The threat and realities of the coronavirus have turned the world upside down. And the church is not an exception. Therefore, allow me to address three questions you may have about the life of First Baptist Ahoskie as we live each day in our new realities.
Worship Services and other Church Activities
All worship services and other church activities have been suspended until further notice. I am hopeful that we can gather together in our sanctuary for Easter worship or, perhaps, even before. However, the current situation is so fluid that it is difficult to make any definitive statements in terms of when we can resume normal activities.
In the meantime, however, a small handful of us will lead worship each Sunday morning at 11am. These worship services will be broadcast via the radio station. And, as some have requested, we will livestream them on our church Facebook page. Those, therefore, with internet and Facebook accessibility will be able to hear and see. Everyone, however, should be able to hear via the radio station broadcast on the Bull, 99.3FM. Please remember that the order of worship is posted on our church website each week. Therefore, I encourage you to pull it up, perhaps print it out, and you and your family participate in worship from your home as you would in the sanctuary. If you access the order of worship early enough, you can google the hymns in order to have the lyrics in front of you as we worship together.
Giving
Please do continue to exercise faithful financial giving to our beloved church. Even as our day-to-day routine is on hold, bills continue to come in and we still have a budget that calls for $9130.28 each week. Last week’s offering was $3,125. Fortunately, our church is strong financially. In fact, I have never served a congregation with the financial strength that we have. However, even a financially strong congregation will suffer if her members do not rise to the occasion during unprecedented circumstances such as we find ourselves in now. Please do place your offering in the mail or drop it by the church office. And, perhaps, give a little more!
Vote on Deacon Recommendation to Accept the Proposed Capital Campaign Projects
As you know, our congregation is scheduled to vote this Sunday, March 22, 2020, to invest approximately $300,000 into renovating our sanctuary and the construction of a green space on our North Street lot to begin immediately, with kitchen upgrades and fellowship hall improvements to follow. Due to our current inability to safely gather together this Sunday, March 22, your deacons have decided to carry out the vote as follows.
1 – We ask all church members (remember you must be a church member to vote) to stop by the church office in order to vote either yes or no to the above proposal. We will have a ballot here in the church office for you to indicate either yes or no. After you cast your vote, we will then ask you to sign your name, on another sheet of paper, simply to record that your vote has been made.
2 – If you are unable to get to the church office, or simply do not feel safe leaving your home at all due to coronavirus concerns, we will send someone to your house, with a ballot, in order to enable you to vote. If you fall into this category, simply call the church office and set up a time for a deacon or a staff minister to come to your house. If you would prefer, the deacon or staff minister does not even need to come into your house. The voting can be done on your doorstep!
3 – Voting will begin on Sunday March 22, 2020 and will end on Sunday March 29, 2020.
4 – Please remember that you will vote either for (yes) or against (no) carrying out all four projects – sanctuary renovations and construction of a green space on our North Street lot to begin immediately, followed by kitchen upgrades and fellowship hall improvements. The motion that our deacons accepted from the capital campaign committee calls for one vote on all four projects. Therefore, the projects cannot be separated from one other. If you attempt to do this on your ballot, your ballot will be void. The good news is that, if the vote passes, there will be no need to vote again. We can simply move forward with each project as we raise the money. For more details about the money, please do see my March 12, 2020 congregational letter. However, I remind you here that there are no plans to borrow any money to pay for these projects. Indeed, we are fortunate to have the financial health that we do in our church. I am grateful for your generosity to the cause of the gospel of Jesus the Christ.
In Christ,
Paul R. Gilliam III