A Discipleship Community on Vine Street
Set in the small Cumberland County borough of Shiremanstown, Bible Baptist Church gathers each Sunday morning at 201 West Vine Street with a straightforward aim: to be and make authentic disciples by living transformational, relational, and missional lives. The congregation describes its identity with three short words - relational, transformational, missional - and the rest of its life flows from that rhythm. Members are taught that the Christian life was never designed to be walked alone, so the church pours its energy into the kind of community where church rows become family circles.
Visitors arriving on a Sunday will find a body of believers that describes itself as autonomous and elder led, congregational in operation, and baptizing new believers by immersion upon a profession of faith. Bryan Sanders serves as the lead pastor and presiding elder, and his preaching is widely noted for handling difficult topics with grace and truth while consistently pointing to the Gospel. The worship that surrounds the message blends modern and ancient expressions of praise, all centered on magnifying Jesus.
What Sunday Morning Looks Like
Sunday service begins at 10:00 AM and ends no later than 11:30 AM. Guests are invited to arrive a little early, find reserved parking closest to the building, and stop by the cafe in the Upper Lobby for a free drink. A welcome team is on hand to greet newcomers, distribute a welcome bag, and offer a printed bulletin with sermon notes. After the service, anyone interested in learning more can linger for the Discover BBC gathering, where pastors and ministry leaders introduce themselves in a relaxed setting.
For those unable to attend in person, services are livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook, and a full sermon archive is available online. The current teaching series, a walk through the book of Hebrews, lifts up the supremacy of Christ as God's final and greatest revelation, the One in whom all things hold together and through whom full purification for sins has been made.
A Place for Every Stage of Childhood
Bible Baptist takes seriously its call to the next generation. The Next Gen wing of the church is built around four distinct ministries that meet kids and teens at their own stage.
- BBC Kids Nursery (ages 0-3): Safe, clean rooms staffed by volunteers, located in the gallery hallway running alongside the auditorium and accessible from either lobby.
- BBC Kids Church (ages 4 through 4th grade): An upbeat, dynamic program held during the Sunday service in the gym across the upper parking lot, complete with worship songs, a Bible lesson, games, crafts, and small group discussion.
- Explorers Club (ages 3 through 4th grade): A Wednesday evening program that runs from September through April, blending Bible study, memorization, prayer, and hands-on activities in a high-energy environment.
- InTransit Preteens (5th and 6th grade): A Wednesday program from 6:30 to 8:00 PM designed to help preteens navigate change, develop personal Bible study habits, and stay connected with friends.
Safety is taken seriously. The church runs a Safe And Free Environment Protection Program (S.A.F.E.) that requires all children's and youth volunteers to complete a ministry application, share their testimony, supply character references, obtain and update Pennsylvania child abuse clearances and criminal background checks, complete online abuse prevention training, and wear photo IDs. Safety personnel watch entrances and hallways, bathroom monitors are posted, outer doors are locked, and volunteers are never left alone with a child.
Teens and Young Adults
FUSION Student Ministries gathers teens every Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:15 PM in the Santos Center during the school year. About thirty students meet for a casual hangout, group games, worship, Bible teaching, small group time, and usually a snack. During the summer, FUSION moves to member backyards for a more relaxed feel. Monthly events and quarterly trips round out the calendar.
Young adults at BBC are a growing community built around weekly Bible studies, monthly connect events, and service opportunities. A unique feature is the free Messiah University Sunday Shuttle, which picks up Messiah students on campus at 9:25 AM and returns them after the service at 11:45 AM, with a free coffee waiting at the cafe. Noah Wiedman coordinates this ministry.
Men, Women, and Seniors
The Ladies Ministry gathers women for Bible studies, retreats, and seasonal events built on the conviction that women are better together. The Men's Ministry centers on small discipleship groups with shared encouragement and occasional gatherings such as breakfasts and golf outings. Faith Keepers, the church's seniors ministry, is a friendly community for adults 55 and older who meet on Tuesdays in the Santos Center throughout the year for meaningful fellowship. The Social Senior Saints page is a hub for additional activities.
LifeGroups: The Heartbeat of the Church
LifeGroups are described by BBC as the life-blood of the church family. These small groups meet in homes and around the borough for connection, belonging, and encouragement to live in the victory of the Gospel. Open enrollment and request-to-join groups are browsable through Church Center, and a dedicated Young Adult LifeGroup anchors that season of life. A group finder, sign-up forms, and the Join a LifeGroup button make it simple to find one that fits.
Reaching Out to Shiremanstown
The same missional instinct that shapes Sunday morning spills over into the wider community. The Community Classroom, located just down the street at 205 West Main Street, runs a free after-school program Monday through Friday from 3:00 to 4:30 PM for qualifying students in grades 1 through 5. Each afternoon includes recess, a healthy snack, educational enrichment, special guest visitors, and a weekly focus on Bible lessons, character development, or reading practice. Transportation is provided from Northside Elementary and Elmwood Academy, and Genevieve Frank serves as the program's director.
Change Talk is a pastoral care ministry that offers a safe, non-judgmental space for people dealing with anxiety, depression, trauma, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and related struggles. Sessions are by appointment, are rooted in Biblical truth, and blend prayer, honest conversation, and practical advice. They take place either in person at The Community Classroom or virtually.
The church also offers ESL and citizenship classes for neighbors learning English, with a current class schedule published online. Free transportation is not required to take part, and the program is one of the most visible ways the church opens its doors to the wider Shiremanstown community.
Beliefs at a Glance
Bible Baptist holds to a written Statement of Faith that takes the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments as the complete, inerrant, and final authority for faith and practice. The church affirms one God eternally existing in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and confesses Jesus Christ as fully God and fully man, the virgin-born, sinless, substitutionary atoning Savior who rose bodily, ascended, and will return personally and visibly. The Holy Spirit is confessed as a divine person who regenerates, indwells, teaches, and sanctifies.
Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, apart from human works, and the church teaches that regenerate Christians are eternally secure in Christ. BBC practices believer's baptism by immersion and observes the Lord's Supper as a memorial ordinance. The church also affirms a complementarian view of marriage and human sexuality, the resurrection of the body, eternal judgment, and the literal return of Christ.
Membership and Next Steps
Bible Baptist walks newcomers through a six-step membership process that begins with Discover BBC, continues through a Foundations course on the church's culture and core values, and includes a personal meeting with an elder and a deacon, a membership application, baptism if not previously baptized, and a public introduction to the congregation. For those just beginning to explore Christianity, a dedicated Salvation page walks through the Gospel in plain language with supporting Scripture.
Leadership and Governance
BBC is led by a team of elders who embody the Biblical concept of shepherd and overseer. Some are employed as professional clergy and others serve as non-vocational lay elders, all meeting the qualifications laid out in 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, 1 Peter 5, and Acts 20. The current elders are Bryan Sanders, Brian Kretschman, Jared Demerly, Doug Davis, Thomas Hayes, Ken Robinson, Brandon Reynolds, and Shawn Seno. A deacon team of godly men assists the elders in administering the ordinances and caring for the congregation, with Chris Stough serving as Deacon Chairman.
Staying Connected During the Week
Beyond the campus, BBC keeps its people in the loop through a weekly email newsletter published every Monday, a monthly Equip-U newsletter with discipleship resources, opt-in text updates for timely reminders, and a podcast feed of the sermons on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The Church Center app is the digital front door, with event sign-ups, giving, lifegroup enrollment, and the connection card all in one place. RightNow Media is offered as a free gift to the congregation, giving every family on-demand access to more than 25,000 biblical videos, kids' shows, and small group studies.