High Pointe Phased Re-gathering Plan: Preparing for Phase Two

Since Pentecost, the early Christians gathered on Sundays – the Lord’s Day – for distinctly Christian worship. Though the first Christians were Jews who embraced Jesus as their Messiah and kept meeting in the temple during the times of prayer, they met on the first day of the week to commemorate Jesus’ resurrection, hear apostolic teaching, pray, sing, take up offerings, and to partake in the Lord’s Supper. As they gathered, they not only exalted the triune God on the basis of the salvation of the Son and in reliance of the Holy Spirit, they also encouraged and edified one another in the gospel word.

We’ve missed that! Though we have provided online home worship guides with sermons, prayers, and songs, we’ve missed gathering together. It is not normal for the church not to gather. But we are not living in normal times. Throughout the history of the church, there have been times, even seasons, when it could not gather. Whether it was a result of persecution of, more recently, the Spanish Influenza epidemic of 1918, there have been times when the church has had to forego meeting together. The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 has also been one of those times. But now we are looking forward to and planning for regathering on June 7, 2020. Here are some ways you can begin preparing now to gather with us on June 7, if you are ready and feel comfortable.

We will continue posting our updates on our website HERE. But for the latest updates in real time, follow our social media accounts: High Pointe Facebook Page (link HERE) and Twitter (link HERE).

To prepare us for our regular meeting times, we will begin offering our service via livestream beginning this Sunday, May 31, at 10:00 a.m. To access our livestream, go to our website: www.highpointeaustin.org. You may also access links to our livestream from our Facebook page or Twitter feed. Make plans now to be ready for our livestream at 10:00 a.m. each Sunday.
NOTE: We will no longer offer a pre-recorded video sermon, songs, prayer. The only online access to our Sunday service will be at 10:00 am via the livestream. If you miss the livestream, the sermon will be posted to the website within 24 hours.

Due to social distancing recommendations, the capacity of our auditorium is about 150 persons. Consequently, to accommodate as many of you as possible, we will hold two identical services each Sunday. The first service will take place during our normal 10:00 am worship hour. Our second service will be at 5:00 pm when we would have normally gathered for our evening prayer service.

In order to make sure everyone is able to have a seat, we are asking you to register for either service. You will help us greatly by this extra effort, which will also allow us to plan for guests. You will be able to register from a link in the e-news, Facebook, Twitter, or directly from our website.

Beginning June 7, 2020, we will resume in-person gatherings. To provide a safe environment, we will follow the guidelines provided by our governor, our attorney general, and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

During Phase TWO, our priority will be on gathering as a church on the Lord’s Day. Consequently, Life Groups that desire to begin meeting in-person will need to meet on a night other than Sundays until we can resume our normal schedule.

NOTE: During Phase TWO we will not offer nursery, children’s ministries, or Life Classes.

High Pointe, your elders thank God for you! You have been incredibly generous during this time as you’ve continued your regular giving. You have been wonderfully gracious during this time as you’ve encouraged us by praying for us and checking in on us. And you have been humbly flexible as you have been bending with the winds of change without breaking. What a joy it is to serve you. We cannot wait to gather together. Until then, let us continue praying for one another, and let us long for the day when we may gather again as we have before.

Love,

Pastor Juan