A Beacon on Old Charlotte Highway
Shining Light Baptist Church sits on Old Charlotte Highway in Monroe, North Carolina, where it has served Union County since 1962. What began as a small group of believers with a desire to be a shining light in Monroe and the regions beyond has grown into a multi-building campus that now includes a K-12 academy, two preschools, a children's home, a coffee shop, a thrift shop, and a sanctuary that fills each Sunday morning. Pastor Tim Cruse has preached here since March 7, 1990, and his expository messages are carried on the radio in 16 states and 12 foreign countries. The church's three-word motto - Love. Light. Lead. - sets the rhythm for everything that happens on the grounds.
A Story Spanning More Than Sixty Years
The church was founded in 1962 by a small group with a heart for Monroe. Over the years it has been served by three senior pastors: Ralph Moser from 1964 to 1969, Leroy Adams from 1969 to 1989, and Tim Cruse since 1990. When the pulpit committee reached out to Tim Cruse and his family in late 1989, he sensed God's call and moved by faith to Monroe. He began his work on March 7, 1990.
Under Pastor Cruse, Shining Light launched a radio broadcast in 1991 that is now heard on 54 stations across the FBN Radio Network. The same era brought a missions program that today supports more than 70 gospel missionaries at home and abroad. The Bus Ministry began in 1994 to bring children from across the Greater Charlotte area to Bible lessons, songs, and games each Sunday. By 1995 the men of the church had largely built a multi-ministries building, and the church has since acquired an additional 225 acres and multiple buildings.
The next two decades brought a steady stream of new work. Shining Light Baptist Academy opened on August 28, 2000, with 68 students and now serves more than 450. Shining Lights Preschool opened its doors in 2007, and seven houses given to the church in 2005 became the Kids Cove building, three cottages, and lake houses. The Spanish ministry began in 2011 when the Ronald Reynoso family joined the church. In 2013 the congregation was entrusted with a closed children's home and reopened it by faith as The Shepherd's Place, with the theme "There's a Better Way." The Harbour House Shoppes opened the next year to support the home's children. The auditorium was expanded in 2018 to seat more listeners, a South Campus was added in 2020 for the growing academy, Kids Cove opened as another preschool division in 2021, and the church donated its Lake Minnihaha eight-acre property to the city of Monroe for use as a recreation and training facility. Compass Conference began in 2023, the En-Gedi Ridge Conference Center and Compass College and Seminary were initiated the same year, the third cottage for The Shepherd's Place was finished in 2024, an Education Building with eight new classrooms and a dining area was completed in 2024, and Camp Prospect opened in 2025.
Sunday in Monroe: Worship, Bible Study, and Connection
Sunday is the heart of the week at Shining Light. The day begins at 10:00 AM with ConnectPoint Bible Study, the church's name for Connection Groups - small, age-specific classes that meet all over the campus. Nursery is available from newborn through age 3, preschool and kindergarten classes meet for ages 4 and 5, elementary classes are divided by grade for first through sixth, and older students, young adults, couples, women, men, and seniors each have their own group. All Connection Groups run on the same hour so that families can worship and serve together afterward.
At 11:00 AM the Morning Worship Service gathers in the main auditorium. Services last about an hour and feature mostly traditional hymns alongside some modern worship songs, with choir, congregational singing, and ensemble groups leading the music. Sermons are practical and expository, drawn directly from the Bible, with applications for everyday life. The King James Bible is the text used in English-speaking ministries, and copies are available for those who want to follow along.
The day closes at 6:00 PM with the Evening Edification Service, a second preaching gathering that carries the same expository style into the evening. Both Sunday services and the Wednesday service are livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube, and a sermon archive stretches through many years.
Midweek: GrowthPoint, Awana, and Compass
On Wednesday evenings at 7:00 PM the auditorium fills again for GrowthPoint Bible Study and Prayer, a Bible study and prayer gathering that is also livestreamed. At the same hour, the Kids Cove building hosts Awana Clubs for children ages 3 through sixth grade. The Awana program runs from September through May, from 7:00 to 8:10 PM, with incentive-based Scripture memory, age-appropriate teaching, and high-energy games. Books and uniforms are sold separately, and registration is free. On Mondays at 6:00 PM, Compass Bible Institute classes meet on the campus for those who want to go deeper with God's Word.
Iglesia Hispana: A Bilingual Church
Since 2011 Shining Light has welcomed the Spanish-speaking community of Monroe and Union County through its Hispanic ministry, led by Associate Pastor Ronald Reynoso and his wife Mariela. The Spanish-language schedule mirrors the English week. Sunday School gathers at 10:00 AM and the Servicio de Predicación follows at 11:00 AM, while on Wednesday evening at 7:00 PM the Estudio Bíblico y Oración meets for Bible study and prayer. The church's Spanish page invites friends to come and see what God is doing, and it offers the gospel in Spanish along with baptism and Discipleship signups. Every first-time Spanish-speaking guest is welcomed just as warmly as any English-speaking guest.
Shining Light Baptist Academy and the Preschools
Shining Light Baptist Academy opened on August 28, 2000, and has grown to serve more than 450 students from kindergarten through twelfth grade. The school began in the heart of Pastor Cruse in a prayer meeting on June 21, 1999, and grew from an opening enrollment of 68 to a campus that now includes a South Campus added in 2020 and an Education Building finished in 2024 with eight classrooms and a dining area. Students learn the right use of knowledge in the context of character, with a heart for God and others. A chapel meets weekly for both elementary and secondary students.
Two preschool ministries serve younger children. Shining Lights Preschool opened in 2007 as a partnership with parents to help community children grow in a safe, loving environment. Kids Cove opened in 2021 as another preschool division to serve even more families. The church is also fundraising for a Building Together Campaign that will add an athletic and events center, commercial kitchen, lobby, and additional classrooms, along with security upgrades and new playground equipment.
The Shepherd's Place Children's Home
The Shepherd's Place Children's Home and Academy reopened in 2013 when the church was entrusted with an existing children's home that had closed its doors. It serves school-age children from families in crisis who need care, providing a loving environment in which they can stay and receive a quality education. Three cottages on the property now house young people and additional staff families, with the third cottage completed in 2024. The home's theme is "There's a Better Way." In all of life's challenges, there is always hope and a better way forward.
The Great Things Cafe, which serves coffee and smoothies on the campus, raises proceeds for The Shepherd's Place, and the Harbour House Shoppes - a thrift and gift store opened in 2014 - also benefits the home. First-time visitors to the church often stop by the cafe as a quiet place to talk with staff or to sit with a coffee.
SL Sports, Camp Prospect, and the Next Generation
SL Sports is a co-ed developmental youth sports league for students in kindergarten through sixth grade, open to the community. Basketball and other sports introduce and strengthen the fundamentals of the game while coaches place a spiritual emphasis at each practice and game. Players need not attend Shining Light Baptist Church or the academy to participate.
Camp Prospect, opened in 2025, sits in the Prospect Community of Union County and invites young hearts and minds to explore the love of God through worship, Bible study, outdoor adventures, creative arts, and meaningful friendships. Each day is framed as a new opportunity to step out in faith, strengthen character, and build a foundation rooted in Christ.
Vacation Bible School is a summer highlight. Kids discover God's love through games, engaging Bible lessons, upbeat worship, creative crafts, and new friendships.
Outreach, Missions, and the Bus Ministry
The church's heartbeat for Monroe runs through the Bus Ministry, which has been picking up kids for church every week since 1994. Volunteer drivers follow routes across the Greater Charlotte area, bring children in for Sunday Bible class with songs, games, and a lesson, and then return them home at the end of the morning. Children must be at least 5 years old to ride without a parent.
Weekly Community Evangelism goes out from the campus every Saturday at 10:30 AM. Days of Caring distribute groceries and clothing to families in need. Volunteers serve at a local women's shelter, a homeless shelter, and a Crisis Pregnancy Center, lead Neighborhood Bible Clubs and school Bible clubs, and partner with Collegians for Christ at Wingate University. Multiple nursing homes receive regular ministry, and church members serve as chaplains for the State Highway Patrol and the Monroe Fire Department. Faith Promise Missions giving supports more than 70 missionaries around the world, and the church has helped establish new churches at home and abroad. Pastor Cruse conducts foreign missions trips to train missionaries and national pastors and to help establish churches on foreign fields.
Awake America North Carolina, led by Pastor Cruse, connects the people of God with the people of government, praying for the state and its leaders, building relationships with local and regional leaders, and helping churches engage politically in a biblical way.
The Compass Conference, Bible Institute, and En-Gedi Ridge
The Compass Conference is hosted on the campus each year to edify, equip, and engage God's people in the work of Christ. Ministry leaders and workers from other churches are invited to be encouraged through the Word of God for effective ministry in spreading the gospel message.
The Compass Bible Institute meets on Monday evenings and helps people go deeper with God through His Word, discover His purpose, and make a positive impact in the world for the cause of Christ. Compass College and Seminary, initiated alongside En-Gedi Ridge, is a developing school with the mission of developing leaders for service in the local church and public square. En-Gedi Ridge Conference Center, a mountain property in Moravian Falls, North Carolina, is planned as a retreat for leadership, couples, and youth development and counseling.
What the Church Believes
Shining Light Baptist Church teaches that the Bible is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice. The congregation uses the Hebrew Masoretic Text of the Old Testament and the Greek Received Text of the New Testament, from which the Authorized King James Version was translated, in its English-speaking ministries.
The church believes in one triune God, eternally existing in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - co-eternal, identical in nature, and co-equal in power and glory. It affirms the deity and virgin birth of Jesus Christ, His bodily resurrection, and His identity as the only way to forgiveness of sin and eternal life. Salvation is by grace alone through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ: men are justified by faith alone and accounted righteous only through His merit. Justification is an eternal relationship that can never be broken.
The Christian life is described as one of growing in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, pursuing holiness through separation unto God from the philosophies, values, and practices of the fallen world. As an Independent Baptist Church, Shining Light observes baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper as acts of worship, and holds that every Christian is to be an active member of an autonomous, local New Testament church. The church believes in the imminent, visible, personal, pretribulation, and premillennial return of Jesus Christ, in the everlasting conscious blessedness of the saved in Heaven, and in the everlasting conscious punishment of the lost in Hell.
The church's mission is to glorify God by becoming more like Jesus Christ and shining the gospel light as it serves the community and beyond. Its core values are rooted in three words - Love the Lord and Others, Light the Way and Path Forward, and Lead with Courage and Compassion - alongside Integrity, Personal Growth, Teamwork, Urgency, and Attention to Detail.
The Great Things Cafe and Harbour House Shoppes
The Great Things Cafe, named for the Psalmist's declaration that the Lord hath done great things for us, is more than a coffee shop. Its proceeds support The Shepherd's Place Children's Home, and it serves as a place of connection and fellowship for the church and school. Visitors can book an appointment to meet a pastor or staff member there to discuss their spiritual journey.
The Harbour House Shoppes opened in 2014 to assist children at The Shepherd's Place, and every purchase or donation helps provide a better way of life for boys and girls in North Carolina and beyond.
Visiting Shining Light
First-time guests will find parking in front of the buildings, with no reserved spots required. Greeters meet visitors at the door and help families check in children at the Kids Cove Welcome Center. There is no dress code: ministry leaders and many in the church family dress in more traditional Sunday attire, but the goal is that every guest feels welcome and comfortable.
Guests are not expected to participate in the offering. Each service runs about an hour and offers inspiring music, biblical preaching, and a friendly atmosphere, with services in both English and Spanish. Children of every age have a place: nursery for newborns through age 3, preschool and kindergarten classes for ages 4 and 5, elementary Connection Groups by grade, Navigators Rally for K4 through fifth grade during the 11 AM service, Awana Clubs on Wednesday nights, and SL Sports on weekends. Teens meet for their own Connection Group at 10:00 AM on Sundays, with activities planned throughout the year.
Counseling is available from the pastoral staff on finances, marriage, family, and other spiritual needs. Guests who decide to trust Christ during a service are invited to follow up by phone or email so a pastor can walk with them. Discover SL, a 50-minute class taught by the pastor, explains who the church is, what it believes, and how newcomers can get involved. First-time guests who stop by the Welcome Center after the Sunday morning service receive a guest bag with a coffee mug and spiritual resources.
Leadership
Tim Cruse has served as Senior Pastor since March 7, 1990, with more than forty years of preaching ministry. He is a 1986 graduate of Carolina University (formerly Piedmont Bible College) with a Bachelor of Theology and minor in Youth Ministry, a 2021 graduate of The Crown Seminary and Graduate School with a Master of Education, and the recipient of Doctor of Divinity degrees from Ambassador Baptist College and The Crown College. He also holds a Certificate with Distinction from the Oxford University Executive Leadership Programme and doctorate-level credits in Advanced Expository Preaching. He is the Director of Awake America North Carolina and Vice President of the Southwide Baptist Fellowship.
Aaron Cruse serves as Associate Pastor of Administration, and Ronald Reynoso serves as Associate Pastor of Spanish and Campus Development. Tanner Koske leads Children's Ministry and Sports. Rod Allen directs Awana Clubs. Jeff Antman directs World Missions. Carl Kelley directs The Shepherd's Place Children's Home. Rebekah Cruse serves as Ladies Ministry Director and church pianist.
A Word on the Airwaves
The Shining Light Radio Broadcast is heard every Sunday on 54 different radio stations across the FBN Radio Network in 16 states and 12 foreign countries. Locally it airs on 88.1 FM at 8:15 AM and on WIXE 93.1 FM / 1190 AM at 11:00 AM and 7:00 PM, with additional broadcasts on BaptistRadioNetwork.com at 4:05 PM and the Caribbean Radio Lighthouse in St. John's, Antigua-West Indies on 92.3 FM and 1160 AM. The Shining Light podcast carries the same messages to all major podcast platforms, and a weekly devotional called LifeLine is available through Pastor Cruse's blog. The Shining Light app, available on the App Store and Google Play, carries audio and video sermons and event information for the whole church family.