WOW! It was so great to be with our larger church family during the Celebration service on 9/27/2020. Watch here if you missed it.
A new season is upon us here at MBIC, as leaders we have been watching, listening, and praying. In a critical season for the church, such as we are, there are many things we want to be ahead of and prepared for as we move forward. I’m convinced that one of the best preparations we can do as believers is to spend time in prayer. So, I am asking you to pray for our local community and for your church family. Be responsive to the needs of those around you and be at the ready.
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect 1 Peter 3:15
As we continue to serve our community, I also expect more and more people will be searching for this hope that we have, we will see an increase in numbers across each area of our ministry, and the needs will increase across each area also.
For example: So far in September our in-person Sunday numbers have already hit 445 and are trending upward. Additionally, several new families have made MBIC their home church in just the past few months. We have high hopes of making room for everyone to worship on Sundays. This has required us to take a long hard look at our weekend service schedule.
We aim to:
- Continue to involve as many people as possible for in-person worship
- Continue to hold the safety of our people in high regards
- Continue to create room for growth
- Continue to Initiate & Nurture a growing relationship with Christ
Under normal circumstances, our Assembly fills at 700 people, after removing rows to encourage 6’ of distance there are 476 available seats, and as we allow room between households to physically distance we estimate our current capacity to be around 300.
Staff, Leadership Board, and I have been discussing how to best arrange our Sunday services. We want to make changes that propel us forward, include as many people as possible, and create room for growth. With that in mind, we are intending to move to three (1 mask required and 2 mask optional) services in the Assembly on a Sunday, and discontinue the video service in the Chapel.
By filling out this QUICK survey, we can better prepare for making a Sunday morning shift. Even better, invite a coworker, neighbor, friend. We are looking to make room for you and your crew! Jesus has begun a good work at MBIC, and we desire to faithfully see what is next.
– Pastor Bryce, MBIC Staff & MBIC Leadership Board
LOOKING AHEAD: 3 SUNDAY SERVICE MODEL
| Time | Location | Masks | Sunday School | Length |
| 8:00am | Assembly | Required | None | 55min* |
| 9:15am | Assembly | Optional | Infant-12th grade, Adult | 60min |
| 10:30am | Assembly | Optional | Infant-Step Up Nursery | 60min |
| 10:30am | LIVEstream | n/a | n/a | 60min |
Frequently Asked Questions
We do not have a date set yet, but this survey will provide us with helpful information, as to what and when this change should occur.
- This is scheduled in this way to provide the most safety for the mask required service – the least risk for aerosol transmission.
- Singing will only occur at the end of the mask required service, making this a bit shorter than the other 2 services.
Everyone will wear face coverings except for those behind microphones.
Services will end by 8:55am to ensure a quick dismissal before hallways are busy.
Yes, it will continue at 10:30am at manheimbic.org/live.
No, this area will be used by Faith Formation groups.
- We will first provide an optional viewing area, café style.
- Next, we will need to work hard quickly figuring out another way to include more people in our services.
- We have a steady group of 20 attending the Chapel Service
- We have several families and individuals planning on returning once a mask required Assembly option is offered.
- Many congregants have informed us they are only planning to attend a mask required service due to a personal health condition, a health condition in their household or their employment role is high risk.
- The chapel service worked for a while but fell short in being fully live and in-person.
- Numbers before COVID were pushing the limits of the 10:30 service seating capacity.
- We’ve actually been growing during this time, with many new families joining MBIC.
- Moving to three services is necessary to accommodate growth.
That endeavor is much more work for staff and volunteers. While that possibility is on our radar, for now, three Sunday Morning services is preferred.