With a desire to love our neighbors as ourselves and an abundance of caution for the members of our church and community amidst a global pandemic that is affecting our city, as of Sunday, March 15, all BBC worship services are moved online until further notice. Please plan to worship online this Sunday at 11 am, and 6 pm using https://zoom.us/, regular church attenders will receive further instructions by text. Each week we sing together, pray together, and hear what God’s Word says about freedom from fear, peace over anxiety, joy amidst sickness, and life that conquers death. In addition, we share important information about opportunities we have as a church to share the gospel during these days. Needless to say, you don’t want to miss these Sunday gatherings online!
In addition, BBC church building is closed until further notice. The only exceptions to this are for staff and/or volunteers whose work necessitates being at the building. All other groups which normally meet during the week are encouraged to explore alternate means of staying closely connected with one another.
The goal in these decisions, as in everything we do, is to glorify God as biblically and wisely as possible. By God’s design according to God’s Word, the church thrives on gathering together face-to-face as we love one another, care for one another, and encourage one another by doing things like singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to one another. As much as we are thankful for technology that allows for us to do many of these things online, a biblical picture of a church prioritizes being together in person. This is why Christians around the world gather together every single Sunday some at the risk of their lives. If they are caught, they will be persecuted, potentially imprisoned, and possibly even killed. But it’s worth it to them because this is what it means to be the church. These brothers and sisters in Christ have much to teach us about the value of physically being together as a church family.
At the same time, the reasons above concerning why we normally gather
in person are the same reasons why we are choosing not to gather in
person right now. Because the Bible calls us to care for one another and
love one another (and all our neighbors) as ourselves, we believe the
best way we can do that in light of the current coronavirus (COVID-19)
situation is by not gathering in person. If we were to come together for
a normal Sunday, the likelihood is high that unknowing carriers of
this distinct and different virus would expose others to it. Those
exposed would then scatter from our church building into our city,
increasing the likelihood of people not only at our church building, but in
and beyond our city, being exposed to this virus. All of this would be
harmful for church members and guests as well as people beyond our
church, many of whom are more at-risk physically due to either age or
medical conditions. For these reasons, Pastor believes the best way we can
love our neighbors as ourselves in this unique time is to participate in
publicly endorsed strategies of containment, including social
distancing (defined by the CDC as “remaining out of congregate settings
and avoiding mass gatherings”). This is a time for us to be the
church like never before and we will meet in person together as soon as possible.
HOW ARE WE GLORIFYING GOD, MINISTRY TO FAMILIES AND CHILDREN, AND OTHER MINISTRIES DURING THIS TIME?
We have been a very "unconnected" church when it comes to technology. With the need to better connect online with each of you we have set up this web site (that can handle media better), started a private Instagram account, established a means for online giving, made an app for church family allowing prayer request, preaching, children's lessons, and personal messaging. Please be gracious with us as we learn to navigate this technology. The goal of expanding our technology is not to make everything at BBC public and Pastor is making every effort to be online without invading your privacy.
Pastor is available for you, over the phone, by text, or in person.