays
Mailing address:
P.O. Box 3951
Sequim, WA 98382
Phone: 775-340-2652
E-mail: mplm51@hotmail.com
Pastor: Mike McGlone
 

For a Spiritual Spotlight on your church, spiritual group and/or event contact Matthew Nash at mnash@sequimgazette.com.