At Rock Hill, we have a simple hope: to see people come to know Jesus Christ and grow in their Christian faith. Whether you've been attending church for years or haven't stepped into a sanctuary in decades, we hope you'll come and join us Sunday. If you're looking for a loving church in Brandon, this is the place!
Our Staff
Serving Christ Together
Dr. Ricky Gray
Senior Pastor
Richard Sparks
Worship Pastor
We would love to hear from you! As a guest, please fill out the form below so we can have a record of your attendance and stay in touch. As a member, please let me know why you attend and love RHBC.
This is a synopsis of our 5pm meeting on Sunday, April 26, regarding plans to restart worship services. Brian Jackson opened the meeting with prayer. As a guideline to our meeting, we used a document furnished by the MBCB entitled, “Restart Conversation Guide for MBCB Churches”. The document covered many topics and areas of concern and planning which were presented in 17 points for discussion. The document did not tell churches what the had to do or should be doing, but was furnished for and intended to be a topical discussion guideline, and that is how we used it. We won’t re-list their document here, but we do want to report that there was agreement among those present that RHBC should follow the guidelines detailed below when we reconvene for worship:
Continue to follow the guidelines as requested by our national and state officials regarding size of meetings and protective hygiene practices.
Start with Sunday School and morning worship services only. No evening activities on campus until a future date to be determined.
Adults will meet together for Sunday School in the worship center, where we can be together and still practice social distancing.
Children classes are much smaller and will continue to meet in the normal rooms upstairs.
A devotion will be offered on Sunday evenings on Facebook Live. Watch each week for details.
All members will enter and exit through the main door as we do now. There will be a screening station at that entrance where everyone upon entry will answer a few basic health questions and have their temperature taken with a no-touch thermometer. We will provide hand sanitizer for use entering and exiting the building. Facemasks and gloves are a personal choice, but we will have some available if needed or desired.
Hugs and handshakes have been traditional church greetings for many years, but we will have to adapt to air-hugs and elbow bumps until further notice. And we encourage you to come up with your own clever way of greeting that respects the 6’ area for personal protection.
We will offer a place for you to deposit your offerings in lieu of “passing the plate”.
Wednesday evening prayer meetings will be conducted in a similar manner to Sunday School and morning worship. Meals on Wednesday evening are suspended at least until the children return to school in the fall.
Choir rehearsal will be suspended until further notice. It would impractical trying to rehearse while maintaining the suggested 6’ social distancing space. We will resume choir rehearsal as soon as safely possible.
Baptisms will continue as normal. The Lord’s Supper will continue with a modification of our standard practice. We will use the personal double-sealed packets until further notice.
Homecoming was scheduled for May 17th, just three weeks after our meeting. It was decided to postpone homecoming until sometime in the fall, with a specific date to be determined later.
VBS will be postponed this year. We are considering a one-day emphasis just before the children resume school in the fall.
We all need to have a heightened awareness of safety and proper hygiene practices. Therefore, everyone has permission to kindly ask or remind each other to “Please protect my space”, be careful about touching door handles and other items in public high traffic areas, cover your cough, etc. If you see an unsafe practice, it’s your right and obligation to “kindly speak up”.
Until this passes over, we are all encouraged to stay home if you are not feeling well. The last thing any of us would want to do is be contagious and unknowingly infect others.
In the event that leaders are unable to fulfill their obligations temporarily, short-term, or long-term: we simply ask that we be courteous to those who will cover for us and give them ample notice of our absence when possible.
We want to develop some kind of effective and consistent method of communication with our members. To that end, we will be attempting to gather and maintain methods of contact for those who are actively attending Rock Hill. The contact we wish to request is email addresses, home phone numbers, cell phone numbers, and which method of communication works best for you. For those who don’t have access to the internet and may not have a smart phone, we will try to implement a phone message tree. Those who choose notification by phone will receive one call and be necessary to make two calls. If you can’t reach the person below you, please call the two below them so the line is not broken.
In the unfortunate event of a second wave of infection, we will conduct services like we have during the initial phase of shelter in place.
We commit to be sensitive to financial matters during these challenging days.
In conclusion, we remind you that God is in control. Though we didn’t see this coming and it has changed our lives to varying degrees, it didn’t catch God by surprise. He remains constant and unchanged by these unusual and mysterious events. We encourage you to practice good hygiene, common sense, and social distancing. Please don’t panic or worry. Now is the time to exercise our faith in God the Creator, the Provider, the Sustainer, the Comforter, the Prince of Peace, and the King of kings. Call upon Almighty God to turn this unexpected, most unusual of times into an opportunity to call America, call us, call me to a renewed commitment to know Him more and to make Him known. Be smart. Be safe. Praise God!
