155 West Walnut Street Hillsboro, OH 45133

(937) 393-1752 Email: info@hillsborochurch.net

May 4, 2020 Volume 60—Number 18

Visit our website: hillsborochurch.net

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram

THE

HILLSBORO

CHRISTIAN

May 7, 2020

NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER

This year, instead of a physical place that you may come and

pray, we will hold our National Day of Prayer service virtually

through Facebook.

Starting at 9:00 AM, we will post a comment or video on Face-

book about the National Day of Prayer. Each hour following,

there will be a post about a suggested topic you can pray about.

Adam Steele will close out our National Day of Prayer with

our “Live at Five” feed. Please be sure to join us!

Come, Let Us Worship Together Praise the LORD!

Sing to the LORD a new song. Sing His praise in the assembly of the faithful.

~PSALM 149:1

W E ARE LIVING IN UNPRECEDENTED

times. Never before, in our nation, have

we responded to a health crisis in this

manner. It has been a challenge, and through it all

you have responded amazingly. You have demon-

strated your love for God through support of your

church, her mission, her staff and elders. You have

encouraged one another, prayed for one another,

served one another and grieved with one another.

You have faithfully stewarded your resources on be-

half of the Kingdom.

But I have heard a number of you ask the question:

When will we be able to gather together for worship

like normal? The simple answer to that is: I don’t

know. In fact, it may never be quite like it was

“before,” and that is not all bad. What I can tell you

is when we are going to resume our worship togeth-

er.

As the government begins to ease restrictions

(slightly) on businesses, and with COVID-19 signifi-

cantly suppressed, particularly in Highland County,

we are going to gather for worship on Sunday,

May 17. This will be an exciting day for us, having

been confined to our homes and worshiping “online”

only for the past 8, soon to be 9, weeks. But when

you come back¸ THINGS WILL BE DIFFERENT.

The governor has made it clear that the restrictions

he has placed on business and public gatherings

don’t apply to churches and religious gatherings.

But in order to protect you and honor the govern-

ment as much as possible, we are changing our

structure and putting protective measures in place.

So, let me share with you our guidelines and what

you can expect.

AT RISK PEOPLE AND GROUPS: There is still

a number of our community and congregation that

are “at risk”, or in “at risk” groups, those above the

age of 60, or those with other underlying health is-

sues. That risk increases with age, those 70 and

above are at much greater risk. We strongly urge

you, if you, or a loved one in your home, are in any of

those categories that you continue to stay home and

worship with us online at Facebook Live.

THERE WILL BE TWO SERVICES. To encourage

safety and achieve appropriate social distancing,

there will be two services—one at 9:00, the other at

10:30. As we are all used to attending 10:30 wor-

ship, we want to encourage any who are able to come

to the 9:00 hour to help balance our attendance. The

services will be identical. There will be no Con-

nection Café.

WHEN YOU ARRIVE, we ask that you park in our

lots leaving an empty space beside every car and

that you enter through either the South entrance or

North (main foyer) entrance.

You will be met at the door by greeters respecting

your health and welfare by wearing masks and

gloves. You will not receive a worship folder, but

there will be one available digitally. You will not be

greeted with a handshake or a hug, but you will

receive a happy welcome with smiling eyes and a

possible “air high-5” or “elbow bump.” You will also

receive, on entering, prepackaged communion em-

blems that we will take together at the appropriate

time in our service.

Masks for the congregation are encouraged but vol-

untary. To accommodate that, the Chaney girls have

been busy making masks for anyone who may wish

or need one. Thank you Kyah & Jayah.

SOCIAL DISTANCING AS WE WORSHIP: When

we gather on the 17th we want everyone to practice

social distancing by respecting everyone’s personal

HILLTOP KIDS

GET CONNECTED! (this is for kids age 4 through 5th grade). You

can connect with Megan Apgar on Sunday evenings @ 6:00 PM via

Zoom! If you have not connected with Megan yet, give her a call

and she will add you to the conversation, or you can call the

church office 937-393-1752 and leave your contact information

(name, phone number) and Megan will contact you. This is a

AUGUST 7 - 9, 2020

YES, at this time we are still planning on holding

this event at Restoration Acres. Keep watching

for new updates!

GRADUATES!

We want to recognize you!

Please call the church office (937-393-1752) with the following information:

• Where you are graduating from

• Your future plans

• 3 photos of yourself (one of them as a baby)

Please send photos electronically by Monday, May 11th to: jan@hillsborochurch.net

(This is for the newsletter, this is separate from what Adam is doing. I know there are more of you who are graduating!)

space as much as possible, in the hallways and

worship center. This means that as you enter the

worship center every other pew will be blocked off

and the balcony closed to reduce sanitizing de-

mand. We will open the balcony only if attendance

demands it. In the open pews we ask that families

sit together and practice social distancing from other

families and individuals.

STEWARDSHIP OPTIONS: We want to encour-

age you to consider giving online through the church

app or website. This is the easiest and safest way to

give during this time. However, if you are not com-

fortable with that option, there will be offering recep-

tacles available as you exit the worship center. We

are grateful for your faithful stewardship.

HOPE GROUPS / SUNDAY SCHOOL / CHIL-

DREN’S SERVICES. This means that there will be

no Hope Groups, Sunday School or Junior Church.

Children will worship with their families. The

nursery will be open to any who may need it, but it

will not be staffed. Adult Hope groups are encour-

aged to continue meeting virtually through ZOOM or

Facebook, but may meet physically during one of the

worship hours, practicing safe social distancing.

This needs to be scheduled through Adam or Jan by

calling the office.

FACEBOOK LIVESTREAM: For those who can-

not, should not, or are uncomfortable joining us

physically, we will continue to stream our services

online at the 10:30 hour. Please join us there and

share with anyone you can. In all things, may Jesus

Christ be praised!

Wow! That is a lot to take in! Though this is not our

plan for the long haul, this will allow us to meet

together once again, celebrate the goodness and

faithfulness of God, and enjoy the sweet fellowship

that we all have been missing. Stay safe. Stay faith-

ful.

You can also check out our video announcement at

www.hillsborochurch.net & Facebook.

HEALTH: Sue Bryan, Denver Conley, Becky Gother-man, Marvin Gotherman, Elsie McConnaughey, Larry

Moore, Ohio Mission Bible Training Center, Janet Pence, Larry Roades, Angela Ruble, Jan Waller, Wayne Weidenbein, Courtney Wright SHUT-INS: Barbara Boris, Jewel Calmes, Mable McGraw, John Porter, Carol Setty CANCER: Jeffrey Aurigema, Carl Copas, Gary Hartman, Diann Hens-ley, Bill Hess, Sara Reifenberger, Judy Roush, Ken Roush, Mark Sears, Jamie Stout, Dan Sweeney, Jon Young SPIRITUAL: America FAMILY LOSS: Michael Kisling family (Rick Kisling’s brother); Herbert Rhoads family (Beverly Rhoads’ husband) MISSION: The Brittons, The Millers, The Newmans MILITARY: Tyler & Cindy Amos, Chad Blankenship, Justin Brandt, Ryan Burns, Mark Conover, Thaddeus Conover, Corey Hughes, Kyle Kessinger, Taylor Sweeney HCC LEADERSHIP: Steve Allen, Jim Bush, Roger Epley, Dan Fauber, Mike Labig, and Richard VanZant

Names in italic type are due to be the removed from the next newsletter, PLEASE contact the church office with an update if they should remain.

PRAYER AREA 937

Due to the Corona virus “stay in place” order, April 18th was

the last time Area 937 was open to our clients. We held a drive

through pick up and emptied the shelves, freezers and refrigera-

tors not knowing what our future would be.

We are hoping to be open again in June. If you are able to

donate food to Area 937, please drop your donations in the

barrel provided in the South entrance lobby. You may drop off

your donations on Mondays or Tuesdays as of now.

Suggested items we can use are;

Canned goods: beans, corn, carrots, peas, pork n beans,

spinach, tomatoes, soups, fruit, tuna, ham, chicken, peanut

butter, jelly

Dry goods: crackers, dry beans, cereal, pancake mix, stuffing,

flour, sugar, mac n cheese

Necessities: shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, toilet paper,

soap, dish soap, tissues, paper towels

For those of you who do not have Facebook, a printed copy of The

Hillsboro Christian newsletter will be available Wednesdays in the

file boxes attached to the wall at our South entrance. You may

stop by anytime to pick one up.

NEWSLETTER

JR. & SR. HIGH YOUTH

Wednesday evenings @ 7:00 PM Adam Steele and Ingrid

Griffith do a livestream lesson on Facebook. Be sure to tune in

each Wednesday.