Dear <<First Name>>,
COVID-19 Update March 18, 2020.
The BAC Parish Council met tonight as a result of the call of our regional Bishop to make a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and as a result of the Prime Minister's announcements last Friday and today.
I write to inform you that the regular BAC public worship services are suspended until further notice. Also our regular weekday ministries and events at BAC are suspended.
As our Prime Minister has said: this is a once in a century challenge. BAC is not shutting down but changing the way we serve God in this difficult season. It means we are going to change the ways we together grow in Christ, grow in the Word, grow in Prayer, and grow in Mission. These preventative measures are to help us serve our flock and our wider community in love.
What is Stopping?
All three Sunday services (8:30am, 10:15am, 5pm and associated Sunday school and youth ministries), our midweek Thursday 10am service, our playgroup, and our Friday night Academy youth ministry will rest until further notice.
What is Continuing?
We are inviting BAC Bible Study groups to decide for themselves whether to continue. This will be a great time to especially reach out and care for each other. On the other hand if you are uncomfortable then you have our blessing to not be involved. We will also provide some options for small groups to meet via video conferencing.
The BAC Office will remain open Monday-Thursday from 9am-1pm. You can phone or drop in if you need help, or someones contact details. I plan to continue to lead our small Tuesday morning 9am BAC prayer meeting and focus on prayer for this current crisis - please join us!
Funeral services will continue in this season. We will carefully be enforcing a limit of 100 in the building and the remainder outside the church (up to 500 people). We are investing in special equipment to enable high quality sound outside, and will organise outdoor seating for funerals (weather permitting). Pray for this ministry as we already have two funerals next week (not virus related).
Some other offsite or outdoor BAC ministries, such as the Fitness 4 Blokes group, will continue with careful consideration for safety.
What is New?
Through this BAC weekly email list, we will start this weekend with digital delivery of content for household worship including a new video sermon from BAC pastors each week. You can choose what time on Sunday you use this content. There will be prayers, songs, readings and teaching that married couples can do together, families can adapt together, friends could gather together if you live near each other, and even bible study groups could gather in smaller numbers to worship together in houses.
We are forming a BAC IT team to help people get Youtube on their televisions. Please reply to this email if you need IT support in accessing our BAC content via our website or Youtube on your TV.
We will be expanding our BAC website to offer a range of Christian resources for private devotion or midweek household worship. Moreover you can drop into BAC where we have a wealth of Christian books and bible study booklets. These will be great for individual or household devotion at this time. More details to follow.
Our BAC Building has been carefully and hygienically cleaned and we will keep this up. The BAC building will be open most days of the week from 9am-1pm. You are welcome to come and drop into the church to pray and chat 1-1 with someone. We will try to have a BAC staff member on duty most days of the week. Remember our beautiful BAC grounds and gardens, they are a great place to drop by and chat and pray.
If you want to drop into BAC this Sunday (22nd March) - we will have a pastor present at the church all day from 8am to 5pm. Even though ordinary services will not be running, there is opportunity to come anytime and pray in the church building. On the hour every hour we will have a short Bible reading and prayers for those present.
Ministering To One Another in the Body of Christ
We strongly encourage all BAC members to be active on their phones. Please communicate and care for each other. Call people that you haven't seen for a while. Look for practical needs you could help with. If you need phone numbers contact the office (reply to this email).
Connecting with each other and the everyday ministry of the Word is going to be very important at this time: "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another" (Colossians 3:16). Reminding each other of God's love in Christ will be vital. The one-another building up activities of our church family are needed more than ever. We can all dig deep in the Word and share what we learn with others.
Communication and Updates
I will keep using the BAC Weekly Email newsletter to communicate with our BAC flock. You will next hear from me on Saturday night with the digital delivery of teaching and worship for this Sunday. Please encourage people to subscribe to this BAC email list (it will also be mirrored on our Facebook and Website). If you know someone who does not have email, please print for them and ring them and keep them informed.
"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way…" Psalm 46:1-2
A prayer to pray:
Heavenly Father, we ask you in your mercy to bless this coming season of change for BAC. We pray for loving hearts toward you and toward each other. May our love be expressed in attention to your Word and in action toward our neighbour. Bless our government and may we contribute as good citizens to serve the common good. Bind us together in Christ, draw us into actions of connecting and caring for each other. In Jesus' name, Amen.
In Christ,
Rev. Wayne Schuller (0400 800 309)
Rev. Sam Creek (0422 940 382)
|
