Dear Orchard Hill Church Community,
When I stepped out of church on Sunday, March 15, little did I realize we would not be together again for worship for so many weeks. I am missing every one of you and if you are like me, then you are looking forward to gathering back together again. I think this shows us that we are created for community!
The good news is that we are nearing a time when “stay-at-home” restrictions will be lifted (May 28) and we can start to think about gathering collectively for the worship of our God. As we anticipate this time, we want to consider what re-opening Orchard Hill may look like. This is uncharted territory for us, so the specific details are still being determined. All of us must remember, however, that when we are able to resume corporate worship, our time together will likely not look the same. We will simply not be able to unlock the doors and go back to “normal.” The coronavirus is still a present reality that we must face. This means that re-opening will certainly proceed carefully and in phases to ensure your health and safety. Over this period, I ask for your patience and understanding as many will feel we are being too aggressive while others will assert that we are being too cautious. Please pray that the leadership of Orchard Hill will have wisdom on how to best proceed and that we, as a church, will maintain our unity as we navigate the re-opening period.
The number one question I am being asked is, “When are we going to get back together?” Unfortunately, we cannot pin this date down. The date on which corporate worship is restored will depend upon developments in public health, guidance from the government and health officials, and our confidence that resuming corporate worship will not pose an undue risk to anyone. There are simply too many factors involved for us to even guess at a date. But I promise you that as staff and leaders we are itching to get together just as much as you are! Each week we are reading, listening, watching, and staying up to date on the latest developments so we can begin to set in motion plans to re-open. There is no question that as soon as we judge it possible, we will re-engage in corporate worship! Soon my friends! Soon! Hang in there!
Our best thinking is that our initial re-engagement will be limited to gatherings of 25% of our normal attendance engaging in appropriate social distancing. For us that number would be a total of 100 people. To accommodate our entire church family, this means we will have to add additional services to spread the load. We also are looking at how to plan for and enforce social distancing, considering precautions we need attendees to take, investigating additional cleaning and disinfecting procedures we need to employ, and changing the high contact elements in our gatherings. The move into this phase will be complex. As we approach a date for connecting again, we will communicate with you about the changes and expectations we will implement in this phase.
Before I end, on a side note, I do want to offer a huge thank you to those who have been faithfully, regularly, and consistently continuing to be generous with their giving during this season where we are not meeting together. Just because the virus popped up, doesn’t mean the work of God came to a screeching halt. God’s church continues to move forward and the work of God through Orchard Hill is funded by the giving of His people. Since we last met on March 15, the number of givers supporting Orchard Hill is down 38% versus the pre-virus average. The amount given to the church over that same period is also down 15%. The good news is that through the generosity of some extraordinary gifts and the fairly strong cash position we began the fiscal year with we have been able to stay financially solvent. We are not confident of how long this positive bottom line will last, so I want to encourage our entire church family to continue to give generously during this unprecedented season in the life of our church. Please visit the Orchard Hill web page, www.orchardhill.org, and follow the “Giving” link for all the giving options.
I wish I could give more precise details, but in the absence of those, my main goal for reaching out to you was simply to let you know that on the backside of this coronavirus Orchard Hill will be here for you. Yes, as we have discovered our community of faith is essential and the body of Christ is critical to our well-being. Praise God for that realization and may it drive us into a greater devotion to our church family and our worship of our God. In the meantime, I will be looking for you to join with us on-line at 10:00 AM on Sundays on Facebook Live. Simply log-in to the Orchard Hill Church Facebook page.
Blessings!
Pastor Bob
