Posted on 10May posted by admin CATEGORIES: General
Dear Church Family,
We are going to begin to regather for worship on May 17, 2020. The Elders selected this date because it is after Governor DeWine has scheduled to allow retail stores to re-open. Keeping in mind that the stay-at-home order never applied to churches, we are not violating any government order in taking this course of action. The Elders have made every effort to weigh the safety of our congregation with our desire to be an example to the community in terms of our compliance with the spirit of Governor DeWine’s directives. We have attempted to love our neighbor by slowing the spread of the COVID-19 virus. That being said, here are the details for May 17th.
- Due to social distancing requirements, our seating capacity will be much lower than usual. We can safely accommodate 40 families on May 17. Whether you are a single person or a large family, you count as 1 family. There will be no Sunday School, children’s programs or nursery to begin with. If you desire to attend, please contact the church office beginning Monday morning to reserve your spot for the 17th. If all the spots fill up for the 17th, you can sign up for the following Sunday. In this period, you can expect to worship online some Sundays and worship in person other Sundays. We hope to be back to two services on May 24th with each service able to accommodate 40 families. If you are in a high-risk group or are sensitive to chemical disinfectants (Lysol), please consider attending the 9AM service on May 24th as we will be disinfecting after the 9AM service in preparation for the 10:45AM service.
- The main thing we would like for you to observe is social distancing while in the building. We want you to fellowship with each other, but please maintain a distance of 6ft apart (unless you are in the same family). To help with this, we would ask that you arrive early because getting to your seat may take longer than normal. After the service is over, we will dismiss by rows so we can keep proper distance. When we dismiss you, please proceed to the parking lot. There you can fellowship more before departing. If you bring a jacket or hat, please keep it with you or leave it in your car.
- We will make every effort to have doors propped open and minimize the number of things you will need to touch. A team of people will be here to direct you and answer any questions. Team members will also say something if people are starting to bunch up or are getting too close. Please make their job easy.
- If you are scheduled to come Sunday and you feel ill in any way, please stay home.
- Here are some recommendations we would like you to keep in mind:
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- If you are in a high-risk group due to age or health, please worship from home.
- We recommend you wear a mask, especially as you enter and exit the building. Masks
will be available to you as you enter.
- We recommend you use the hand sanitizer stations that will be around our building.
- When you are in the parking lot, please maintain social distancing because our
community is watching and we want to show them that we are loving them by slowing
the virus spread.
- These recommendations are just that… recommendations. We are not going to prohibit people from attending worship because they are in a high-risk group or not wearing a mask. Knowing
this, we are asking you to assess your situation and make a wise decision to protect yourself
and your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
If the Lord wills, this will be behind us soon, and these guidelines will not be necessary. These guidelines, though imperfect, represent our best understanding of a wise way to regather. We will be learning as we go, and these guidelines will likely change. Thank you for your understanding.
Pastor Scott Tiede on behalf of the Elder Board.
Posted on 4Apr posted by admin CATEGORIES: General
Holy Week Service Info:
- 4/5/20 – Palm Sunday
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- The Delaware Bible Institute adult Bible study class, Sharing Your Faith During the Coronavirus Pandemic Pt. II will go live on Facebook at 9:30 a.m.
- Worship will be streamed on the church website and Facebook beginning at 10:45 a.m.
- 4/8/20 – Prayer Service
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- Streamed on Facebook and the church website beginning at 7:00 p.m.
- 4/10/20 – Good Friday
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- Streamed on Facebook and the church website beginning at 7:00 p.m.
- Please have a piece of bread and grape juice available for Communion for each member of your family participating when the service begins.
- 4/12/20 – Easter
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- A Sunrise Service will be held on Facebook Live beginning at 6:50 a.m.
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- This service will be later posted to the church website and you can always go back and watch it later on the church website and on Facebook.
- A children’s lesson taught by Sherry Carmichael will be available for families to watch beginning at 9:30 a.m. on both the church website and on Facebook.
- The Easter Sunday worship service will be held online beginning at 10:45 a.m. on both the church website and Facebook page.
- All are encouraged to participate in a Holy Week Bible study produced on the YouVersion Bible App. The study starts on Monday (4/6). You can access the Bible study by clicking on the link below or by accessing the YouVersion Bible app and searching for Holy Week From the Gospel of Mark from Lumo.
Read more
Posted on 31Mar posted by admin CATEGORIES: General
Read more
Posted on 25Mar posted by admin CATEGORIES: General
Figuring out how you can give your financial gift to DBC even though we aren’t having services?
You can give your gift through the following ways:
- By mailing a check
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- Mailing Address:
Delaware Bible Church
45 Belle Avenue
Delaware, OH 43015
- Through a bank pill pay (a check sent through the mail by your bank)
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- Note: Typically banks offer this service for free.
- Through the church website
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- Note: There is a fee of 1% for an ACH (checking account) payment, 3% for a credit card payment + $.40 for every transaction.
- Through Zelle (an electronic transfer done through your bank)
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- If your bank does not have Zelle there is an app you can download on your smartphone.
- There is no fee for using Zelle.
- All payments through Zelle should be submitted to jvangorden@delawarebible.org.
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- The first name for the payment should be Delaware.
- The last name for the payment should be Bible.
Posted on 25Mar posted by admin CATEGORIES: General
Wednesday Night Ministry Update
All Wednesday regularly scheduled evening ministries at DBC are cancelled until further notice. The following ministries will be operating digitally at this time:
Awana (age 3 – 6 grade)
- Children attending Awana will now be permitted to say their Awana sections to their parents until Awana meetings resume.
- All parents are to sign off on sections that their child completes and then is to email the Awana Leader for that child’s group so that they can record the section completion in the Awana database.
- Parents should contact the individual in charge of leading their child’s group:
- If parents have any questions regarding section requirements or if something that the Awana section requires isn’t doable now due to Governor DeWine’s current stay at home order then please send me an email Pastor Brad Harris (our Awana Commander) (bharris@delawarebible.org) and he will check with Awana to determine a solution.
- Parents are allowed to give up to 2 helps per section.
- A help is 2 to 3 words for a Spark and 1 to 2 words for a T&T student.
- Parents with students in Puggles/Cubbies have the same guidelines as Sparks students but should exercise wisdom in sharing as few words as possible in their helps as the child’s verses are generally are much shorter than the Sparks or T&T verses.
- Beginning next week, Pastor Brad will be posting a video of the T&T lesson for the week prior to the time that Awana would normally begin (Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m.) All Awana clubbers are invited to watch the video and additional resources for Puggles/Cubbies as well as Sparks will also be sent out regularly through the weekly Awana Update email. The link to each week’s lesson will be available through the Awana Update email, as well as on the church Facebook page (facebook.com/delawarebible) and at delawarebible.org/updates
- At this time, due to the dramatic changes we have to make to our Awana program, the handbook time goal for this year is for each child to complete their Awana book for the year and nothing more. If they are currently working on other supplemental Awana material after finishing their book it’s fine to continue working on that as well. If a child finishes their Awana book and would like to work on other supplemental material we will see if we currently have it in stock. If we do it can be made available to purchase. If it’s available digitally we can print it off and have it available as well. However, if we don’t have it in stock and it isn’t available digitally please understand that currently Awana is unsure of when shipments will come in due to Covid-19 related shipping changes and it’s very likely that we will be unable to receive items in a reasonable timeframe.
- Parents can check to see if an item is available by contacting Jalayne Van Gorden (our Awana Administrative Secretary) to see about availability. She can be reached at jvangorden1@gmail.com
- Some have asked if we plan on still having an awards ceremony at the end of the Awana year. This will depend on the severity of Covid-19 and what’s going on at that time.
- Any further questions or needs related to Awana can be sent to Pastor Brad Harris (bharris@delawarebible.org).
The Forge Youth Group (7-12 grade)
- The Forge will be continuing their current study, Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels by J. Warner Wallace digitally through RightNowMedia. Weekly updates regarding The Forge including links to the study will be included in each weeks Forge News email newsletter.
Prayer Meeting
- Prayer Meeting will be streamed on the church website as well as on Facebook every Wednesday evening from 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Each service will include a scripture reflection, practical ideas on how to lead and disciple your family through this time, and tips on how we can share our faith with others during this time. You’ll also have the opportunity to submit prayer requests that we pray for live on air.
Posted on 20Mar posted by admin CATEGORIES: General
Notes Regarding Upcoming Services
- THIS SUNDAY
- This upcoming Sunday we will live stream the worship service at 10:45 a.m. on the church website and on Facebook just like last week. There will be no bulletin available this week as there aren’t any major church announcements to share. If you would like a sermon outline to fill out the blanks one will be posted on the Coronavirus Updates section of the church website and on the church Facebook page by 9:00 a.m.
- THIS WEEK
- As Pastor Scott shared in a previous OneCall all Sunday and Wednesday evening services as well as all ministries that meet at the church are cancelled for this upcoming week. We are planning on streaming our services the next two Sundays and will continue to monitor what’s going on and make decisions regarding future services week by week.
- WEDNESDAY NIGHT PRAYER SERVICE – STREAMED
- Beginning this upcoming Wednesday we will begin streaming a Wednesday night prayer service on both the church website and Facebook from 7 p.m. – 8 p.m. Each service will include a scripture reflection, practical ideas on how to lead and disciple your family through this time, and tips on how we can share our faith with others during this time. You’ll also have the opportunity to submit prayer requests that we will pray for live on air.
- BEGINNING NEXT SUNDAY
- Beginning next Sunday (one week from this Sunday) we will offer one adult Sunday school class that will be streamed from 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. with rotating teachers. We’re still working on streaming options for this but right now it’s looking like we can only stream on Facebook live but if that’s the case we can still post the video to the webpage later.
- Also beginning one week from Sunday we’ll offer a children’s resource that parents can access on Sunday or sometime throughout the week that you can use to aid in discipling your family. We will more info about this available next week as well.
- TITHES & OFFERINGS
- Many have asked how they can still give their weekly tithe to the church during this time. Our encouragement is to mail your check to the church or give online or through your bank. Most banks offer bill pay services similar to this for free but there is a slight charge from your gift that’s taken out for transaction fees if you choose to give online. If you don’t fall into an at-risk category you can also choose to bring your gift in during church office hours Monday – Friday 8a.m. – 5 p.m. as long as we still continue to hold open office hours.
- HAVE NEEDS?
- If you fall into an especially “at risk” group for the Coronavirus (over 60 years of age or have medical issues such as diabetes, lung disease, or heart problems) please don’t risk going out into public! Contact a member of your church family to help! Congregants are encouraged to contact their LIFE group leader or the church office to let us know of your needs. We’ll do our best to help in any way that we can.
- MISSIONS CONFERENCE 2020
- Missions Conference will no longer be held on Mark 27-29. Alternative plans will be made by our Missions Committee and will be shared with the congregation at a later date.
- LUNCHTIME WITH PASTOR SCOTT (STREAMED ONLY ON FACEBOOK)
- Monday – Saturday each week, Pastor Scott will continue to give a brief update regarding the Coronavirus and how Christians can respond in accordance to God’s Word during this time on Facebook Live. All live and previous recordings can be accessed at facebook.com/delawarebible at any time.
Posted on 17Mar posted by admin CATEGORIES: General
Dear Church Family,
It is with mixed emotions that I tell you that we are not having public worship services at the church tomorrow. There will be a worship service online at 10:45AM only. This decision was made in prayerful consideration of what is happening in our world right now regarding the coronavirus pandemic. Things are changing quickly. We are not operating out of fear but wisdom. Although Governor DeWine has not prohibited churches from gathering, he has asked us to be mindful of each other’s safety. Because the Bible calls us to love one another before ourselves, the leadership of this church feels it necessary to cancel public services. You may be in support of this, you may not. I ask you support your church leadership understanding the difficulty of this decision.
So, we will gather tomorrow online at 10:45 AM only. You can get to our livestream by visiting our website, delawarebible.org, and clicking on ‘Live Stream’ or you can go to facebook.com/delawarebible. If you have technical questions, you can text Pastor Brad during that time. I will post the sermon as soon as I can after the service has concluded. We will see you tomorrow morning at 10:45am. We will evaluate what is happening for next Sunday and have that information to you by the close of business on Wednesday.
If you are in a high-risk group due to age or medical condition, I am asking you to take this virus very seriously and stay home. If you are in a high-risk group and need something, please do not go out shopping, but call someone in your LIFE group or one of the pastors and we will try to get what you need and deliver it to your doorstep.
Thank you, and may God bless you.
Pastor Scott Tiede
Posted on 17Mar posted by admin CATEGORIES: General
Dear Delaware Bible Church,
While we know that God is in complete control of this situation, we want to be responsible to do our part in this time of need. As you may or may not be aware, Governor DeWine announced some additional precautions today to help limit the spread of the virus by directing all public and private schools, Delaware Christian School included, to go on a 3-week Spring Break effective immediately. The governor is also directing Ohioans to limit the size of gatherings to under 100 people. While churches are excluded, we want to do our part to prevent the spread.
This Sunday we will have two morning services at 9 and 10:45AM as usual. There will be no evening services. We will modify our AM services as follows: 1) there will be no Sunday school. However, there will be children’s ministries for Nursery through 3rd grade 2) there will be no greeting time and we will have additional hand sanitizer stations set up 3) there will be no food or coffee service (it’s bring your own coffee) and finally, there will be no passing of offering plates, instead there will be an offering box in the back of the auditorium or you can drop off your offering at the church during normal business hours. We are asking you to stay home if you have any symptoms of being sick. If you are in a high-risk group because of age or pre-existing medical conditions, we advise you to stay home and watch the service live via internet at either 9 or 10:45am. If you are in a high-risk group, but you don’t have internet, consider going to a fellow church member’s home and watching it online there. If you want to come to church, please feel free, but if you just also want to help limit the spread, we support those who wish to stay home and watch online.
Finally, let’s all pray for those in authority who have to make difficult decisions and also that this trial passes soon. Let’s also pray that God would use each one of us during this time to be salt and light to those around us who are worried or fearful.
Thank you, and may God bless you!
Pastor Scott Tiede
