March 7, 2021

 

Today, we regathered for Life Groups. We have waited for a long time to do this and we were excited to see everyone back for Bible study this morning. We would just invite you to come back for our 9:30 studies as soon as you feel comfortable doing so. We will resume our Wednesday studies for children and adults soon. Our Youth are already meeting each Wednesday night and our ladies are currently holding a study on Wednesday nights as well.

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Thank you for your patience and flexibility with our ever-changing schedule. We, along with everyone else, are hoping that we can stay with our normal schedule of activities going forward. We will do our best to keep you informed of any changes through the weekly bulletins, pulpit announcements, family meetings, and here on the website. Continue to pray for our church as we resume ministry not only among our members but also to the surrounding community.

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Mark, David, Randy, and Scott

Your Elders

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December 20, 2020

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The Elders have been carefully monitoring the situation in Wichita County related especially to the spread of infection, hospitalizations, and fatalities. We have noticed that the situation has not improved since November when we suspended the meeting of our Life Groups.

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Therefore, we have delayed the resumption of those meetings. We continue to attempt to balance the safety of our congregation with participation in the ministries of our church. At this time, we feel it is prudent to continue the suspension of our Life Groups.

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We will continue to offer our Sunday morning worship service and occasional other activities that can be held in the auditorium to allow sufficient distancing. If you choose not to attend the services, there are a few resources at your disposal:

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1. Our services are streamed live on YouTube each Sunday morning. Those videos can also be viewed on-demand.

2. The audio of the sermon is posted on this website ("Sermons" page) each Monday.

3. We also post audio of the sermon as a podcast each week. Just search for Fairway Baptist Church on your podcast player of choice.

4. The church provides free to every member Right Now Media which offers Bible studies, movies, and other discipleship tools for all ages. There is a link to sign up for Right Now Media at the bottom of the "Members" page on this website.

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We hope these resources can assist you during this time when our abilities to meet and minister in person are limited. We will update you as we are able to resume our activities. As always, we covet your prayers during these days.

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Mark, David, Randy, and Scott

Your Elders

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November 19, 2020

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The Elders met today to discuss the rise of COVID-19 cases in Wichita Falls and how we should respond as more and more of our members are affected.

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The first action we have taken is to cancel our Thanksgiving Fellowship this Sunday evening.

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Secondly, we will be suspending the meeting of our Life Groups until January of 2021. For some time, we have looked to January as the possible date for the resumption of our Awana ministry and our worship service nursery ministry. We will now add Sunday school to the list of activities that we hope to resume then. Of course, we will continue to monitor and assess the situation in our city and in our church and revise our plans as necessary.

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We will continue our 10:45 AM worship service. We encourage everyone who wants to worship in-person to join us at these services. If you are concerned about gathering, we encourage you to stay home and join us on YouTube. Our service streams in real-time every Sunday.

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We would ask that you pray for us as we lead through these difficult days as we weigh the mission of the church and the safety of our members. Also, please pray for each other.

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We love you, church, and we will make it through this. We serve a God Who has us in the palm of His hand.

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Mark, David, Randy, and Scott

Your Elders

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August 17, 2020

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Last night at our Family Meeting, we rolled out our plans for resuming our ministries here at Fairway. Here are the details:

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We will resume our Sunday morning Bible studies on September 6, 2020.

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• All children in the first grade and up will be asked to wear masks. We will have masks on hand if you need one. All students in our Youth Ministry will also be asked to wear masks.

• All children and youth will be screened before admittance into the Kids' Wing. We will take their temperature and ask if they have had any symptoms normally associated with Covid-19. Children or youth with a temperature over 100 will not be allowed in the Kids' Wing. Parents will be asked to return home with their child(ren).

• Due to the close proximity that our kids' and youth teachers have to their students, all teachers and helpers in the Kid's Ministry and our Student Ministry will be wearing protective face shields. Those will be provided by the church and will be cleaned and disinfected after every use and reused.

• Check-in for kids will happen at the West entrance of the Kids' Wing. Other entrances will be locked. The stickers that we use to identify your child will be preprinted so families will not have to check in their children at the tablets. Volunteers will record your child's attendance for you. We would ask that only one parent accompany children to their classroom if needed.

• After Sunday school, we ask that only one parent per family go to the Kids' Wing to pick up your children. If you are not picking up a child, please stay out of the Kids' Wing and proceed to the auditorium by walking outside and using the office entrance to the auditorium foyer. The Kids' Wing is no longer to be used as a throughway to the auditorium.

• Adult classes will meet in their regular classrooms. We encourage adults to wear masks. Distancing will be difficult in some classrooms, but we ask that you distance when possible. Teachers are not required to wear masks but they can use a face shield or mask if they desire to do so.

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Sunday morning worship services:

• We are not yet providing nursery care during our worship service. We ask that you keep your child(ren) with you during that time.

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Wednesday night activities:

• We are delaying the resumption of our Awana ministry and our adult Bible study on Wednesday nights.

• The Youth Ministry will have occasional events at the church on Wednesday nights. These will be planned by our Youth Ministry Team and will be communicated to youth and parents as they are planned. Normal precautions such as masks and distancing will be observed whenever possible.

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This is the outline for our return to ministry. As you can see we are delaying the return of our Wednesday night activities and our Sunday morning worship service nursery care. That is an intentional decision on the part of the Elders and our Kids' Ministry leaders. We have a few reasons for doing this. We are committed to a cautious, intentional, and measured return to our normal schedule. We are concerned about the upcoming flu season and what effect that will have on our membership. We also want to observe the local schools to learn what effect having our children in close proximity for multiple hours each day has. We will proceed cautiously because one of our main concerns is the health of our congregation. This whole process has been to determine what risk exists and to plan our activities accordingly. To delay the implementation of some of our ministries will better enable the Elders to accurately assess the risk to our children and adults.

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The Elders understand that everyone will not agree with this plan. Some do not like to wear masks while others insist that everyone wears masks. To come to our church's activities or not is a decision that each family will have to make after considering the precautions that we are taking. We anticipate that some will stay home and that is completely understandable. We also understand that some are ready to return to complete normalcy immediately and are frustrated by the incremental resumption of our ministries. We would just ask you to be patient with us.

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Our goal is to provide ministries that help us grow as disciples of Christ while working to preserve the physical health of our congregation during this strange time of Covid-19.

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Should you have any questions, you can always reach the Elders at elders@fairwaybaptist.com or you can call Scott at the church office.

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Thank you, church. We love you and look forward to resuming our activities on September 6.

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Mark, David, Randy, and Scott

The Elders of Fairway Baptist Church

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August 10, 2020

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We are excited to roll out our plans to resume ministries at Fairway. Please make plans now to attend our Family Meeting on Sunday night, April 16, at  5:00 PM. The Elders will lay out our plans and you will have an opportunity to ask any questions you may have.

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We hope to see you there.

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Mark, David, Randy, and Scott

The Elders of Fairway Baptist Church

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May 4, 2020

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Good morning everyone. The Elders have met and decided to resume our worship services on Sunday, May 10 at 10:45. There will be no 9:30 Life Groups - only the 10:45 worship service.

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Important notes:

• If you are sick, please stay home. You can watch the live stream of our service on YouTube.

• If you are especially vulnerable to this virus - if you are over 65 or if you have underlying health issues - we are advising that you stay home. We are asking that you consider the risk you are taking by attending and be wise in your decision. Our recommendation is that you stay home for a few more weeks.

• There will be no child care. Our nursery and kids' hall will remain closed for now. The Elders are looking into how to safely resume our kids' ministries.

• Since there will be no child care provided, we are asking that parents keep their children with them at all times - before, during, and after the service. You will need to explain this to your children before the service.

• We will be blocking off rows to enure appropriate spacing and we are asking that you leave two empty chairs between families on each row. This will provide the social distancing space that we need to maintain. We will be setting up additional chairs in the auditorium to help us spread out.

• We are asking that everyone over the age of 6 wear a face mask or covering. We are following the CDC guidelines for churches which encourage the wearing of face coverings.  While you may not feel threatened by the virus and gathering together, we ask that you see this as a means off protecting others.

• There is an expectation that, now that the state is back open for business, we will likely see an increase in confirmed cases over the next few weeks. Please remember that the risk of infection is still very real and this is a dangerous virus. So, let's be wise. If conditions change between now and Sunday to the point where we cannot meet due to state or local restrictions, we will communicate that to you via email and this website.

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We look forward to the regathering of our church family this Sunday. If you have any questions, please call the church office. See you Sunday.

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Mark, David, Randy, and Scott

The Elders of Fairway Baptist Church

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March 31, 2020

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QUICK UPDATE

Our RightNow Media account is up and running. If you did not get an email from RightNow Media to set up your log-in, it may be that you already have an account (Fairway used RighNow Media up until 2016). Just log in with your regular email address and you can use the "Forgot Password" process to access your account. If you have any trouble, email elders@fairwaybaptist.com and we'll help you get going. This is a great resource and we want you to be able to take advantage of all it has to offer. Parents, there are resources there to help you disciple your kids. Be safe and take care out there. We'll post another video next Sunday morning.

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March 30, 2020

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Good afternoon, Fairway Family.

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We hope this update finds all of you doing well - healthy, stocked up with groceries, checking on each other, and meeting your neighbors' needs where you can. The elders are praying for you. Please don't hesitate to let us know of any needs that we can meet. You can reach all the elders at elders@fairwaybaptist.com. Remember to pray for each other. There are several in our family who are affected financially by this pandemic and that number will probably rise. 

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The Elders have decided to continue the cancellation of all church activities through the month of April. While we do not like having to do this, we believe it is the prudent thing to do to protect the health of our congregation and attempt to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. We will continue to post messages on YouTube each Sunday morning.

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Also, make use of the church's newest resource - RightNow Media. You should have received an email with log in instructions from RightNow. If you didn't please email Scott at scott@fairwaybaptist.com and let him know. This resource is rich in content that can be enjoyed by all ages. Give it a look - we think you will like it.

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Friends, the Elders miss seeing you all. This is a very awkward, confusing time. We all rest in the fact that we serve a sovereign and trustworthy God.

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"Trust in God is the vaccine against the spread of fear."

                             - James Montgomery Boice

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May God grant you a peace that surpasses all understanding.

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Mark, David, Randy, and Scott

The Elders of Fairway Baptist Church

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March 18, 2020

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Fairway Family,

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Please know that you are in the hearts of your pastors this morning. We have spent much time over the course of the last week praying for you and seeking wisdom and guidance. Today, March 18, we have decided to cancel all services and gatherings of Fairway for at least the next two weeks. We will reevaluate the health situation in our community and will communicate further plans to you prior to April 5th.

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We believe this to be the most prudent decision for us in light of the unknown nature of the spread of the Coronavirus. The President, the Centers for Disease Control, and the Texas Department of State Health Services have all recommended limiting contact with other people. By canceling our services for these two weeks, we are seeking to care for the most vulnerable in our congregation. It may seem ironic, that in this particular situation, we best love our neighbors by avoiding unnecessary contact with them. We believe that by not meeting, we can help in our city's efforts to slow the spread of the virus.

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For at least the next two weeks, we will be streaming an abbreviated service on Sunday mornings. You can view these services on YouTube. Just search for Fairway Baptist Church in the YouTube search bar and it will take you to our page. This streamed service is not intended to replace our normal Sunday gathering. It will provide you with information, matters about which to pray, and a short Bible study. For those of you who use Spotify, our Worship Team has created a playlist of the songs we use in our worship services. You can search Spotify for "Fairway Worship" and find it. Gathering is essential to the church and you will probably feel that something is missing when the streamed service is all that is available to you. That is normal - we hope you will long for the time when we can resume gathering together.

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Please continue to care for each other. Check on each other periodically. Let us know of anyone in need. Pray for each other. Pray for the church's leaders. Pray that God will be merciful and protect us from this virus.

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God's grace to you all.

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Mark, David, Randy, and Scott

The Elders of Fairway Baptist Church

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