Stephen and Alisha Burke

Stephen Joseph Burke, Artistic Director

From earliest childhood God placed a love for theatre arts in Stephen's heart. As a missionary kid in Singapore, Stephen and his two sisters established an amateur theatre company. He wrote and directed his first musical at age twelve. The "Palm Tree Theatre" produced a new Christian musical every year for the next five years.

Stephen has always believed that God opens doors, but we have to work with the resources we have now and walk through them. Before attending Pensacola Christian College Stephen had written and directed six Christian musicals and acted professionally for the Television Corporation of Singapore and in Docudramas and international Television Commercials.

At Pensacola Christian Stephen earned Bachelors and Masters degrees in performance and dramatics. He was blessed with the opportunity to further develop his skills as the Staff Production Director and Playwright. He enjoyed writing numerous plays and directing 20 plays and musicals until 2013 when the Lord lead him to step out on faith and work full time with Shining Light Players.

Stephen's heart's desire is to please the Lord and point others to Christ with dramatic art.

Alisha Burke, Assistant Director

Alisha's Mother, Brenda Wood Coggins, was a Gospel singer and pianist who always encouraged Alisha to use her talent for the Lord. She coached Alisha to sing her first church solo at age four.

Alisha grew up singing in Church, before attending Pensacola Christian College where she received Bachelors and Masters degrees in music and speech performance. She went on to teach music and speech classes at Pensacola Christian for thirteen years, instilling in her students the Biblical philosophy her mother had taught to her.

God blessed Alisha with the opportunity to study voice for four more years under acclaimed Metropolitan Opera Tenor, Ray Gibbs. Alisha has been a featured soloist on numerous recordings and television broadcasts with Rejoice Music and has acted in over 20 plays and productions including "I Am The Way" with Jerome Hines.  

Alisha desires to encourage young performers to use their talent for the Lord, remembering her mother's guidance: Only what's done for Jesus matters.