HBC Church Family:

EFFFECTIVE TOMORROW:

Our office will be open March 24th from 9am til noon, and then we will be closed indefinitely.  You can continue to email the church office at janet@harrowbaptistchurch.com or call Pastor Steve, Pastor Marty or Janet (519-890-9025) when you need something.  We are all working from home.  

As the Covid-19 situation continues to develop, things around us are changing quickly.  On Tuesday, March 17th, our pastors and deacons met to look at the situation and formulate our next steps as a church family.  We had a good time of Scripture reading and prayer for you, for our national leaders and for wisdom as we make decisions that impact so many people.

As a result of this process, here is what we have decided.  We have cancelled all services, meetings, and ministries until further notice.  We need to obey our leaders who have instructed us to avoid meetings of 50 people or more.  We will keep you up to date on more developments on our website, facebook page, and through the prayer chain; please check these from time to time to stay informed.  If you know someone in the church family who does not have access to any of these resources, please touch base with them and let them know what is happening.

Now that you know what we are NOT doing, let's talk about what we ARE doing.

First, we will be posting a weekly sermon on our website and facebook page.  We will also be emailing you notes and reflection/discussion questions based on the message.  We encourage you to listen to the message as a family and spend time talking through the questions and praying together on Sunday mornings.  While we are not together physically, we will continue to share these passages and learn together at a distance.  

Our church office will remain open during regular hours for now.  Pastor Marty and I will be available to connect with our people by phone and email, but we will not be visiting in person witht the excpetion of emergencies. (Janet is also here!)  

Offerings may be mailed to the church (P.O. Box 721) or dropped off in the offering plate in the church foyer during office hours.  We are looking into online giving and will let you know if and when that is available.  This will allow us to continue to pay our bills and support our missionaries around the world depending on our financial support at this difficult time.

Food Bank donations may continue to be dropped off at the church during business hours and we will regularly get these to the food bank for you as we look to help those in need in our community.  Thank you for the way you are generoulsy supporting this ministry.

To stay in touch with each other and to be sure that needs are being met, we are suggesting that you take 10 minutes a day and make 2 simple phone calls.  Call 2 different people from the church everyday, asking them how they are doing and letting them know you are praying for them.  This will encourage each other and assist those who are on their own.  Please keep an eye on our seniors in particular.  If in this process you come across a need that you can meet, please meet it.  If you find a need that you cannot meet, please let us know in the church office so that we can address it and be sure that no one slips through the cracks.  Some of our seniors may need someone to offer to go to the grocerty store for them etc.  This would be a simple way to serve and encoruage each other.

As for children's ministry, check out our Core Kids Facebook page for activites and messges; It's called HBC Core Kids on Facebook.  This will be added to/updated from time to time as well.

Our pastors and deacons will be calling people as well and trying to care for those who are sick and in need of extra encouragement.  We are also staying in touch with our missionaries and will pass along prayer requests to you as they come in.

The question comes, of course, how long will this go on?  When will we be able to meet again? The answer is simply that we don't know.  We would love to be together again for a special worship service on Easter Sunday, the 12th, but we don't yet know if that is possible.  We will be monitoring the situation daily and following the direction of our leaders.  We will keep you up to date as things develop.  Continue to listen to and follow the directions our leaders and public health officials give.  

We are praying for you.  Please continue to pray for us as we seek to meet the needs of the church family and community at this time.  Together let's pray for our national leaders, health care professionals, those travelling home from vacation, those with job uncertainty and the spread of the Gospel in these unique days.

May God be honoured as He leads us through.  It is great to know that He is in control and we can rest in Him.

Pastor Steve

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overlow with hope by the pwoer of the Holy Spirit.  Romans 15:13