Covid-19 Update
- June 30, 2021
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Changes in COVID restrictions
NO LONGER REQUIRED:
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- April 11, 2021
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RHKids In-Person Sunday School is now available for 5-12 year olds at the 9:30AM service!!!
We're excited to safely re-open RHKids! The kids will start with their families in the sanctuary and will be dismissed during the service after the children’s sermon. Children are welcome to stay in the sanctuary as this opportunity is parent preference. By brining your kids you are agreeing to the following: Masks Per CDC, WA State Department of Health, and our venue, the Hyatt Regency, masks are required for children ages 5 and up, and encouraged for ages 2-4. COVID-19 Precautions
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- December 7, 2020
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Last month the Women’s Ministry team announced a gift exchange for December. Unfortunately we feel it might not be advisable to try and organize this type of event under he current restrictions. We will continue to work on an alternative for the women’s retreat in April and will be sending more information in the New Year.
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- September 21, 2020
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New online Bible Study, starting October 5 - Mondays at 7pm: Beth Moore's "Chasing Vines." God wants us to flourish. In fact, he delights in our flourishing. Life isn’t always fun, but in Christ it can always be fruitful. In Chasing Vines, Beth shows us from Scripture how all of life’s concerns—the delights and the trials—matter to God. He uses all of it to help us flourish and be fruitful. Looking through the lens of Christ’s transforming teaching in John 15, Beth gives us a panoramic view of biblical teachings on the Vine, vineyards, vine-dressing, and fruitfulness. Along the way you’ll discover why fruitfulness is so important to God—and how He can use anything that happens to us for His glory and our flourishing. Nothing is for nothing. The study will include discussion, video, and midweek there will be preparations. Each attendee will need to buy the workbook which is $11 on Amazon. To sign up, contact Gwen.
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- September 7, 2020
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On September 13, we will return to two services on Sunday. Both will be held in person, in the Sanctuary, and also broadcast online here. Modern worship will begin at 9:30am, and Traditional worship at 11am. However you worship with us, and whatever style of worship you prefer, we welcome you.
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- July 29, 2020
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Dear Rose Hill Church Family,
I am writing you today to share with you the news of a difficult decision that the Rose Hill Session (Elder board) made at their last meeting: Due to health safety concerns in regards to Covid-19, we are temporarily suspending operations for the Preschool beginning this fall, until it is safe to re-open. This was a very difficult decision for us to make, and was not taken lightly - it has been a topic of discussion for several of our recent Session meetings, as well as our Covid-19 Response Team meetings. As many of you know, the Preschool has been a part of our church for over 40 years, and we believe it has been the longest continually running preschool in Kirkland. That’s a heritage we are proud of; but we are even more proud of the students and families impacted by the Preschool and the dedicated staff we’ve had throughout its history. It saddens us so much not to see the preschoolers this fall! But we feel it is the prudent thing to do for the health and well-being of those who would otherwise be involved with the Preschool. Again, this is not a “closure” of the preschool: we do look forward to when it is safe to re-boot the Preschool and get back to nurturing children to grow socially, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. In uncertain times, we know that God is sovereign. His Word tells us, "I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). It’s a word given to the community – the Church. We don’t know that future now in regards to this particular facet of our community – the Preschool. But we trust that God will reveal His plans for the Preschool, as well as our church family and for each of us individually, and we remain confident in that promise of God. In Christ, Pastor Brian |
- July 17, 2020
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We thank everyone who worshiped with us on campus last week. We will continue to offer the option to worship in person or join us online Sundays at 10am. We also thank everyone for their cooperation with the safety procedures. Greeters and helpers will be available again to help with health checks, sign in, seating, etc.
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- July 7, 2020 - UPDATE
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While we initially had information from King County that we thought gave all worship leaders the ability to “unmask” or not use other protective (but restrictive) devices while leading, we realize now that this exception is granted only to those who are speaking - not those who are singing or playing instruments. So, this Sunday you can expect that musicians and singers will wear masks. Those who are speaking up front are not required to wear a mask, but they will be behind the plexiglass shield that we have brought in. Additionally, we don’t expect the nearest congregant to be less than 25 feet away (4 times the required 6 feet), so there is significant distance from those who are leading to the rest of the congregation.
We want to do everything we can to keep everyone safe and follow the various guidelines given in regards to that. We will make further adjustments to what we are doing as we go along and as we get further directives from health officials. We look forward to seeing you on Sunday for those of you who wish to join us…otherwise, join in here or on YouTube! |
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Dear Rose Hill Church Family:
Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! I hope and pray this letter finds you doing well in the midst of all that is going on. As you likely heard in worship on Sunday, June 28, we are targeting July 12 as our first Sunday back in the sanctuary as we “re-open” worship. Because we are in phase 2 here in King County, we are now able to take this step. Things will not be normal like they used to be, however. We are complying with the state’s guidelines for houses of worship when it comes to health and safety practices: masks, physical distancing, etc. We realize that this makes worship feel a little “different” but for the health and safety of all who wish to come, we will follow these guidelines. Children will stay in worship with their families and engage in their lessons in the pews. The only exceptions to the mask requirement will be individuals who are leading worship – and even then, only when they are up front leading. We will seat people starting at the back of the sanctuary, and spread out the full width of the sanctuary, to keep as much distance as possible between congregants and those who are leading worship. (At least that part will feel normal – the front few pews will be empty! 🙂) Of course, not everyone may be eager to jump right back in to coming to worship for various health and safety reasons. We get that. There is no pressure to come to church. Sunday services (still doing one combined service at 10:00) will be live-streamed, so you can continue participating in them online at the church website or YouTube (search in YouTube for rosehillpc, then “follow” the page) as you have the last several months (not live on Facebook, at least for now). For more information on what to expect, please see the document with this note. We would suggest arriving a few minutes early, as there will be a “check-in” process when you get here. Thank you in advance for your patience, understanding, and cooperation as we work together to make our worship services a positive experience for everyone. If you have questions, you may call any member of our “Re-opening Worship” Team (see the document). In Christ (and on behalf of the Re-Opening Worship Team), Pastor Brian |
Guidelines for Re-Opening Worship
- July 1, 2020
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In Person Worship will return on July 12! Details will be provided here in coming days, but we want to ensure a safe and worshipful experience that complies with official state and local health requirements (masks, social distancing, limited seating, etc.). And we will continue to live stream our service (still a single service at 10am) on our web site and YouTube. We want you to continue to worship with us wherever and however you are most comfortable.
Watch this space! |
- May 15, 2020
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Dear Rose Hill Family:
Grace and peace to you in the midst of this strange, confusing, and challenging time. With Governor Inslee’s recent 4-phase plan for getting back to some sense of normalcy, there is an option for churches to hold “parking lot” worship services. Rather than taking worship out into the parking lot, however, church staff and elders feel that continuing our online worship is the way for us to go, because it is something we will continue in the long run – it was in the works prior to Coronavirus, though the current situation has sped things up for us. However, we see value in getting “together” in the parking lot and being able to simply see and worship alongside our Christian brothers and sisters here at Rose Hill. So, if you would like to, you may come to church on Sunday and watch the service on your cell-connected device while remaining in your car. If you want to do this (and we’ve gotten requests, so I know some of you want to!) here’s what you need to know:
It’s not perfect…but it’s a step in the right direction. If you want to read what the governor’s office said about “parking lot worship services” please see this letter here. Doing this is completely optional, of course. Whether you do come to the church on Sunday morning or stay in the comfort of your home, I hope you will join us for worship online at 10:00 a.m.! In Christ, Pastor Brian |
- May 5, 2020
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Dear RH Church Family:
I pray that in this strange and challenging time that the Lord is giving you great strength, patience, and good health to make it through. I am writing today to share with you some good news. Would you like some of that kind of news, for a change? As you are probably aware, the U.S. Federal Government has created a “stimulus package” to help with the economic impact of the coronavirus. Part of that financial package is money for small businesses (including non-profits) called the “Payroll Protection Program” (PPP). The Session of Rose Hill decided to turn in an application with our bank for some of these PPP funds to cover appropriate expenses for 8 weeks’ time (that time-frame is established by the government, as are “appropriate expenses,” which include payroll and utilities). We found out this past week that we have been approved for these funds! This is really good news, and we thank God for this assistance! A big round of applause should be given to Pam Risinger-Hurte and Leslie Thompson for their hard work of filling out all the paperwork with our bank to get the funds. It was a very fluid situation with forms, other paperwork, and necessary documentation changing the whole way through. In closing, there’s one final piece of good news that we need to remember: God is sovereign over all of this. And while money is a very real need – for ministry purposes, salaries, and more – our greatest need is to be in relationship with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And this same God will continue to work in your life and my life and work all of this out for His Kingdom purposes. If God can create the universe out of nothing, breathe life into beings created in His image, and raise Jesus from the dead: If God can do all of that, he can certainly get us through this time. He will get you through it, and he will get our church through it. My main prayer is that He would do that so marvelously and gloriously that the hearts of people all over the Eastside and around the world would turn to him. May he be doing that work in your life, even right now. In Christ, Pastor Brian |
- April 29, 2020
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This Sunday, May 3, we will again celebrate Communion wherever we are. If you would like to partake of Communion at home, plan on having communion elements there with you: Bread (any bread is fine, or crackers) and something to drink: grape juice, other juice, wine, even water. Pastor Brian will lead us in Communion in worship, much the same as usual, but with you all having the elements there at home that you will eat and drink.
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- April 23, 2020
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We want to let you know that worship this Sunday will be led from the sanctuary! We probably could have been doing this all along as a “streaming artist” - which is deemed a necessary business under Governor Inslee’s “stay home” order - but for the sake of caution we have been broadcasting primarily from homes, as you know. Moving out of our homes will be nice for those of us who have turned living rooms into recording studios, and it will be nice for all of us as a church as we will feel a little more at our “worship home” - the sanctuary of Rose Hill. We will have a skeleton crew to lead worship, and maintain social distancing. Participating in worship online should be no different than the last few weeks of home-broadcast worship: on the church website, Facebook and Youtube pages. We look forward to worshipping together this Sunday!
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- April 20, 2020
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- April 10, 2020
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ECO is joining in the call for Good Friday, April 10, to be a day of fasting and prayer. Learn what you can do at https://epc.org/news/goodfridayprayerfastingresources/ and read more in Pastor Brian's April 9 Devotion.
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- April 9, 2020
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ECO is joining in the call for Good Friday, April 10, to be a day of fasting and prayer. Learn what you can do at https://epc.org/news/goodfridayprayerfastingresources/ and read more in Pastor Brian's April 9 Devotion.
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- April 6, 2020
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- April 3, 2020
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Dear Rose Hill Family:
I pray that you are doing well as we all “stay at home” as best we can. Whoever thought we could defeat an enemy by basically doing nothing? In some ways, the Christian faith is the same: Jesus has defeated the final power of sin and death, that we could never do ourselves. It doesn’t lead us to doing “nothing” but none-the-less, he has done this great and difficult work for us. Communion is when we remember what he has done for us on the cross, and we will celebrate communion this Sunday, as you have probably already heard and read. If you would prefer not to partake of Communion at home, that is fine. I get it: it’s different. It probably even stretches our theology of Communion some, since Communion not seen as a personal and private thing, but something to do in community, with fellow believers. But, there is a sense of community as we join together in worship online, and that will suffice for now for those who wish to take Communion on Sunday. If you would like to partake of Communion at home, plan on having communion elements there with you: Bread (any bread is fine, or crackers) and something to drink: grape juice, other juice, wine, even water. If Jesus can turn water in to wine at a wedding, he can use any beverage for His purposes through Communion in these most unusual times. I will lead us in Communion on Palm Sunday in worship, much the same as usual, but with you all having the elements there at home that you will eat and drink. God’s best to each and every one of you in the meantime. I hope and pray the services, the devotionals, contact from people in the church, and more is being used by God to sustain you in this historical moment. In Christ, Pastor Brian |
- April 2, 2020
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- March 30, 2020
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- March 26, 2020
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Every day seems to bring new news and new challenges. Good thing we worship a God who is over and above it all, even as His Spirit is with us in the midst of it. I want to encourage you to keep leaning into the Lord: online devotions for children, youth, and adults are all at the church website; and of course, Sunday worship carries on, even if it looks/feels different. And that includes this Sunday! Even with the ’Stay Home’ order, worship will be happening this Sunday, online, as worship leaders lead from the church and from their homes! Yet another new way of leading God’s people at RH! Plan on joining in at 10:00 on the church Facebook page, our Youtube channel, or at www.rosehill.church.
Looking further ahead, we will celebrate Communion on 4/5, which is also Palm Sunday. If you would like to partake of Communion at home, plan on having communion elements there with you: Bread (any bread is fine, or crackers) and something to drink: grape juice, other juice, wine, even water. If Jesus can turn water in to wine at a wedding, he can use any beverage for His purposes through Communion in these most unusual times. Some of you have asked about the finances of the church and what’s happened to the checks you’ve mailed in. Everything is still being processed, but at a slower rate. Checks may take a week or two longer than usual to get processed, so just practice that “patience” that you’ve prayed for. 😀 Thank you to all of you who have mailed in checks or have given online. Some of you may not be able to give right now as you might normally, due to salary reductions in this time. Others of you have not had a negative financial impact and can keep giving as usual; perhaps some can even give extra to support the ministries of the church. Regardless of your place on that spectrum, we all have incredible gratitude for God’s promises in times like these, and your expression of that gratitude through financial support of Rose Hill Church is appreciated. One thing we can all do is to reach out to people: friends you see on Sundays; people in your small group, Sunday Discipleship class, or ministry team you serve on; people who have prayer requests in the bulletin at the church website, or made known in other ways; and people outside the church as well. Utilize social media to share devotions, video updates, and worship. John 1:5 says, “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it.” We are clearly in a “dark” time, but the light of Christ will shine through us when we not only “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength” but also when we “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:28-31). In Christ, Pastor Brian |
- March 23, 2020
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We have updated our RightNow Media page to include some video series on “Faith in Hard Times.” There are several different video series to choose from. Each series is designed to minister to you, and help you minister to others, in the midst of grief, pain, and other difficulties. We think a pandemic would qualify! Inside of each series titles you’ll find multiple video clips: some are a few minutes long, others close to an hour. Some of the individual video clips may be more pertinent to you right now than others. Feel free to watch a whole series or selected clips within a series. Many of these are designed as small group studies, and there are corresponding study guides you can use if you wish, too. You can watch them on your own, with others in your household, or with a group - perhaps you have a small group that is still meeting through FaceTime, Skype, Zoom, conference call or some in some other “virtual meeting” space.
If you have not previously set up a RightNow Media account, there’s no time like the present. There are tons of Bible Studies, Christian living, Children’s videos, youth videos, and more. In order to do access it all, click on the “Sign Up For A Free Account” button on our RightNowMedia page (button below), where the links to all of the RH-curated series are as well. Signing up for an account gives you access to all of RightNow Media’s thousands of Christian videos, as well as the ones we’ve specifically highlighted for our Rose Hill Church family. |
- March 23, 2020
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- March 20, 2020
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Dear Rose Hill Church Family:
These are trying times that we find ourselves in. As you know, business in many industries is really struggling: they are closing down, layoffs are happening, hours are reduced for people and more. For a few, it’s the opposite…but for most, things are slowed to a crawl or completely shut down. Here at Rose Hill, and at many other churches, it’s a mixture. Some ministry areas have increased, while others have decreased, with the scales tipping the balance toward “decreased.” Nearly all ministries have had to adapt and change how they are carried out. In the midst of this, however, a very real concern about the financial support of the church arises. The bulk of our income is from the generous giving of people like yourself. With hearts filled with gratitude for God’s goodness and love, and for the expression of the church we all call “home” we give to God to support the ministries of the church. Most of Rose Hill’s financial resources come in on Sunday mornings in worship. Now that we are not able to gather together, this is another facet of our church that needs to adapt and change. There are a few ways you can continue to financially support the ministries of Rose Hill:
Regardless of how you give financially right now, your continued financial support is important to the church and its ministries. Your giving pays for everything that requires money: utilities, building maintenance and repairs, staff salaries, ministry supplies, and more. While we are doing everything we can to reduce costs during this time (thermostats on “hold” at 60 degrees, minimal use of lights, etc.), some expenses continue. While staff cuts or salary reductions are a possibility, we hope not to go that route unless we really need to – the Session has yet to make any determination in regard to that. We want to care for those who pour so much into shaping us as disciples and making Rose Hill a great church to call “home.” Thanks for being the church here at Rose Hill. Your support in all the ways you’re able (prayer, serving, financially) is so important. Thank you for keeping it going in this time. In Christ, Pastor Brian |
- March 19, 2020
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Some video encouragement from Pastor Brian. And check this page for further encouragement.
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- March 17, 2020
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Dear Rose Hill family,
I hope you are safe and healthy in the midst of the most unusual of times, even if the thought of staying as confined to home as possible doesn’t sound like anyone’s idea of fun. But, one way we can love our neighbor is follow the directives of our government and the health officials. To the best of my knowledge, no one in the RH family has caught the virus. Praise God for that! I want to take a brief moment and update you on how we are ministering to the RH family. I’ll try to capture the bulk of things here, though undoubtedly there are other things happening I’m not even aware of as people reach out and care for one another. First, our Deacons and Parish leaders are reaching out to everyone in the congregation through phone calls and email, simply to check in, make sure everyone’s ok, offer help if needed, and find out about how we can be praying. Rob Mathis (Minister of Congregational Care) and I are supplementing that as well. Second, Gwen and Paul are sharing children’s and youth ministry content, respectively, online so kids of all ages can continue to have a connection to the church, and grow as disciples. Third, we will be starting a series of online devotions to help us all navigate the current situation. They will be available at our church website, easily found with a button at the top of the home page (www.rosehill.church). I have written a first introductory devotion which is already posted, and then we are seeking contributions from the RH family for future devotions. Jeanne Harshbarger - who came up with this brilliant idea - has already written one. It will be posted a few days later. Devotional Submissions can be sent to: devotions at rosehillpc.org. If you’d like to contribute yours anonymously, just say so in the body of your email when you send it in. These are unusual times. But all of time - whether “normal” or “strange” - is in God’s hands. He’s got this. And he’s got you. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7). In Christ, Pastor Brian |
- March 13, 2020
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Emerge Youth Group videos are available at RoseHill.Church/Youth-Online!
Kidz and Preschool Do-at-home Lessons are here: |
- March 11, 2020
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Dear Rose Hill Family,
Last night at our Session meeting, the Elders decided we should continue with online worship only for the health and safety of our members as well as our neighbors around us. We came to this conclusion reluctantly because of the central role that worshipping in community has in our church. But, given the situation – and confirmed by today’s speech from Governor Inslee and others, and LWSD now closed for two weeks starting 3/12 – we believe it is the right thing to do, nonetheless. Already several Bible studies and other gatherings at the church have cancelled this week, and after discussions among some of the staff leadership just today, we have made the decision to cancel all ministries this week – no Wednesday night ministries, choir practice, men’s Saturday breakfast, etc. The one exception to that for now is that we will have the Facilities Work Party, as we believe we can maintain space between people more easily. Join us at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday to do some work around the church – including some demo work on the north bathrooms in preparation for their remodel. For this Sunday we will have one service at 10:00 again. Given the trajectory of COVID-19, we may be in this mode for a few Sundays. But we will take each week one at a time. Rev. Gwen Stidham-North will continue to put children’s ministry Sunday school curriculum on the Children’s Ministries page of the church website to aid parents in discipling their kids. This last Sunday’s service was the first time we had ever done any online video casting of our worship, as you know. While it went really well (given the circumstances) we learned some things and will hopefully make it an even better experience for you this Sunday. You will have the ability to watch it right at the church website if you wish (www.rosehill.church), and we believe we can improve the audio so things are clearer for you to hear. If you don’t sing well along with the worship leaders, however, we can’t do much about that. Sing out, anyway! :) Or simply worship the Lord in your heart, which is where it all stems from originally. Jesus commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves. We believe this is one way we can love our neighbors: by taking steps to make sure that COVID-19 does not spread further into our community because we gathered together. In the meantime, practice your own good social distancing practices, washing of hands, etc. And: take the time to pray for Kirkland, our nation, and the world as we continue to respond to the ever-changing landscape of health due to this virus. We will continue to post updates on the church Facebook page, website, and via email. In Christ, Pastor Brian |
- March 8, 2020
- March 7, 2020
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Dear Rose Hill Family:
We have decided to move to one service tomorrow at 10:00am in the blended service format, online only - we're asking that you not come to the campus out of caution and care for our most vulnerable. The service will be broadcast on our Facebook public (Community) page live at 10:00am and then it will be available to watch at any time afterwards so people who don't know how to watch online will be able to watch it at anytime after the service. If you can help us get the word out, please do! This notice will be on our website and Facebook page. You can view the service online on Facebook Live at the RH Community page: https://www.facebook.com/rosehillpc/ Please note: You should NOT need a Facebook account to watch this. So if you do not have Facebook, just use the link provided here in your web browser, and you should still be able to watch. Bless you all and please keep our community in your prayers.
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- March 6, 2020
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The March 8 Pump-It-Up event is canceled and will be rescheduled sometime later this year.
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- March 5, 2020
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Dear Rose Hill Family,
It’s been a long week as we’ve all had an eye turned to the headlines about the Coronavirus. It’s rather unusual to be at the epicenter of a news story with national and international attention, and we’re all a little on edge - understandably so. With four kids in the LWSD, I am getting daily updates from multiple sources about any changes in schedule, closures, etc. The district has their own Emergency Operations Center that is in regular contact with King County Health, and so this is a good source of information for us and gives guidance that meets our needs as a church regarding possible cancellation of services or other ministry events. As we look to this Sunday’s worship, we plan on having everything operating on Sunday as usual, unless something changes in the next couple days. If we need to cancel worship in person, we will move it to an online format so you can worship from home. For this Sunday, if attending in person doesn’t seem wise to you, you can watch it on Facebook Live at the RH Community page, here: https://www.facebook.com/rosehillpc/ Please note: You should NOT need a Facebook account to watch this. So if you do not have Facebook, just use the link provided here in your web browser, and you should still be able to watch - click "Not Now" when it asks you to sign in or create an account. We are exploring other online alternatives for the future, but for now this one is easily implemented. As long as we can keep coming together on Sundays, we will continue the changes we made this last week: we will have hand sanitizer in the lobby and in the sanctuary for anyone to use; we will minimize physical touch between people when we “greet your neighbor” and at the end of the service as well; we will once again not have finger food, and the coffee will be staffed by someone to pump for you. We will also wipe down hard surfaces (e.g., tops of pew backs) in the sanctuary Sunday morning with disinfecting wipes. All of this will help to minimize the possibility of the spread of any illnesses. Obviously, if you are showing signs of the flu or a bad cold, staying home is the right choice. Children’s and youth staff/ministry leaders will also take these same precautions, including wiping down toys, etc. that kids come in contact with in classes and the nursery. For your own information: Here is a link to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Coronavirus page: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html In the meantime, keep this whole situation in your prayers. As far as we know (Rob Mathis and I and others have reached out to people who might be vulnerable to the coronavirus) no one in the church has it. So praise God for that! But we want to be praying for others as well, so please continue to do that. In Christ, Pastor Brian |
