by Henry Knapp
Yet we will take joy in the God of our Salvation! (Hab. 3:18)
Last month I wrote pleading with you not to get used to the COVID-driven situation we are currently in, and I have hence shared those thoughts with as many of you as I can! The essence of my thinking is this: we are called to be a people who worship our Lord, and part of that worship is a corporate act. So, when you feel that you can, come join us in worship. I know there are good reasons for caution and staying away… but, don’t get used to this! I suspect that for some, the past months have formed a pattern, a new “normal”, and returning to worship on Sunday mornings would upset that. Do not let convenience, lethargy, or habit keep you from faithfulness! When it is right (whenever that is for you), give yourself over again to the corporate worship of our Lord together.
In the meantime, we are attempting to make some changes to our Sunday morning schedule that we hope will provide the necessary opportunities for those who feel they can gather at this time. As you can imagine, there are a lot of factors that need to be fit together. We want to provide live preaching and a pastoral presence at all our worship services. We want to offer safe, well-staffed, God-honoring Kidz programming both on-site and continuing online. We want to give young families the opportunity to worship together and still have educational options. We want the Sunday morning Groves to be well attended. We want all of this to happen safely and as consistently with social-distancing practices. And, of course, we want above all to worship and serve our Lord with joy and faithfulness.
In light of all the above, we are changing up our Sunday morning schedule the first week of October.
Beginning Sunday, October 4th, we will have worship in the Barclay Building at 9:30 am with on-site Kidz programming at the same time, and then worship in the sanctuary at 11:00 am. We will continue to offer worship as well on Thursday evenings, and the recorded service will be posted online over the weekend. The current worship guidelines (masking when entering and exiting, social distancing, refraining from shaking hands and hugging, etc. ) will still be in place.
Sunday morning Groves will be shifted to accommodate the new worship schedule, and we will try to continue to offer some Kidz programming online.
We realize that this schedule will shift everything for everyone. Obviously, we are trying to maximize our worship and teaching times and minimize the fuss. We know that this will not solve all the problems and may even create others. Again, do not get used to this! These are temporary measures as we continue to cope with the pandemic and try to honor our Savior in the midst of changing times. God-willing, in time we will be in a new situation again in regards to the pandemic and will again try to adjust our Sunday morning schedule to best offer the opportunity for God’s people here at Hebron to worship Him as a body in Spirit and in truth.
So, on October 4th we begin a new, temporary, adjustment to our COVID situation. That Sunday is also World Communion Sunday, when Christians from numerous denominations across the world take communion together. And so, on that Sunday when we shift our worship schedule, we will also celebrate communion as a church body. We are pursuing ways of doing this safely, and we hope to see you there!
To the praise of His glory,
Henry
