On a quiet stretch of Beach Avenue in Manahawkin, New Jersey, a Baptist congregation has been gathering for worship on the Jersey Shore since 1745. Manahawkin Baptist Church sits at 400 Beach Avenue and serves the families of Stafford Township with a blend of contemporary and traditional music, expository preaching, and a steady rhythm of small groups and outreach ministries.
Sundays at Ten
The church meets for worship every Sunday at 10:00am in the sanctuary. Services last about 75 minutes and most people come dressed in casual clothes. The worship team leads a mix of contemporary and traditional music, and the preaching is expository, working through books of the Bible with both clear explanation and practical application. Senior Pastor Lee Smith describes his priority simply: that attendees would leave each service with a greater love for Christ.
Visitors who pull into the lot are greeted at the front doors by a welcome team that hands out a first-time visitor gift and answers questions. After the service, the fellowship hour includes a chance to stay for soft pretzels and conversation. For those who want to preview the music and pacing, recent worship services are available online.
A Safe, Checked-In Kids Ministry
Manahawkin Baptist places a heavy bet on its next generation. Kids Connect runs every week for children from six months through fifth grade. Families check in at 9:45am in the foyer using an online system and receive matching parent-and-child ID tags. The nursery (six months to three years) is available for the entire service, while preschoolers through fifth graders join their classes after the worship portion. All classes meet in the education building east of the main entrance, marked by the Kids Connect banner. Every Kids Connect volunteer has had a background check. Pre-registration for a first visit is available through the church's online form.
The Youth Group, for students in grades six through twelve, meets Wednesday evenings at 6:30pm in the education building under Pastor Ike Jones. The youth ministry is described by the church as a safe space for teens to build relationships with peers while learning from Scripture.
Life Groups Across the Week
Small groups are the backbone of how members connect at MBC. Three semesters run each year - fall, spring, and summer - and groups meet on every night of the week in homes, the conference room, and the education building. Highlights include a Sunday 8:30am study through Daniel and Esther led by Pastor Ike, a Monday 12:00pm Ladies Lunch Bunch studying Luke, a Tuesday 4:00pm mixed-adult group at the Reese home discussing the sermon, a Wednesday morning walking group on the campus Serenity Trail, a Wednesday 6:45pm in-depth study of Acts coordinated with the sermon series, and a Thursday 7:00pm group in Forked River working through the questions Jesus asked in the Gospels. A ladies group also meets Thursdays at 9:30am in person and 1:30pm online.
Child care is provided on request for the Monday evening young-adults and couples group that meets at Pastor Lee's home.
Men's and Women's Ministry
MBC Men gather on the first Saturday of each month at 8:30am for breakfast and a devotional at the Manahawkin IHOP, and an annual men's work retreat takes the group to Camp Haycock in Kintnersville, Pennsylvania.
MBC Women is led by Kathleen Thulin and offers a steady calendar: a Lunch Bunch on Mondays at noon, Sewing Sisters on Tuesday mornings, a weekly Bible study on Thursday mornings, the Books and Bites Book Club on the fourth Thursday of each month, Ladies Who Lunch on the second Thursday at Dockside Cafe, and Widows of Worth, a support group that meets monthly in members' homes for those who have lost a spouse.
Governed by Elders, Led by a Pastor
The church follows a New Testament model of elder leadership. The Board of Elders shares governance of the ministries and operations of MBC and is accountable to Christ and Scripture. The staff team around Pastor Lee includes Ike Jones, who joined MBC's staff after more than twenty-five years in teen and children's work, a worship leader named Wes who grew up singing on the team at MBC, and directors for women's and children's ministry. Office hours run Monday through Thursday from 9am to 3pm.
What MBC Believes
The congregation holds to a historic Baptist statement of faith. MBC teaches that the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God and the final authority in matters of faith and conduct. The church confesses one God eternally existing in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; the deity and true humanity of Jesus Christ; salvation by grace through faith in Christ's atoning death and resurrection; the security of the believer in Christ; the threefold personal property of sanctification; and the imminent, personal return of Jesus Christ. The church practices two ordinances, believer's baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper. Marriage, in MBC's teaching, is the lifelong covenant union of one biological man and one biological woman.
Core commitments center on expository preaching of the whole counsel of God, scriptural worship with modestly contemporary music, Christian fellowship across generations, intentional disciple-making, every-member service, and a sustained life of prayer.
Do Good Local: Outreach Across Stafford Township
Do Good Local is the church's umbrella for benevolence and community partnerships, rooted in the call to love neighbors as ourselves. MBC supports Hearts of Mercy, a grassroots organization that provides after-school tutoring, mentoring, and sponsorship for underserved youth in sports and extracurriculars. Through Family Promise, the church helps families avoid the trauma of homelessness with case management, rental and utility assistance, and creative housing solutions. GriefShare, a thirteen-week support program, meets on Fridays at 6:30pm in the conference room. The church also points residents to The Open Door Pregnancy Center for options counseling, parenting programs, and post-abortion support, and partners with Starve Poverty International in its work to break the chains of poverty abroad. A Nursing Home Ministry visits a local facility on Mondays at 10:30am to share songs, a short message, and prayer.
Missions Far and Near
Beyond Stafford Township, MBC supports a network of missionaries serving around the world: Casey and Valerie Ellis with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Vanuatu, Nathan with SEND International caring for over three hundred workers, Carol and Tom serving in Africa and Asia, Zach and Kate on a church-planting team in Gran Canaria, Spain, Lincoln and Jenny with Disciple Makers on college campuses in Pennsylvania, Kyle and Leah with Handi*Vangelism Ministries, Bob teaching at Rio Grande Bible College in Texas, Chris teaching English abroad, and Marvin and Vielka Cabrera with Missions Door near the borders of Costa Rica and Panama, along with Cal and Paige planting in Weymouth, Massachusetts.
A Building in Active Use
The campus at 400 Beach Avenue is a working hub for the community as well as the church. Alcoholics Anonymous meets in the Fellowship Hall on weekday mornings at 7am, with an extended Monday group at 8am, a Monday evening group at 6pm, and Ladies AA on Thursdays at 8am. Boy Scout Troop 61 meets at 5pm on Tuesdays. Harvest Hosts, a network for traveling RVers, lists MBC as a stop. A 90.7 FM radio feature carries Pastor Lee's voice into the wider community on Mondays.
Sermons, Podcast, and Giving
The church livestreams services and maintains a video library of more than one hundred sermons on YouTube. A sermon podcast is available through RSS, and sermon study guides with a five-day devotional, summary, reflection questions, and full transcript accompany each week's message. Tithes and offerings can be given in person, by mail, or through an online giving form.
From the long tables of a Wednesday-night life group to the AA chairs in the Fellowship Hall on a Monday morning, Manahawkin Baptist Church has been a steady presence on the shore for nearly three centuries, gathering on Sundays at ten to sing, to preach, and to walk together with its Stafford Township neighbors.