COVID-19 Resources, Updates, and FAQs
RESOURCES
Our desire is to help individuals and families continue to grow spiritually during this time where we have been asked to limit our gatherings. In the space that follows, we will post updated content, resources, and links that we hope will be helpful for you and your family. Feel free to share with others!
Mountain Creek Cares
God’s Word instructs to “bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.” The law of Christ is the law of love, the “new commandment” that Jesus gave his followers to love one another in the same way that he loved us. At Mountain Creek, we’re committed to doing just that.
Whether you need help, or whether you’re here to find out how you can help others, we’re all in this together.
Mountain Creek Cares is our effort as a community of God’s people to serve one another and our community in this time of need. Click the link above for more details.
MCBC YouTube Channel
All our video content––Sunday morning online services, Youth Night Live (Wednesdays), as well as other short devotionals and messages––will be streamed on our YouTube channel. Click the link above, and be sure to “subscribe” to the page for easy reference! Once you subscribe, just go to YouTube.com and our Mountain Creek Media page should appear under “subscriptions” on the right side of the YouTube home page.
COVID-19 Parent Resource Packet
We’ve put together a packet of resources to help families point their children toward Jesus during this time of uncertainty and separation due to the Coronavirus outbreak. Our prayer is that this COVID-19 PARENT RESOURCE PACKET will be a blessing to your family and assist you in the discipleship of your children.
UPDATES
Re-Gathering in the Sanctuary | June 1, 2020
At the end of this update is the link to register for a specific worship service at Mountain Creek. Due to limited seating capacity, it is very important that you and your family register for the service that you would like to attend. Before you register, please be sure to read the following information and let us know if you have any questions. Thank you!
Mountain Creek,
For nearly 200 years, Mountain Creek has been assembling for worship in a sanctuary on our property, and we’re excited to announce that we will be gathering once again in our Sanctuary beginning this Sunday, June 7th. These last eleven weeks are very likely the longest our fellowship has gone without gathering in her sanctuary for these nearly two centuries, but we are incredibly grateful for God’s provision of the technology that has enabled us to meet first virtually and then outdoors together for worship.
As we return to our Sanctuary, for the sake of our safety and our witness to the community we are choosing to follow the current guidelines and recommendations in place for public gatherings. Unfortunately, this will necessitate that we alter our normal schedule and practices. While we have been able to be all together in our outdoor worship, as we move back indoors we will need to meet in three different services. While we’re accustomed to being near one another, shaking hands and hugging as we greet one another, we’ll need to continue our more recent practices of physical distancing and maintaining a six-foot space between families.
All of these changes detailed below are challenging, but Christians are a determined people. We’re determined to gather to worship, because that’s what our God has instructed us to do for our good and His glory. We’re determined to make the best of every situation, determined to seek the good of others around us over ourselves, determined to keep trusting that God works all things for our good, determined to do whatever it takes that we can worship Him as His people. Therefore, I am confident as we gather back together that although things will be different for a season, we can keep pressing forward together.
Below, we have attempted to sketch out in writing how our worship will take place upon our return to the Sanctuary. What we are working towards is in accordance with the current guidelines from the CDC and the South Carolina DHEC. Please know in advance that we may have to adjust our plans in the weeks ahead; this is new for all of us and we’re learning the best practices for implementing these guidelines as we go.
We’ve included the following information to make our re-gathering process smoother. Please take the time to read this information carefully so that you can be aware of how you can play your part.
Seating Arrangement
- Please view the diagram below to see our current sanctuary layout.
- Each pew will be marked on the end with the number of people who can sit together in that particular pew. We will have sections for 5–7 people, 4–6 people, 4–5 people, 3–4 people, 2–3 people, and 1–2 people. Please be sure to check the pew before you enter. For the sake of helping as many families sit together as possible, please be sure to sit in the pew with the number that most closely matches your need.
- Large blue X’s will be on the pews to mark spaces where people should not sit. Please do not sit on these taped sections as this is in place to help us maintain social distancing.
- Pews that are to remain entirely empty will be taped off. Please do not enter these pews.
- If you have any questions at all, our staff or volunteers will be more than happy to assist you in finding a seat.
Safety Guidelines
- You should not come to our worship gathering if any of the following describe you or anyone in your home:
- You or anyone in your home has been recently tested for COVID-19, even if you are still awaiting the results;
- You or anyone in your home has tested positive for COVID-19 and are still in the quarantine period;
- You or anyone in your home has had a fever in the past 3 days;
- You are experiencing symptoms related to COVID-19 (fever, coughing, shortness of breath, loss of taste/smell);
- You have been in close contact with anyone who has tested positive with COVID-19 in the last 14 days;
- If you have traveled out of the country or to a known COVID-19 hotspot in the United States in the past 14 days;
- If you have tested positive for COVID-19, DHEC recommends that you not return until 10 days have passed since your symptoms began and you are free of fever for three days without the use of fever-reducing medicines and your other symptoms have improved.
- If you are in any at-risk group based on age or health condition, or if your decision for your family is to remain distanced at this time, please know that you are welcome to continue watching the services online or you can continue to remain in your vehicle and listen to our services in our parking lot on 106.7 FM.
- Please know that you are more than welcome to wear a mask in our services. Masks will be available for anyone who would like one upon entry to the sanctuary. At the same time, masks are not required for our services. The current CDC and SC-DHEC guidelines call for individuals at gatherings to either wear masks or maintain social distancing. We have made every effort to set up our sanctuary for distancing, therefore we are not requiring masks. If, however, you choose to wear a mask, please know that we welcome that decision to do so.
- All doors will be propped open.
- Please use common health practices in the restroom. We are keeping our services shorter in part to minimize the need for restroom use, but we are not limiting the number of people in a restroom at any given time. Please be wise, wash your hands, and seek to maintain distancing.
- All pews, doors, restrooms, and other high-touch areas will be disinfected between each worship service by our deacons and church staff.
- There will be no nursery or Kids’ Worship until further notice. Please know – all children and infants are welcome in our sanctuary. Just like Jesus, we love children! Parents, this can be a great opportunity for your young children to see Mom and Dad or Grandma and Grandpa worship, listen, and respond to God with His people. Children’s noises, movements, coloring books, etc, are all welcome in our sanctuary, always.
Worship Services Times and Registration
- Worship services will be held at 8:30 a.m. & 10:00 a.m.
- Services will be approximately 45-50 minutes in length.
- Our 10:00 a.m. service will be live-streamed at youtube.com/mountaincreekbc.
- You can register for one of our worship services through your Realm app (MCBC members) or by calling Whitney Pendell in the church office, Monday–Thursday between 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. or Friday between 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
- Registration is available on a first come, first served basis. Once all the spots are filled, registration for that particular service will be closed. In the event that this happens, please see this as an opportunity to serve others in our body and we would love to have you join us at one of our other services.
- Registration will take place each week in the same method.
If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to contact our office by phone or email.
We’re looking forward to worshiping with you this Sunday morning, and invite you to pray with us in advance of our time together!
In Christ,
Pastor Bert
Pastor Matt
Pastor Rhett
PREVIOUS UPDATES:
FAQs
WHERE CAN I FIND MCBC-SPECIFIC UPDATES?
We will continually update this page with the most up-to-date information concerning Mountain Creek. Please keep it tabbed as a reference for the latest information.
As our status changes with any development, we will also update the church via email, social media, and the Realm Connect app.
HOW WILL WE CONTINUE THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD AND PRAYER IN THIS TIME?
SUNDAY MORNING SERVICES
Beginning Sunday, June 7th, we will resume worshiping together in our church sanctuary (see June 1st update, above). These services will meet at 8:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., with the latter service live-streamed to our YouTube channel.
As a part of our Sunday morning time, our pastors will continue to email out questions for family discussion from the Sunday morning message. These questions will be sent each Sunday morning along with the information for that Sunday and the link to the Sunday service. Just as we have connected our Kids Worship lessons to our Sunday morning messages to encourage family discussions around the Word of God, we especially now want to continue those family conversations.
Please feel free to continue to invite others to join us for worship. Even as we are registering each week, we are leaving space available for guests to join us in both services. With everything going on in our culture right now, people are looking for hope, many have been stuck at home, and those who would not typically attend church very well may be willing come if invited! Please pray for this to happen, both for us at MCBC and other churches across our country. What an opportunity for the spread of the gospel!
MC KIDS
Pastor Rhett has posted excellent resources for encouraging family devotions and conversations during this time of shelter-in-place. If you have not already, please be sure to read over Pastor Rhett’s helpful guide, “Talking with Your Kids about the Coronavirus” as well as the other great resources in the Parent Resource Packet linked at the top of this page. Our desire at MCBC is to partner with parents as they disciple their children, and we believe that these weeks will give families a great opportunity to take the next step in cultivating family worship at home.
MOUNTAIN CREEK STUDENT MINISTRY
Family devotions and discussions centered around the Word are not just for our younger children, but for our families with middle and high school students as well. Pastor Matt has been hosting Youth Night Live on Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. on our YouTube Channel. If you have 6th-12th Grade students looking for encouragement, we’d love for them to join us!
WHAT ABOUT OUR LIFE GROUPS?
Some of our Life Groups have resumed in-person gatherings at this time, though not during the typical Sunday morning time slot when many of these groups normally meet due to our temporary Sunday morning schedule. If you are interested in connecting with a Life Group, please contact Whitney in our church office, and she will be happy to help you!
CAN WE CONTINUE TO GIVE?
Yes. Giving through the local church is an act of worship, and just as we encourage you to continue in other areas of worship in this time, we also encourage you to continue in this. At this time there are three ways that you can give: You can give online by bank draft or card at mountaincreekbc.org/give; you can give by mail (255 W. Mountain Creek Church Rd., Greenville SC, 29609); or you can give at our Sunday morning gatherings in the offering boxes located at each exit.
IS THE CHURCH OFFICE OPEN?
The MCBC office is open from 9:00 a.m. –5:00 p.m., Monday – Friday. You can reach us at 864-244-4524 or by email:
- Rhett Burns – rhettburns@mountaincreekbc.org (Associate Pastor; Families, Children, Missions)
- Martha Crouse – marthacrouse@mountaincreekbc.org (Minister of Music)
- Matt Hall – matthall@mountaincreekbc.org (Pastor for Youth and College)
- Whitney Pendell – whitneypendell@mountaincreekbc.org (Office Administrator)
- Bert Watts – bertwatts@mountaincreekbc.org (Senior Pastor)
- Brenda Whitaker – brendawhitaker@mountaincreekbc.org (Financial Secretary)
WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP?
The easiest way for you to let us know of your desire to serve is to go to the Mountain Creek Cares page and let us know how you would like to help. Please also share this page with others who may be in need of assistance.
Additionally, let’s do the simple things: Check on one another for encouragement and care. Reach out to your unchurched neighbors, particularly those with no family in the area. Pray specifically for one another and for our leaders. Do practical things to help fight the spread of the virus.
As soon as we are able to meet together again, jump back in. We’re looking forward to that day, and we pray that it will be very soon.
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