Dear Family and Friends of Emmanuel Baptist Church,
The deacons and I are very excited to announce that we are reopening our physical location!
Gov. Wolf has made clear regarding his stay-at-home orders that “nothing in this policy shall be construed to affect the operations of … Religious institutions.” Furthermore, he specifically clarified in a Q&A time on May 1, 2020 that he has not restricted the Church’s ability to meet. After both writing to Gov. Wolf and talking with local law enforcement, we are confident that we have the legal right to meet as a physically present local body of believers.
However, we are aware that attending physical services is not the best decision for some families in our church. Therefore, we urge each family unit to make attendance decisions based on what is best for their family. The Apostle Paul urgently reminds us to go about carefully, not as unwise but as wise (Ephesians 5:15). The book of Proverbs likewise warns us that smart people hide when danger looms while the simple go on and suffer for it (Proverbs 22:3). COVID-19 is a serious danger that must be taken seriously.
We plan to take every possible precaution for meeting in person.
- We have moved the pews in our auditorium to allow six feet between pews. Please plan to sit in family units with one family per pew.
- We have closed our water fountain. Bottles of water are available in the foyer.
- We have overflow seating in our fellowship hall to allow more people to attend Sunday Morning Worship while still limiting group size.
God Bless,
Pastor Felber