Pastor Jeff's Office Hours:

     Tuesday: 9a-12p

     Wednesday: 12:30p-3:30p

     Thursday: 9a-12p

     Friday: 9a-12p

Pastor's Page

“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD.’” Psalm 122:1

If you have not yet heard, pending no significant changes in the way things are going with the pandemic here in Maine or in York County, OBC has set the date of Sunday, September 20th to return to in-person worship! We are excited at the prospect of getting back together for worship!

Since the Coronavirus is still with us, though, there will be many things to consider and plan for as we make preparations for re-opening. I’d like to take this space to let you know some of the things that will be put into place for in-person worship. There are guidelines that come from the Governor’s office and interpretation of those guidelines that we have received from our denomination and from the Christian Civic League of Maine. The staff and leadership boards of the church are in the midst of making plans on how to implement these guidelines, but I wanted to give out some information as soon as possible, since September 20th will be here before you know it! Here are a few of the guidelines we will need to follow for in-person worship:

• We will be limited to 50 people in the sanctuary. This includes everyone participating in leading worship. Church leadership boards are discussing the best way to manage this.

• We will need to wear masks, probably the whole time. Congregational singing is allowed if masks are worn.

• Seating arrangements will be such that everyone is as far from one another as possible. People from the same household will be able to sit with one another. We will be asking everyone to please allow the ushers to seat you rather than seating yourself. You should be able to sit at least near your normal seats. • There will be no fellowship time following the service. There are, of course, many other considerations the church staff and boards are discussing. Please keep us in your prayers as we make these plans! We will be communicating any new information as soon as we can. We are planning on preparing a video to go up on our YouTube channel showing what it will be like to come to in-person worship on September 20th .

We will continue to offer worship online. We will be switching from the prepared videos we have been publishing to a live stream of worship in real time. You may know that the church purchased some new equipment especially for use in live streaming which we have employed in recording some of our preludes, postludes and other songs. This new equipment gives us the capability to use multiple cameras, switch between shots, put shots side by side on the same screen, do picture in a picture and more! Perhaps most importantly, the new gear allows us to broadcast the audio signal directly from our sound system, which should result in better sound for all who are watching at home! As we gain mastery in the use of this equipment, we pray it will make our live stream an excellent and uplifting experience for all who watch it. With that in mind, I want to encourage anyone who does not feel completely comfortable attending in-person worship to take advantage of our live stream!

We are excited to take this first step in the re-opening of OBC! Please be in prayer for one another and for the staff and boards as September 20th approaches, that the Lord would grant a safe, blessed and wonderful re-opening of our in-person worship!

In Christ,

Pastor Jeff