South Central Baptist Association

How the Coronavirus Moves God’s Church into the Next Stage: House to House (Acts 20:20 for 2020 that produces 20/20) Ben Scott, PhD Director of Missions...Continue reading

https://factsandtrends.net//what-will-happen-if-the-chur/

Weekly Pastors Prayer Resumes Tuesday, January 7, 2020 at 10:00am! Contact Dr. Ben Scott for the private link on the Zoom videoconference app at 717-367-9779.

Our building is for sale! We're going mobile to better serve our churches. January 2020

Bethel Baptist Offers Strong Biblical Preaching and Southern Gospel Music! What a treat it was to visit Bethel Baptist church in Manheim on September 22, 2019 and hear an outstanding Bible message from Dr. Jim Luck, Pastor, and inspiring Southern Gospel music with enthusiasm. God is present in this group of believers! Dr. Ben Scott, SCBA Director of Missions

New Providence Baptist Church almost doubles Sunday morning attendance in one year! I was privileged to visit NPBC on September 13, 2019, and the attendance was twice as much as what it was in September 2018. God is working mightily in this congregation! Dr. Ben Scott, SCBA Director of Missions

Five Ways the Church Will Emerge Stronger from the CoronaVirus (from Lifeway Voices) 1. Burnt-out volunteers are getting an unscheduled sabbatical. (Your Pastor is not, by the way; he will need time off when this all blows over in June or July.) 2. People are being prepped for the Gospel. (It was exciting to learn that one of SCBA's member churches, having engaged social media for Sunday mornings, was strategizing how to evangelize during mandated closures. Awesome!)... 3. Social distancing is creating church flexibility. 4. Churches are learning to steward new technology. (It's impressive to watch the 70- and 80-year-olds participate in a Zoom videoconference worship service. Go Grammy!) 5. Unfruitful squabbles have taken a backseat to more helpful conversations. https://lifewayvoices.com//5-ways-the-church-will-emerge-/

Barna Report on Churches Adapting to Mandated Closures for Easter "With Easter just around the corner, a majority of pastors (58%) says they plan to hold a digital service with 45 percent sharing plans to livestream online and another 13 percent recording an Easter message to send out to congregants. "While one in five (20%) admits there is no plan in place yet, others say they will hold an outdoor service (10%), find another unique way to convene (5%) or meet as usual (2%) ...this Easter. Just 5 percent plan to postpone their Easter celebration for the time being." --Church Leaders Share Their Plans for (a Digital) Easter; April 1, 2020

Clearest Resource So Far Regarding PPP Funding for Churches Don't pay $2,500 to one of the recent big name SBC-affiliated organizations to complete a Small Business Administration loan for you! I participated in that webcast, and then I found this: https://midpennbank.com/sba-relief-programs-resource-cen//... PPP is the Paycheck Protection Program authorized by the CARES Act, a short-term stimulus program open to businesses and non-profit organizations, including churches. It provides 2.5 times your monthly payroll expenditures to help your church get through these 10 weeks of chaos, and the interest rate is 0.5%. The application is two pages and requires some additional documentation about your ministry's payroll, including healthcare costs you pay for your pastor and staff. Most of the add-ons can be printed from Quickbooks or whatever software your church payroll person uses. PPP is regarded as forgivable, so it ends up being a grant as long as churches use it towards payroll and keep paying their employees for eight more weeks (minimum). A benefit of SCBA membership is that your Director of Missions is a seasoned grant writer, successful at writing, administering, and closing two SBA grants from 2006-2012. This service is available to member churches in good standing (participation and giving). Let SCBA know how to help your church access this resource during mandatory closures. Dr. Ben Scott, SCBA Director of Missions 717-367-9779

Manantial and Nueva Vida Worshiped "Virtually" on March 22nd! Ben Scott, SCBA Director of Missions Really enjoyed "virtual church hopping" again during this second week of mandated church closures. ... Pastor Dago Franco at Manantial, Reading gave a rousing sermon from the living room of his home on Facebook Live, led exuberant singing, and prayed through a list of needs submitted by the congregation. Amazingly well-done! Youth Pastor Josue Bosque and Sra. Luciola Gonzalez led in prayer at Nueva Vida, Lancaster on Facebook Live. Assistant Pastor Jose Huertas lead in music, while Pastor Alberto Hernandez is self-quarantined (with his wife Jennie) on return from Europe. Awesome presentations!

Four More Ways to Connect with Your Church Family during Mandatory Closures Ben Scott, SCBA Director of Missions On Thursday morning, March 19, 2020, I met by Zoom videoconference with pastors and denominational leaders from SCBA, KBA (Keystone Baptist Association), and BRN (Baptist Resource Network, our state convention) and came away with four more ways to connect with our church families during mandatory closures.... The first two are the obvious Zoom videoconference (my favorite because it's live, interactive, and includes audio and video) and Facebook Live (one-way audio/video and chat going down the side of the page). Here are four more: 1. Pastor John Toone at East Shore Baptist, Harrisburg is telephone calling through one page of the church directory every day. 2. Pastor Gary Becker (unknown pastoral location) is printing daily devotionals to mail or hand out for one-on-one visits. 3. Pastor John Buhr at Central Baptist, Waynesboro is actively guiding members and friends to stalwart preachers like Billy Graham, with audio, video, or printed sermons to review. 4. I suggested the group connect non-tech churches to tech-savvy churches to collaborate. God is growing and stretching our churches in PA! Embrace the change for God's glory and your own good. Pro Tip: Use ear buds or wireless headphones to stay focused from all the distractions at home.

SCBA Churches Use Distance Learning Modalities for March 15 Sunday Service Two SCBA churches used distance learning modalities for Sunday Service on this first "Coronavirus Sunday": Wrightsdale Baptist (Peach Bottom) broadcast the sermon from an empty auditorium, and Living Legacy (Hershey) conducted an interactive Zoom videoconference for 30 minutes involving a Bible thought from their pastor (while visiting South Carolina!) and a group prayer session. Did your church meet c...reatively on March 15th? Let us know so we can continue "doing together what we cannot do alone" in South Central PA! Dr. Ben Scott, Director of Missions