Editor’s Note: BBBCC lead pastor Tim Thiessen reports a record crowd in attendance for “an amazing night of connection with neighbors” in 2024. Many came for the first time. The congregation added music to the show this year, which is a work in progress, and the community had nothing but praises, Thiessen says.
Each year, more than 10,000 people flock to Birch Bay, Washington, an unincorporated community along the northwest Washington coast, to shoot fireworks on July 4.
Birch Bay is one of the only places to shoot fireworks on the beach without a permit, says Birch Bay Bible Community Church lead pastor Tim Thiessen. A county ordinance allows the legal discharging of fireworks July 3-5, and many people buy fireworks on the nearby Lummi Reservation and come to Birch Bay to shoot them off.
It’s not uncommon for people to spend $5,000 to $10,000 on fireworks, Thiessen says.
“Birch Bay gets overwhelmed with people,” he says. “It’s not the most family-friendly event. There’s a lot of drinking and fireworks. The whole bay is lit up for several hours.”
Inspired by the fireworks on the bay, the BBBCC congregation decided to offer a family-friendly version. Since 2013, BBBCC has hosted a party, including a fireworks show, on July 3 to bless its community.
“We want to throw a party for Birch Bay, but we don’t want to compete with what’s going on on July 4,” Thiessen says. “We want to capitalize on that culture, and we advertise it as a family-friendly event. Parents love it. It has a reputation unto its own. We barely need to advertise anymore.”
One of the best shows
In summer 2012, BBBCC hosted a small July 3 fireworks show for the church family. Seeing an opportunity, the following summer, BBBCC advertised its show as a community event, and 500-600 people came. The event is possible because a licensed pyrotechnic, Bryan Zollner, attends BBBCC, Thiessen says.
In the beginning, the event marked the end of vacation Bible school and included a large kids’ carnival. But, the event required every possible volunteer after a busy week of VBS, Thiessen says, so after the COVID-19 pandemic, the congregation dropped VBS and the carnival in favor of a smaller “party on the patio” July 3 with live music, food, yard games, bounce houses and, of course, fireworks
“We get a lot of people saying this is one of the best,” Pastor Tim Thiessen says. Photo: BBBCC
Today, between 1,000-1,200 come to the church on July 3 for the party and fireworks show. BBBCC uses a neighboring field for extra parking, and people come around 8 p.m. to enjoy the music and activities. The BBBCC snack bar offers nachos, ice cream bars, soda and popcorn for purchase.
Volunteer firefighters bring a firetruck, and the local sheriff typically provides traffic control. A BBBCC pastoral apprentice is a retired police officer who “brings his whistle out of retirement,” Thiessen says.
The fireworks start at 10 p.m. on BBBCC’s multi-purpose field.
“It’s as family-friendly and as safe as we can make it,” he says. “Because (of) the relationships we have, we’re able to pull off a big event like that. We can do it because of the specific people we have.”
At one time, the Bellingham Herald ranked BBBCC’s show one of the best in the county.
“We get a lot of people saying this is one of the best,” Thiessen says. “Our guy knows how to wire up a show.”
All hands on deck
The event involves many volunteers. The facilities team prepares the grounds, the hospitality team serves at the welcome table, the worship team does sound and the kids’ and youth ministry teams set up bounce houses. It took 52 volunteers last year, says director of church operations Vivian Wheeler.
“Pretty much every ministry team is involved,” Wheeler says. “When we pull our planning together, the deacons from all those ministry teams get together and decide how we’re going to make this work.”
The event is self-funded by the snack bar, and the goal is to break even, Thiessen says. Zollner donates fireworks, and other generous donors contribute as well. The congregation will continue the fireworks show as long as Zollner is willing to help, Thiessen says.
Blessing its community
In the early 2000s, BBBCC made a missional change to focus on blessing its community. BBBCC serves as a community center for area municipal meetings and hosts candidate forums. The July 3 party is one of BBBCC’s four main calendar events (Easter, Christmas and back-to-school) intended for its community.
Discipleship is a challenge, Thiessen says, in a place with transient workers in Border Patrol or at a nearby refinery.
“Our congregation turns over almost every five years,” Thiessen says.
Despite the challenges, the youth group has doubled in size from 25 to 50 in the past year, and the congregation is working with the Parks and Recreation office to make the church property into a park.
The July 3 party has drawn people to church, too. Last year, BBBCC baptized someone who started coming to church because of the event. On Sunday mornings in June, Thiessen reminds the congregation why they host the party.
“This is another one of those ways that we want to be a community church,” Thiessen says. “It also continues to show that we want to lean into our community as much as we want our community to come to our church and meet Jesus.”
Janae Rempel Shafer is the Christian Leader associate editor. She joined the CL staff in September 2017 with six years of experience as a professional journalist. Shafer is an award-winning writer, having received three 2016 Kansas Press Association Awards of Excellence and an Evangelical Press Association Higher Goals award in 2022. Shafer graduated from Tabor College in 2010 with a bachelor of arts in Communications/Journalism and Biblical/Religious Studies. She and her husband, Austin, attend Ridgepoint Church in Wichita, Kansas.
