An updated letter from New Hope Baptist Church

Dear Church,

As the number of US cases of the coronavirus has gone up, our country has taken more drastic steps to slow the spread. This is in an effort to keep the pandemic at a level that the US healthcare system can manage in the coming weeks. One of those steps has been to limit gatherings to no more than 10 people for the remainder of the month.

Last Sunday we said that we are approaching this situation with an attitude of wisdom and love. Wisdom humbles us to heed the advice of those who know more about these things than we do. And love compels us to protect those in our community by adhering to the directives given to us. So, it is in a spirit of wisdom and love, for our own safety and the safety of others that we are taking the following steps:

*Sunday morning services will be conducted at 10:00am for livestream only and will not be open for in-person attendance for the remainder of the month of March.

*To access the livestream of the service, look at our Facebook page on Sunday at 10:00am.

*If you do not have a Facebook account, we encourage you to watch the service with someone who does.

*All other church-wide activities and events for the rest of the month will be postponed including the Spring Cleaning, business meeting, Men’s Bible Study, and Sunday night Youth Group.

*If you are part of a small group or discipleship group, contact your leader to see if your group is still meeting.

*We are monitoring this situation and will make changes as needed going forward.

It seems counter-intuitive that we must work together by staying apart, but that is what this moment calls for. This is not the way the church should function. We should be together. But this is how we must function for now. Church is not music and a sermon on a screen. Church is the redeemed people of God following Jesus together. So, we ask that you continue doing “church” this month—please call people in our church, send letters, encourage and support each other, pray for each other. “Social distancing” need not mean social isolation.

Something like this has the power to drive us apart if we let it, but it could also be used to bring us together in different ways. So, let’s rise to this moment and continue being the community of love and support our Lord has called us to be. Let’s follow the example of King-Jesus in the way of self-denial for the good of other people. And as we feel the weight of this crisis whether it be financial, medical, or social, let us remember the person who is our treasure, the person who is our hope, the person who is our dearest friend—Jesus Christ!

Until we all gather again,
Pastor Jonathan and the Leadership of New Hope

We live stream our Sunday services at 10:00am EST

New Hope Baptist Church

8918 Aboite Center Rd

Fort Wayne, IN 46804

Ph: 260-434-1111/ contact form

 Join us on Sunday Worship Service at 10:00am EST !!!

Leading people to find hope in an active and growing relationship with Jesus Christ.