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Hagerstown Church of the Brethren
Take a Moment Prayer: Week of May 9
Look for this prayer each week. Take time to pray it each day and know that your church family is saying this prayer too.
Let us pray daily together: Faithful and Loving God, Thank you for your faithfulness to me. It's from this special outpouring that I find my attitude and heart being nourished and shaped. Being able to see your presence in my life encourages me to persevere when times are rough; and inspires me to help others when they go through rough times in their lives. I want the heartbroken and the lost to see and feel your Living Spirit reaching out to them through me. It's your faithfulness to me...growing my faith...that diminishes any anxiety and discomfort in me from serving others as you need me to serve. So, I go into this day with a readiness to do your will to share my faith through actions and words. Thank you for this privilege to carry-on your mission to a world that desperately needs you. Amen.
From Pastor Twyla's Desk - May 2021
It’s a curious thing how in just a matter of moments, life events can shift quickly and take us an unexpected direction. Our decisions may surprise us with unforeseen twists and turns. Events occurring around us may startle us and demand unplanned actions, taking us down roads in life that are filled with sharp turns and bumpy terrain. Tragedies like a large boulder may drop in our life path, paralyzing us emotionally, making life difficult to manage even the simplest of tasks.
Prayer Walk May 15 (Updated May 3, 2021)
The Service & Outreach Team is sponsoring the annual Prayer Walk on Saturday, May 15 to hand out bagged lunches to our neighborhood folks. We need help in assembling the lunches (no cooking involved) starting at 10:00 AM. We still need 80 individual bags of chips and 200 apples. After we’ve packed the bags, we will walk beginning at approximately 11:00 AM. If you would like to join us to assemble and/or join us on the walk, please contact Glenn Young.
Junior Church (Updated May 3, 2021)
Our first session of Junior Church will be held next Sunday, May 2, immediately following the children’s story in the 10 AM worship.
This is open to ages Kindergarten through Grade 6. We will gather in the Fellowship Hall for a special time together. Masks are mandatory and social distancing will be observed.
Parents may, of course, opt to keep their child in worship with them especially if the child is uncertain about going.
Guidelines for In-person Worship (Updated Mar 8, 2021)
These guidelines will be in place beginning March 7 and will remain for the foreseeable future. Please know that while we wish we could all be together, we respect that your health must come first. Don't feel guilty if you aren't comfortable returning to worship at this time. Be safe.
- If you are in the high-risk category for contracting the coronavirus, have a fever (we will not be taking your temperature before entering the church, but we encourage you each to take your temperature before coming to church), or if you have flu-like symptoms, please do not come to the church. We will continue to provide worship on Facebook-Live, so you can continue to worship with the congregation.
- We are offering only one service for now so we can limit travel throughout the building and, because of the sanitizing that needs to be completed after every use of a room. The sanctuary will need to be sanitized after we use it every Sunday. The Leadership Team will be discussing about when to return to two services at a future meeting.
- Everyone must wear a face mask at all times while you are in the building.
- Everyone is required to enter from the West Entrance doors. Please do not enter through the fellowship hall doors.
- We will not have ushers and greeters. You will need to pick up your bulletin near the entrance to the sanctuary.
- Offering plates will be located in several places in the sanctuary where you can place your offering when entering or leaving the sanctuary.
- Hand sanitizer stations are located in the West Entrance, at the elevators, in the sanctuary wing, and other locations for keeping hands sanitized.
- Shaking hands, hugging, fist, and elbow bumping will not be permitted.
- Everyone will be required to practice social distancing while in the building. Immediate families may sit together; all others need to sit six feet apart. Every other pew will be roped-off.
- Please do not mingle in the sanctuary before or after the service.
- We are asking that only two people at a time use the elevator (unless you live in the same house) and use social distancing while riding in the elevator.
- The restrooms outside the sanctuary and the ones downstairs at the entrance to the fellowship hall are the only restrooms in use during this phase of opening, and we ask that only one person at a time use the restroom. If you find that someone is already in the restroom when you enter, please wait outside until they exit before re-entering.
- Water stations/fountains will not be available for use. You may bring your own water bottle to church.
- We will be singing while wearing a mask; however, we will not be using hymnals. All the hymns will be printed in your bulletin.
- The Washington Street door (at the back of the sanctuary) will be open for exiting at the conclusion of worship. If you want to mingle in the parking lot, please practice social-distancing, stand 6 feet apart, and please do not block the ramp.
Let us be patient as we slowly reopen and follow these guidelines to make sure we do not become agents of transmission of COVID-19.
Remember Philippians 2:4, "Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others," as we move forward.