Reentry Announcement
Dear Church,
As always, we pray this note finds you well, safe, healthy, and mindful of God’s presence and grace. We wanted to speak to you about what the next month holds for the Faith Bible family and our regathering in person on Sunday mornings.
We appreciate the time you took to complete our survey over this past week. We received over 800 responses. This survey data has helped us in planning for reentry to the live worship services at the church building. The majority of the respondents indicated they would attend services in-person when we begin to welcome back people to campus on Sundays with most people wanting to return in June. We recognize that many of you are cautious and unsure at this point whether you will attend right away or wait to attend, which also helps in our planning.
For the past several weeks, our Elders and pastoral team have been tackling the complex issue of reentry. We have researched and networked. We have prayed and sought God’s specific leading, wisdom, and direction and we will continue to do so. Today, we have two dates to communicate to you. Please note, these dates are tentative. They may change—they are written in pencil.
First, we will begin a staggered start for our staff into the office beginning Monday, June 8th. Some staff will continue to work from home, but many will return in a modified form. We have already begun to prepare our campus, and when we return we will continue to practice physical-distancing and take precautions.
Second, we are tentatively planning to regather on Sunday mornings beginning June 21st, Father’s Day. Again, this date may change to a later one, but as of now we are planning and preparing for this Sunday. This date is an intentionally cautious approach. The various teams mentioned above are comfortable with this date, and we will continue to monitor news sources and the counsel and advice of experts and leaders in the intervening weeks.
Different than Governor Abbott’s “phases,” we will be regathering in stages, based on our values, criteria, and priorities. We will be communicating much more as these dates draw near, but we need you to know now that when we do begin to gather on Sundays, safety and wisdom will be our first concerns. This means at first, we will gather only for worship services. There will be no nursery, special needs ministry, kids ministry, student ministry, or adult community classes. We are encouraging all of those ministries to continue meeting online for now.
We will incorporate certain changes and will follow some restrictions for the first few weeks, monitoring those over time. These changes will be communicated to you in the coming weeks as we near June 21st. However, please note that the service times will change to 9:00 and 11:00 am starting June 21st. Both services will accommodate people in person and we will stream both services for those who wish to stay home or watch from outside of The Woodlands. We will be communicate soon about the procedure, plan, and expectations for our first Sunday back.
Regathering in person on Sundays is not the finish line. It is not our final goal. Yes, it is a passionately welcomed milestone, but it is not our fullest vision or mission. We are longing to be back together, but as we do so, I want you to remember that God has called us to make disciples, to reach the lost, to love our city, to care for each other and to represent Christ to a broken world. That is our goal. Reopening is only a step.
Finally, we ask each of you and all of you to pray earnestly for the weeks and months ahead of us. Please make this a daily commitment. Our leadership would ask that you prayerfully consider adding intentional fasting to your prayer. Pray that our entire church family loves our entire church family very well in the coming months. Pray for our unity. Pray for lots of relational grace. Pray for us, the pastors and elders, as we continue to focus on hearing from God and leading well.
We love you church. Thank you for being such an amazing family. We look forward to gathering together again soon.
Scot Pollok & Amy Cargle
As always, we pray this note finds you well, safe, healthy, and mindful of God’s presence and grace. We wanted to speak to you about what the next month holds for the Faith Bible family and our regathering in person on Sunday mornings.
We appreciate the time you took to complete our survey over this past week. We received over 800 responses. This survey data has helped us in planning for reentry to the live worship services at the church building. The majority of the respondents indicated they would attend services in-person when we begin to welcome back people to campus on Sundays with most people wanting to return in June. We recognize that many of you are cautious and unsure at this point whether you will attend right away or wait to attend, which also helps in our planning.
For the past several weeks, our Elders and pastoral team have been tackling the complex issue of reentry. We have researched and networked. We have prayed and sought God’s specific leading, wisdom, and direction and we will continue to do so. Today, we have two dates to communicate to you. Please note, these dates are tentative. They may change—they are written in pencil.
First, we will begin a staggered start for our staff into the office beginning Monday, June 8th. Some staff will continue to work from home, but many will return in a modified form. We have already begun to prepare our campus, and when we return we will continue to practice physical-distancing and take precautions.
Second, we are tentatively planning to regather on Sunday mornings beginning June 21st, Father’s Day. Again, this date may change to a later one, but as of now we are planning and preparing for this Sunday. This date is an intentionally cautious approach. The various teams mentioned above are comfortable with this date, and we will continue to monitor news sources and the counsel and advice of experts and leaders in the intervening weeks.
Different than Governor Abbott’s “phases,” we will be regathering in stages, based on our values, criteria, and priorities. We will be communicating much more as these dates draw near, but we need you to know now that when we do begin to gather on Sundays, safety and wisdom will be our first concerns. This means at first, we will gather only for worship services. There will be no nursery, special needs ministry, kids ministry, student ministry, or adult community classes. We are encouraging all of those ministries to continue meeting online for now.
We will incorporate certain changes and will follow some restrictions for the first few weeks, monitoring those over time. These changes will be communicated to you in the coming weeks as we near June 21st. However, please note that the service times will change to 9:00 and 11:00 am starting June 21st. Both services will accommodate people in person and we will stream both services for those who wish to stay home or watch from outside of The Woodlands. We will be communicate soon about the procedure, plan, and expectations for our first Sunday back.
Regathering in person on Sundays is not the finish line. It is not our final goal. Yes, it is a passionately welcomed milestone, but it is not our fullest vision or mission. We are longing to be back together, but as we do so, I want you to remember that God has called us to make disciples, to reach the lost, to love our city, to care for each other and to represent Christ to a broken world. That is our goal. Reopening is only a step.
Finally, we ask each of you and all of you to pray earnestly for the weeks and months ahead of us. Please make this a daily commitment. Our leadership would ask that you prayerfully consider adding intentional fasting to your prayer. Pray that our entire church family loves our entire church family very well in the coming months. Pray for our unity. Pray for lots of relational grace. Pray for us, the pastors and elders, as we continue to focus on hearing from God and leading well.
We love you church. Thank you for being such an amazing family. We look forward to gathering together again soon.
Scot Pollok & Amy Cargle