Guidelines for Face to fFace Worship

Please take the time you need to read and process the following information in preparation for in-person worship services beginning Sunday May 17, 2020.
 
Pleasant Hill Baptist Church Family,
 
Proverbs 11:14 says, "Where there is not guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors, there is safety."  This verse speaks of how people separated from the guidance of those in a discerning relationship with God (those who regularly depend on His guidance and discernment) can be instrumental in bringing difficulty to themselves and others.  As we enter a time of re-establishing our worship service, please join me in this preparation, against the backdrop of regular prayer.
 
As we prepare to begin in-person worship, I want to take this opportunity to outline some procedures we will need to remember each time we meet together.  Currently, we will only be offering in-person gatherings for the Sunday 11:00 AM Worship Service.  Please know that if you are in any AT- RISK group my encouragement to you is to continue participating in worship and Bible study online.  We will continue using ZOOM, as well as Facebook Live for Sunday and Wednesday meetings.  Additionally, if you have any hesitancy at all about participating in person, please continue to attend worship online.  Please do not feel pressured to attend worship in person if you have any concerns.  If you are currently experiencing any symptoms that could be related to the Covid-19 virus, please do not attend in-person worship.
 
 
Because we want worship services to be as meaningful and safe as possible for everyone, below is an outline of the church guidelines/plan that our leadership would like everyone who attends to follow.
 
Entrance/Sanitizing:
Upon entering and exiting the sanctuary we ask that you sanitize your hands using the hand sanitizer provided.  We are looking at additional options for hand sanitizer, but for now please us the pump bottles.  We will begin sanitizing the sanctuary touch points and chairs directly after the service.  For worshipers who need to enter the building from the Fellowship Hall doors, they will be open, and someone will be able to assist you from the fellowship hall to the sanctuary.  Because we are only having worship services, as well as out of an abundance of caution, there will not be refreshments as there have normally been.  We ask that when you enter the building, please make your way directly to the sanctuary.  Restrooms will be available as necessary.
 
Physical Distancing:
Please remain at least 6 feet apart in the sanctuary.  Family groups are welcome to sit together, but those who are not normally together should continue the physical distancing that has characterized the State recommended guidelines.  Ushers will be facilitating seating arrangements, so please allow them to help you as you enter the sanctuary.
 
Face Covering:
Upon entrance and exiting the sanctuary/building, please use a face covering.  Once the service begins, you are welcome to remove the covering if there is enough distance between you and the next closest person.
 
Touching:
The doors to the sanctuary will remain open to lessen the need for people to use their hands to open it with the handle.  All items will be removed from under the sanctuary chairs as well.  If for some reason there are items under chairs, please do not use or touch them.  In fact, touch as little as possible, while you are in the sanctuary.  There will not be a time of congregational greeting during the service.
 
Order of Service:
Services will be abbreviated in terms of the regular order of service.  We will not be offering bulletins as we normally do.  We will make use of the sanctuary video screens to facilitate the service/music.  Essentially the service will be a no-contact version of worship.  We will have a time of worshiping in song, but no greeting time.  We will have a message, but no time of offering, in terms of passing an offering basket.  Offerings may be left in a basket upon exiting.  These baskets will also be used for leaving any prayer requests or visitor/decision cards as well.
 
Exiting:
Once the service ends, please allow ushers to coordinate the exiting process.  After your isle has been released, we encourage you to take advantage of sanitizing your hands once again as you exit the building.   You are welcome to remain on the outside premises to engage in limited fellowship given the physical distancing guidelines.
 
Please know the above information is not intended to prohibit fellowship, rather encourage responsible and safe worship.  We appreciate your attention to these guidelines and look forward to seeing all who are able join us for Sunday Worship at 11:00 AM each Sunday.  We want to remind you that as circumstances surrounding the re-opening of our country ebb and flow, our ability to meet together safely will possibly need to do the same.  Therefore, if/as changes need to be made to the plan outlined above, we will notify you as soon as possible.
 
Blessings,
 
Randy West, Interim Pastor
Pleasant Hill Baptist Church
6709 Circle "S" Road, Austin, TX  78745
Church Phone 512-442-3717
Cell Phone 512-422-9682

 

 

3/20/2020

 

My Pleasant Hill Baptist Church Family,

 

Please read and reread this email.  This information will also be presented in video format tomorrow (3/21).  I will send a link to the video.  Also, If you know of someone who did not receive this email, please let me know their email address and I will add them to my email list.

 

Today CORONAVIRUS may be the word on everyone’s minds, and even lips.  However, FRUSTRATION may be the emotion of our hearts.  When the routine of our lives is disturbed, we can become frustrated and anxious.  During this time, whatever you call your emotions, whether fear or frustration, whether anxiousness or worry, whether displacement or uncertainty, or even something else, during a time when human life exists in a season of disruption, believers must rest in the truth of God’s word.

 

2 Timothy 1:3-7:

I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.  As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy.  I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.  For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit NOT of fear but of power and love and self-control.

 

God’s Word tells us in this passage that the Apostle Paul is affectionately remembering the loyalty of his co-laborer in the gospel.  Paul’s words describe a relationship of loyalty and honesty, one of candor, and endurance, and one of hope and love.  His words describe a relationship that has brought him “JOY!”  Paul’s mind is turned toward remembering and longing to maintain, preserve, and protect, a relationship with Timothy.  Why?  Because it was a relationship based on their common “FAITH,” in Christ, and common purpose of discipleship.  Church family, I believe God is asking us also, to guard our relationships as a church and our relationship with Him, especially in these uncertain times.

 

Paul tells Timothy, that there was a time when he became the spiritual father of Timothy.  Part of Paul’s ministry as a tenured disciple of Christ was the official commissioning of Timothy.  That is what Paul meant when he said, “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, . . .”  What Paul is saying is Timothy has been given the job of ministry, and Paul does not want Timothy’s job to go unattended, just because of his absence.  Church family, God does not want our job of ministry to go unattended simply because we are unable to meet together physically.

 

Then Paul gives Timothy a reason to have assurance, even in times of uncertainty and trials – because God has gifted believers with a spirit of “power and love and self-control.”

 

Brothers and Sisters, this means you and me, as members of God’s universal church, and as members of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, we ought to live in this season of uncertainty; in fact we are called to live and remain faithful and fearless, in this season of uncertainty, based on the indwelling Spirit of God.

 

In a time like this, what better news can we have than to know that God’s Holy Spirit indwells every believer, and strengthens us and gives us the power and presence of mind to not panic, but rely on His supernatural calming strength and omnipotent power.

 

Because I know you are invested in the work of God and the continuance of His church, I want to let you know how we, as Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, can be the same bold disciple as the Apostle Paul charged Timothy to be.

 

During this time of physical isolation, God still expects us to be His church.  He still expects us to meet with regularity.  He still expects us to support His call on our lives.  He still (maybe even in a greater way than before) expects us to be His disciples and reach out to a lost world, who themselves, as we look at empty store shelves, have proven to live lives based on fear and uncertainty, rather than a spirit of “power and love and self-control.”

 

Here is how we are going to do this.

 

·       First, we are going to continue meeting as a body of believers – VIRTUALLY (online).

 

We are going to meet together through ZOOM at our regular meeting time on Wednesday (6:00 PM) and Sunday (11:00 AM).

 

I will send you a link in your email, each time we have a regularly scheduled meeting.  All you will need to do is click on that link, and it will guide you through a simple process of logging into the session.

 

·       Second, I want you to share the online messages and Bible studies we enjoy.

 

I encourage you to forward the link to your friends and family encouraging them join us at our regularly scheduled meeting times.

 

These messages and Bible studies will be recorded, in video and audio only formats.  We will do our best to post them on the church website where you can view them again, or the first time if you were not able to participate live.

 

Like the Jewish diaspora, this season in the life of our church, can be used to extend God’s message through us, and build up this church.  There has not been a time when we have had such an opportunity to invite others to hear the gospel.

 

·       Third, we will continue to pray.

 

We will pray for one another.  We will pray for our church.  We will pray for our city and culture.

 

I will address a more formal prayer commitment later on, but for now I ask you to be diligent about daily prayer.  The world needs it, let’s do it.

 

The link for our church’s online prayer request/praise report is below.  If you click on it, while holding down the “control key” it will take you directly to the form.  You can also cut and paste it in your browser.  It takes about 2 minutes to complete and your responses come directly to me.  I will only share responses with the church where I have been given permission to do so.

 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1-onfqjNgOPr_SmbOWDsbHlZWXSqWOCcOef9s7ZSXnL4/edit?usp=sharing

 

·       Fourth, we are going to continue our regular support of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church.

 

If we are not physically there present, it can be easy to get in the habit of not giving regularly to God’s work.  As your pastor, I am asking that however your give, and whatever you give, may you continue to do so joyfully and regularly.  Giving is part of worship, and if we do not offer sacrifice, we are not completely worshiping.  The ministry of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church will continue, and I urge you play a vital role in maintaining your regular support.  If your bank offers Zelle you can still transfer your tithes and offerings to the church.  The church email your bank will need to perform this is: phbc3717@gmail.com.  If you have any questions regarding this, please call John E. or Jo H.

 

This Sunday (3/22) we will have a trial run with ZOOM.  You will receive a link from me in your email on Saturday.  If possible, go ahead and try to get ZOOM all set up on your computer, so on Sunday you will be all set to go.  It will not be a normal Sunday sermon, rather very similar to a Wednesday night Bible study.  You will even be able to participate with questions and responses, if you are using a computer with video and audio capabilities.  The following Sunday (3/29) I will begin preaching regular sermons.  I will ask that you mute your computer.  We will do our best to post them on the website as well.  On Wednesday, we will have a time of prayer and continue with regular Bible study.  However long isolation continues, we will try to get better with online worship.

 

I want to thank you for your diligence in discipleship and look forward to seeing you online in Bible study and worship.  May God bless our continued efforts to be His church.

 

Blessings,

 

Pastor Randy

 

Randy West, Interim Pastor
Pleasant Hill Baptist Church
6709 Circle "S" Road, Austin, TX  78745
Church Phone 512-442-3717
Cell Phone 512-422-9682
 

 

 

Where to Find Us:

Pleasant Hill Baptist Church
6709 Circle "S" Road
Austin, TX 78745

Email: pastorrmwest@gmail.com
Church Office:

512-442-3717

Cell Phone 512-422-9682

Worship Services / Bible Study

Sunday- In person and on Facebook

9:00 a.m.  Welcome & Coffee and Snacks

9:30 a.m.   Bible Study

11:00 a.m.   Worship Service

Wednesday - In person and online.

6:00 p.m.   Prayer and Bible Study

 

Map and Directions

 

6709 Circle "S" Road

Austin, Texas 78745

Phone: 512-442-3717

 

Directions from Interstate Highway 35:

Take the William Cannon Drive exit and go west 1/2 mile to Circle "S" Road. Turn SOUTH on Circle "S" Road.

 

 



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