Mark used an example this weekend comparing MBC Prince William to a space shuttle taking off. That’s exactly how I’m feeling right now. Months of preparation have come together, culminating in last weekend’s opening day service. Many of you were there for the service. I loved seeing you all there and experiencing your excitement. It’s likely you had no idea of everything that was going on behind the scenes, so here’s your backstage, all-access pass to the Producer’s view of the MBC Prince William launch.
7:36 am I walk into the auditorium to a flurry of activity. Musicians are plugging their instruments in. Choir members are chatting and getting ready. Shirley is printing sermon notes and finetuning the MediaShout slides. Craig and Aaron are busy setting up mics.
8:00 am Prayer time. The staff and volunteers gather at the stage to pray for the service and for the people coming.
8:05 am Rehearsal time. Alyce and the band run through all the songs again. Denny Harris is happy I didn’t wear a hat this morning. I remind him that I can look like a grownup when needed.
8:35 am Time to rehearse “While I’m Waiting”. Brian’s mic doesn’t work. This is pointed out by practically everyone in the room. Aaron stays calm. We swap out mics and everything is fixed.
8:40 am Theoretically, doors should be open, but we still have to run “God of this City” with the video and Tysons. Take one: Not quite. Ushers are getting impatient. Take two: Close. We’re out of time, so we open doors. Praise God for Kris Campesi and Rachel Fabian for keeping the ushers calm. Mental note: make sure to finish on time next week.
8:59 am Band enters stage. Choir gets in place. And we’re off!
9:20 am Worship is coming to a close. We are a full 3 minutes ahead of where Tysons is. This presents an issue since we need them in order to do “God of this City”. Denny is commissioning the staff. Oh wait, I need to be onstage. Please Lord, where’s the green light saying we’re okay? Denny starts praying…. and there’s the light. Praise God!
9:35 am Okay, we’re in the sermon. I can relax a little. I start getting messages from Tysons asking how many people are here. They’re sending us more bulletins? I didn’t even know we were running low!
10:15 am Service is over. What do I need to tell the band for next time? I check in with Alyce. We attempt to work on several video issues, but it proves to be too much to do between services so Dave and I make a note to fix it during the week.
10:30 am Bulletins arrive. Praise God the attendance is so great that we needed them! Rachel, Janette and the team furiously stuff bulletins while other ushers hand out bulletins to people.
10:45 am Service number two kicks off. Alyce makes a face, but I don’t find out until later that was because she had Tysons’ music in her inear monitors!
10:50 am Already more people at the service than there were at the 9:00 am service!
11:10 am Staff Commissioning… green light is on. We’re ready for the offering song.
11:15 am “God of this City” is sung simultaneously at MBC Tysons, The Edge, MBC Loudoun, and MBC Prince William. “Greater things have yet to come, greater things are still to be done….”
11:20 am Lon’s sermon. Vision message part 1.
11:50 am Mark dedicates “While I’m Waiting” to all the people who have been faithfully serving the Lord while waiting for Prince William to open.
12:00 pm Services are done! Time to clean up. Wow… hard to believe that we’ve actually opened! All in all, we had 220 children and 880 adults in services, many more than we’d expected. I’m really pleased with how it all went. Of course, there are details that we’ll work on and improve upon, but for opening weekend, God truly provided!
I can’t tell you how personally supported I felt by the team at Tysons, Frontline, and Loudoun. I got phone calls, emails, and texts all morning asking how it was going and letting me know they were praying for us. I know that Jim, Todd, and Lon all prayed for us during their services. I’m honored to be a part of the large family that is McLean Bible Church.
And now… we’re open. Our challenge now is to maintain the momentum that has been created. All the preparations weren’t just about September 13th. They were about creating a church that is ongoing. We have services this Sunday, next Sunday, and every week after that. People need to hear the message of Jesus Christ. And that’s why we’re here.
The vision of McLean Bible Church is to make an impact on secular Washington, DC with the message of Jesus Christ.
Tags: Add new tag