On Sunday, March 16,2003 the Jenkins Memorial Baptist Church, located on the corner of Main Street and Oak Drive, in St.Martinville dedicated the newest city landmark: a fourteen foot tall working lighthouse. The church has adopted the lighthouse as a symbol of their prayerful desire to be a "Lighthouse of Faith, Hope and Love". Pastor Weldon Moak states that their purpose in building the lighthouse is that it will be a continual physical reminder that "Jesus, is the Light of the World". Two passages of scripture that the church emphasizes are John 8:12... "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying 'I am the Light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of light" (KJV); and Matthew 5:16 where Jesus says to His followers "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, who is in heaven" (KJV).

The Lighthouse was designed by local resident and Jenkins Baptist church member Kirk Borel. The idea of the lighthouse came from Pastor Weldon Moak and church member Clyde Akers after discussing the hope and vision for the church's ministry. Members of the church made donations for the cost of the construction and a team of men from the church under committee chairman Dave Theriot built and landscaped it. Acadiana Sheetmetal, a local company, donated the metal top.

Jenkins Memorial Baptist Church is a member of the National Association of Lighthouse Churches which is an affiliate of the inter-denominational "Lighthouse Movement" of Mission America and also is a member of the Southern Baptist Convention, which is the largest protestant denomination in the United States with over 45,000 churches and nearly 19 million members. The goal of this movement is to link churches and homes across America which have as their focus the three point strategy of "Prayer, Care and Share". The basic idea is to have every church and their members to commit to "Prayer" for their neighbors and community; then to show loving "Care" and acts of kindness as they build "relationships of integrity" upon which they can then "Share" the good news of salvation in Jesus.

Pastor Moak also is inviting other churches in the area to catch the "Lighthouse Vision" and join together as brothers and sisters in Christ to cross racial and denominational lines to unify around the central theme of "Jesus, the Light of the World." At the March 16 dedication, ministers from several churches and denominations joined together in reading of Bible passages on the subject of "Light". The hope is that individual members of churches in the area will commit to the three-point strategy of Prayer-Care-Share and to purchase or build a small lighthouse and place in the front yard of their home as a symbol that this home is a place that is praying for our community and its people, and is also a place where people who are in need of spiritual help can turn to. Pastor Moak has a small three foot working replica lighthouse in his yard on Oak Drive in St. Martinville, which is the Parsonage of the Jenkins Memorial Baptist Church.

The Pastor and members of Jenkins Memorial would like to see the community adopt this lighthouse as their community symbol and to work together in racial and religious harmony so that we can "shine for Jesus".