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Week of August 2-8, 2020
As we seek to continue to keep connected as a church family, below you will find several ways to participate in worship, prayer, and service with others from HBIC. We invite you to join us in any of these various ways this week!

There's also some important information in this week's e-mail, so be sure to scroll the whole way through!

We continue to pray that you will experience the riches of the Lord's presence during this time in which many of us are not able to be present with one another!
-- HBIC Pastoral Staff
ONLINE WORSHIP

 Our pastoral staff are working together each week to record a worship service for our church family.

The service will be available on the  HBIC YouTube Channel   on Sunday mornings by 9 am, as well as anytime thereafter. This pre-recorded, online service is available in addition to the in-person worship services at Lingle Park.

(Note: The Children's Story for each week will be a part of the pre-recorded service and will not be included in the Lingle Park services.)
WORSHIP-AT-HOME RESOURCES

The  Worship-At-Home Resource Page   serves as a companion to the weekly worship video on the HBIC YouTube Channel and includes the song lyrics, the sermon scripture, plus some links for children. ...If you have more than one device and you'd like to see the lyrics to sing along, or have the sermon scripture handy to read along, you can have the video playing on one device while you follow along with the worship resource on the other!

May you experience the blessing of God
as you worship this week!
If you've registered for one of the worship services at Lingle Park tomorrow, 9 am and 11 am, here are a few last minutes details and reminders:
  • the check-in table will be available at least 30 minutes before each service start-time
  • at check-in, someone will be there to give each person a spritz of hand sanitizer
  • each service is planned to be less than an hour in length
  • children's activity bags will be available
  • we'll have pages with the song lyrics available, but you can also open the worship resource page (above in this weekly email) on your phone or tablet
  • we'll have a donation container at the check-in table in case you'd like to give your tithe/offerings in person
  • with the very hot weather, consider bringing some kind of shade for your spot on the grass
  • be sure to have masks or face shields that cover the mouth and nose for anyone over 2 years of age, to be worn the whole time (we'll have some disposable masks available in case you forget one).
  • small bottles of water will be available in case you need any
  • seating under the pavilion will be limited, most of our gathering will need to set up on the grass area the chairs/blankets that you bring
  • we'll be spraying disinfectant and covering half of the picnic tables under the pavilion with disposable table cover - if you end up under the pavilion, please be sure to sit at one of the covered tables (we'll be disinfecting and covering the other half of the tables between services, same guideline for each service)
  • Lingle Park does have a couple porta-potties, but you may want to take care of bathroom needs at home before you come in order to avoid them if you can

If you have any questions between today and tomorrow morning (before 8:00 am), feel free to contact Pastor Hank or Pastor Lynda .

... And if you still need to register for one of the August 2nd services , click here for 9 am , or click here for 11 am .
WORSHIP SERVICE LIVESTREAM

The last two weeks, we worked on trial runs of live-streaming the services at Lingle Park. We're hoping this week to have the kinks worked out, and we are planning to livestream both the 9 and 11 am in-person services, giving one more worship service option for those who are not able to join us at the park. If all works well, you'll be able to link to both of the live-stream services on the HBIC YouTube Channel: youtube.com/c/HarrisburgBICChurch .
PASTORAL LOVE GIFT

As has been announced, we recently accepted Esteban Nieves’ resignation; Pastor Esteban and Priscilla will be moving to the West Chester area, where he will be serving at a church, and Priscilla will be pursuing her education.

Sunday, August 30 will be Pastor Esteban's last Sunday serving at HBIC. We will be more formally thanking Pastor Esteban for his service to the church at our services that day. The congregation is invited to contribute toward a love gift that will be presented to him. Contributions toward the gift can be given (by August 26), either online or mailed to the church, marked for love gift.

Pray for Pastor Esteban as he begins serving at a church in the West Chester area in September, and pray for Priscilla as she begins a Graduate Assistantship at West Chester University. We pray that the Lord will continue to bless and keep them!
Since we do not have a weekly worship service bulletin during this time, we are including a Schedule for the Week in this weekly email.

The following will be taking place during the week of August 2 to 8 :

  • Sunday, 9 am - On-Line Worship Service (HBIC YouTube Channel)
  • Sunday, 9 am and 11 am - Worship Services (Lingle Park)
  • Sunday, 9 am and 11 am - Worship Service Livestream (HBIC YouTube Channel)
  • Monday to Friday, various times by appointment - Help with Set Up for Backpack Distribution (CE Room)
  • Saturday, 9 am to noon - Backpack Distribution (CE Room)

If you'd like to participate in any of these and need more information, contact Pastor Hank or Pastor Brie or the church office for the worship gatherings. Contact Pastor Carmen regarding the Backpack Distribution day on Saturday or scheduling a time to help with set-up, Monday through Friday.

We also invite you to join in praying for the congregation
throughout the week and for those who may participate!
BACKPACK BLESSINGS

Pastor Carmen is still looking for volunteers to help this week with filling backpacks with school supplies and getting everything organized for our Backpack Blessings distribution on Saturday, August 8. Please contact Pastor Carmen by phone (717-592-0131) or by email to set up a time that will work for you to do some of this prep work. Thank you!
AUGUST 9 WORSHIP SERVICES

We are planning to hold two Sunday in-person worship services at Lingle Park next Sunday, August 9th ; the start times will once again be 9 am and 11 am . (The sign-in table will be available at least 30 minutes before each service begins.) We look forward to this special time to gather in person with those who are able to attend.

We will be gathering with the following safety protocols:
  • masks are to be worn for the entirety of the time gathered with the church
  • there will be attendance limits for each service
  • you will need to register in order to attend (to help with the size of each service and to help with contact tracing if that becomes needed at any point)
  • if children attend, they are to remain with their parent/guardian
  • place your seating at least 6 ft. from others
  • hand sanitizer will be available
  • no handshaking and hugging
  • if you know you have been exposed to Covid-19 or if you have any symptoms of illness, please do not attend

Below there are two buttons, one for the 9 am service and another for the 11 am service. Click on the button of the service you would like to attend, which will take you to the brief registration form. Please fill it out completely and hit submit. You should receive an email response letting you know that you are registered. (If you have any problem, feel free to contact Pastor Brie by phone or  email .)

You'll help the staff by submitting your registration by Saturday, August 8 at noon, and the sooner the better!

(NOTE: The address for Lingle Park is 1130 Pleasant Rd, Harrisburg 17111, not far off Union Deposit Rd.)
AUGUST & SEPTEMBER WORSHIP SCHEDULE

For the months of August and September, we will continue to hold Sunday morning in-person worship services at Lingle Park in Harrisburg. We have the park pavilion reserved for most Sundays in August and all Sundays in September. (The park pavilion was not available to be reserved for Sunday, August 16. We will be holding a virtual Communion Service on Zoom on that date instead.)
COMMUNION SERVICE
ON ZOOM

The pastoral staff will be leading a  Sunday Morning Communion Service on Zoom... In place of our pre-recorded worship service on Sunday, August 16, beginning at 9 am, we will gather together virtually for an online Communion Service.

We hope you'll plan to join us for this special service filled with scripture readings, prayer, songs of praise, a brief meditation, and a chance to share in communion together!  (Please note: you'll need to plan ahead to provide the bread and juice for your household.)
NEW "WORSHIP THROUGH SONG" VIDEO COMING AUGUST 16

In addition to the Communion Service on Zoom on August 16, we also wanted to provide a worship resource on our HBIC YouTube Channel for that day. We're delighted that Pastor Esteban and Priscilla will be blessing us with another video of worship music!

The  Worship Through Song video will go live on the  HBIC YouTube Channel on  Sunday, August 16, beginning at 7 pm, and we'll be sending out an accompanying lyric sheet with that week's  Journeying Together email.
AUGUST IS HBIC'S "SABBATH" MONTH

And here's more about what we mean by this...

"August Sabbath" doesn't mean that it's a month off for our staff (though some of the staff will be on vacation for some of the time). Each year we take a break in August from everything except our Sunday worship services, things like meetings, Wednesday evening gatherings, etc. It's an annual break that gives our staff and all of our volunteers some time for rest and refreshment, as well as some time for planning as we gear up for a new school year. We will have Sunday morning worship services only (both in-person and online most of the month), no other regular programming or meetings.

As always, pastoral staff will be available for you throughout the month, except during some vacation time for some of them (the vacation schedule is noted in this Journeying Together email each week). You can reach out to the pastors anytime by phone or by email.


PRAY FOR THOSE WHO HAVE RECENTLY LOST LOVED ONES...

Pray for Tim and Deb Morgan and their boys as they grieve the loss of Tim's father this past week.
BIBLE QUIZZING

HBIC's Bible Quiz Team will soon begin their practices for the 2020/2021 quizzing year!

If you are entering 6th grade or above and are interested in joining the Quiz Team or in learning more about Bible Quizzing, please contact our head coach, Keegan Asper. He'd love to talk with you about the possibility of joining!
VBS INDIA WELL PROJECT UPDATE

Our virtual VBS offering project for this year has been raising funds for a well project in Manipur, India, where the Veinos and their ministry, Northeast India Health and Education Fund (NIHEF) have built a medical clinic. Clean water saves lives!

To date, $2563 has been given to this VBS Offering Project, plus $1000 in generous matching funds, for a current total of $3563! Thanks to all who have contributed!

Giving to the project is still open, as funds are still needed for NIHEF to be able to complete the well project, with storage for the pumped water, sinks in the clinic, etc. You're invited to join our children in giving to this India Well Project! You can click on the link below to get to the church's online giving page, then select India Well Project, or mail a check to the church marked Well Project or VBS.
PASTORAL STAFF VACATIONS

Pastor Patty (7/31 to 8/9) and Pastor Lynda (8/3 to 8/17) will both be taking some August vacation time.

In addition to refraining from contacting them during their vacations, pray for this to be a time of refreshment for them and their families. ...Please feel free to contact any of the other pastors if you have a need.
CHURCH DIRECTORY
NEEDS PHOTOS!

During the last couple of months, we've been working on an update to the church directory, which we'd like to roll out this fall.

Over the years, many people have shared that they'd be helped by having pictures in our church directory. So we are putting out a request... Please send a recent photo of you or your family (preferably in color; black & white also accepted) to the church office. We'll use these in-house, in a printed version and a pdf version of our HBIC Church Directory. Thanks for your help! If you have any questions, contact Pastor Brie.
MISSION OF MERCY
IN NEED OF VOLUNTEERS

Mission of Mercy's Mobile Medical Clinic has a revised start date - they will be returning to Harrisburg on Thursday, September 3!

Mission of Mercy is looking for additional volunteers to work with them as they resume providing medical care for many in Harrisburg who struggle to afford the services they need.

As they prepare to return to ministry using our CE Room and our parking area along Greenwood Street, Mission of Mercy is in need of nurses, people to help with registration, and people to help interpret. If you can give a day to serve on the first and/or third Thursday of the month, contact Pastor Carmen to let her know of your interest.
ROXBURY CAMP MEETING

Roxbury Camp Meeting, which is a summertime "camp meeting" of the BIC Church held in Roxbury, PA, will be taking place July 31 to August 9, with reduced attendance and safety protocols. This year's theme is 2020: Focus, Clarity, Illuminate. Various camp sessions will be available to be viewed online, morning and evening services each day, plus Missions Day on Saturday, August 8. Click here to connect with the Camp Meeting website.

We received notices this week regarding new employment opportunities at Messiah University, Jibe Staffing, and Christian School Association of Greater Harrisburg. Click on any of these names to link to their employment websites.