Reopening Plan

Church Family,

The leaders of First Baptist Friendswood are excited to announce our August regathering plan. We will begin with worship only on Sunday, August 2, 2020, at 9:30 am and 11:00 am. Our goal is to practice wisdom and provide a safe environment for our multi-generational church family.

Until further notice, all worship services will be “family style,” with families sitting together, yet six feet apart from other families. Childcare will not be provided. Sunday school groups and Bible studies will resume at a later date. We encourage you to bring crayons, books, or whatever your child might enjoy while worshiping. The church will continue to provide worship services online each Sunday at 11:00 am should you and your family choose to worship from home.

The regathering plan is a joint effort of the pastoral staff and healthcare professionals from our congregation:

If you are over 65 or have underlying health issues, putting you in a high-risk category for COVID, as advised by the CDC (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-at-increased-risk.html) we encourage you to make an informed decision regarding worshiping on campus.

The following questions will be posted outside the worship center:

• Have you had a fever in the last 24 hours?
• Have you traveled out of state or country in the last 14 days?
• Have you been exposed to someone with COVID 19 in the last 14 days?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, please worship from home.

For 9:30 am worship, please arrive no earlier than 9:00 am.

For 11:00 am worship, please arrive no earlier than 10:45 am.

The designated entrances will be the two glass doors on Pecan street (main church entrance). Exterior entrances will be opened for you by our greeters and two sets of interior doors will be propped open. We will provide hand sanitizer as you enter the foyer.
Although not required, we encourage you to wear a mask throughout the entire worship service. Keep in mind that worship through singing will be included, which has a higher risk of transmission. Cloth face coverings are encouraged by the CDC to decrease transmission (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/large-events/considerations-for-events-gatherings.html) and have been mandated by Gov. Abbott for anyone age ten or older whenever it is “not feasible to maintain six feet of social distancing from another individual not in the same household” (https://open.texas.gov/uploads/files/organization/opentexas/OpenTexas-Checklist-Individuals.pdf). Although Gov. Abbott’s mandate does not apply to churches, we believe it is prudent to encourage you to wear a mask throughout the service.
Sit as a family unit. Our ushers will lead you to your seats. Seating will be arranged to allow for social distancing. If your child twelve years or younger needs to use the restroom during worship, please go with them.

Five minutes before worship begins, everyone will be seated to prepare their hearts and minds for worship. We will read scripture, reflect, and pray together as a body of believers.

The congregation will be dismissed one section at a time, utilizing the transept doors as the exits. We ask that you leave the worship center wearing a mask and socialize outside if desired. The worship center will be sanitized after both worship services.
We look forward to the day we can see all of you face to face. We will continue to live stream the 11:00 am worship on our Facebook page and via our website at https://www.firstbaptistfriendswood.org/livestream.

Paul wrote, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourself. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-4). These days allow us to be selfless and others centric, just like our Messiah.

Praying for Each of You,

The Church Staff