January 20, 2021
Faith Family,
We will be back to 4 services starting on Sunday, January 24. Services will be at 8:30AM, 10AM, 11:30AM & 4:30PM. We will continue to livestream the service (10AM) on our Facebook and YouTube pages, as well. Please take note of a few important points below.
1. Children's Environments - Children's environments will be available at all services *except* the 11:30. Pre-registration is strongly encouraged. Elementary age children will continue to participate in the music part of worship with the Body and then be dismissed. If you have any questions, contact Amy Smith.
2. Masks/Face Coverings - Given our state mandate to wear masks indoors, we're asking everyone who attends an in-person gathering to wear a mask.
3. Weekly Communion - We will continue to take communion each week as part of our services. The communion elements will be pre-packaged and available at the entrance doors and in the lobby areas. Please go ahead and pick up however many your family/row needs before the service begins. There will be greeting team and staff members available for guidance. Also, please remember that communion is to be observed only by those who have professed their faith in Jesus and trusted Him as Lord and Savior.
4. Safety Guidelines - We will continue to adhere to the guidelines listed in our May 13 update, including those pertaining to cleaning, social-distancing, at-risk groups or those especially vulnerable. You can read those guidelines by clicking the "previous updates" button below.
Our goal remains to honor the Lord Jesus, care for you, and love our community well during this crisis. We humbly ask for grace, patience, and your continued prayers as we try to navigate these unique circumstances. We love you and hope to see you soon!
In Christ,
Elders & Staff
December 1, 2020
Faith Family,
We will be moving to our holiday schedule for in-person worship gatherings on Sunday, December 6. Services will be at 9AM & 11AM. We will continue to livestream the service (9AM) on our Facebook and YouTube pages, as well. Please take note of a few important points below.
1. Children's Environments - Children's environments will be available at both services (9AM & 11AM). Pre-registration is strongly encouraged. Elementary age children will continue to participate in the music part of worship with the Body and then be dismissed. If you have any questions, contact Amy Smith.
2. Masks/Face Coverings - Given our state mandate to wear masks indoors, we're asking everyone who attends an in-person gathering to wear a mask.
3. Weekly Communion - We will continue to take communion each week as part of our services. The communion elements will be pre-packaged and available at the entrance doors and in the lobby areas. Please go ahead and pick up however many your family/row needs before the service begins. There will be greeting team and staff members available for guidance. Also, please remember that communion is to be observed only by those who have professed their faith in Jesus and trusted Him as Lord and Savior.
4. Safety Guidelines - We will continue to adhere to the guidelines listed in our May 13 update, including those pertaining to cleaning, social-distancing, at-risk groups or those especially vulnerable. You can read those guidelines by clicking the "previous updates" button below.
Our goal remains to honor the Lord Jesus, care for you, and love our community well during this crisis. We humbly ask for grace, patience, and your continued prayers as we try to navigate these unique circumstances. We love you and hope to see you soon!
In Christ,
Elders & Staff
July 31, 2020
Faith Family,
Just an update to let you know that we will be resuming on-campus, in-person worship gatherings on Sunday, August 9. There will be four service times... 8:30AM, 10AM, 11:30AM & 4:30PM. We will continue to livestream the service (8:30AM) on our Facebook and YouTube pages, as well. Please take note of a few important points below.
1. Children's Environments - Children's environments will be available at the 8:30AM, 10AM & 4:30PM services. Pre-registration is strongly encouraged. Elementary age children will continue to participate in the music part of worship with the Body and then be dismissed. If you have any questions, contact Amy Smith.
2. Masks/Face Coverings - Given our state mandate to wear masks indoors, we're asking everyone who attends an in-person gathering to wear a mask.
3. Weekly Communion - We will continue to take communion each week as part of our services. The communion elements will be pre-packaged and available at the entrance doors and in the lobby areas. Please go ahead and pick up however many your family/row needs before the service begins. There will be greeting team and staff members available for guidance. Also, please remember that communion is to be observed only by those who have professed their faith in Jesus and trusted Him as Lord and Savior.
4. Midweek/Weekday Ministries - All midweek ministries (MS/HS, College) and any other weekly meetings/events will continue to be suspended until further notice. Again, for the time being, there will be no gatherings at 4115 other than Sunday corporate worship.
5. Safety Guidelines - We will continue to adhere to the guidelines listed in our May 13 update, including those pertaining to cleaning, social-distancing, at-risk groups or those especially vulnerable. You can read those guidelines by clicking the "previous updates" button below.
Our goal remains to honor the Lord Jesus, care for you, and love our community well during this crisis. We humbly ask for grace, patience, and your continued prayers as we try to navigate these unique circumstances. We love you and hope to see you soon!
In Christ,
Elders & Staff
July 16, 2020
Faith Family,
In light of the most recent amended Safer at Home Order from Governor Kay Ivey and recommendations from local health professionals, we are going to suspend our on-campus worship gatherings and all on-campus activities through August 2. We will reevaluate at that time. So, again, the next three Sunday services (July 19, July 26, August 2) will be online only. The service will be live-streamed at 9AM on our Facebook and YouTube pages and also available for rewatching.
Let’s continue to pray for the health of those in our Body and community who are struggling with this virus, wisdom for our government leaders, protection and endurance for our health care workers, and unity in the Body of Christ.
We long for the day when we can gather again with some kind of normalcy.
In Christ,
Elders & Staff
July 11, 2020
Faith Family,
We wanted to make you aware of a couple of updates/changes regarding our worship gatherings.
1. Weekly Communion - Starting tomorrow (Sunday, July 12), we will move to weekly communion as part of our services. The communion elements will be pre-packaged and available at the entrance doors and in the lobby areas. Please go ahead and pick up however many your family/row needs before the service begins. There will be greeting team and staff members available for guidance. Also, please remember that communion is to be observed only by those who have professed their faith in Jesus and trusted Him as Lord and Savior. We will take a little time to explain more tomorrow and in the coming weeks but we believe this will be extremely helpful in our spiritual formation as a Body, our connection to one another, and our weekly response to the Gospel.
2. Masks/Face Coverings - Also, starting July 12, we strongly encourage everyone who participates in our worship gatherings to wear a mask or face covering. While we don't feel we can make this mandatory (because of the state/local exemptions for houses of worship in their updated guidelines)... We do feel it's an important step towards loving our neighbors well, honoring the weak and most vulnerable in our midst, and looking not to our own interests but to the interests of others (Philippians 2:3-4). Please consider joining us in this effort.
The rest of our timelines, ministry guidelines, and weekly precautions remain the same as they were in our May 13th update. You can read them in full by clicking the "Previous Updates" button below.
In the love of Christ,
Elders & Staff
May 13, 2020
Faith Family,
In light of the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, we've updated a few timelines regarding our Sunday gatherings, community groups and midweek ministries. These changes are a result of much prayer, discussion, consultation with a variety of health care professionals and state/local officials AND valuable input from you.
1. Worship Gatherings - We will resume on-campus worship gatherings - with amended procedures and taking all necessary precautions - on Sunday, May 24 at 9AM & 11AM. There will be no nursery or children’s worship environments available at this time. We will also live-stream the worship service at 9AM on both our Facebook and YouTube pages (it will be available to watch later, as well). It is of the utmost importance that we follow the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) guidelines for places of worship. Some of those are highlighted below but we encourage you to read them all here.
2. Community Groups - Community group gatherings will continue to be suspended at this time (both on-campus and off-campus). Please still seek to communicate well and be proactive in finding ways/tools to encourage and care for one another (GroupMe, FaceTime, etc) and your neighbors.
3. Midweek/Weekday Ministries - All midweek ministries (MS/HS, College) and any other weekly meetings/events will continue to be suspended until further notice. Again, for the time being, there will be no gatherings at 4115 other than Sunday corporate worship.
FAQs
What are the guidelines and/or what should I expect when I attend a worship gathering?
• If you have been in close contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19, are experiencing a cough, shortness of breath or sore throat, have had a fever in the last 48hrs, have experienced new loss of taste or smell, have experienced vomiting or diarrhea in the last 24hrs or been in contact with anyone who has had any of these symptoms, we ask that you participate in our services remotely.
• We strongly encourage people 65 or older and anyone who is especially at risk to also participate in our services remotely.
• Everyone who attends on-campus worship services will be expected to practice social distancing. Please no handshaking, hugging, etc. The chairs in the auditorium will be set up in such a way that complies with the distancing guidelines. Two or more members of the same household can sit next to one another but there should be at least 2 empty seats between families. Masks/gloves are optional but certainly encouraged. Please feel free to wear them during worship.
• We will have a team of volunteers disinfect all surfaces between services and hand sanitizer stations will be placed throughout.
• Bulletins will be placed in seats prior to the service by a Serve Team member wearing PPE. Please bring your own pen to take notes.
• Offering baskets will not be passed during services but will be placed at the exits. You can certainly continue to give online or mail your offering to the church.
• Coffee/doughnuts will not be served and drinking fountains will be closed. We will have water available, if needed.
• Please enter and exit only through door(s) that are attended by a Greeting Team member wearing PPE. All other exterior doors will remain locked. Please also use the restrooms nearest to the auditorium. We will adjust these guidelines as needed.
• Please adhere to the Parking Team’s guidance as you would any other Sunday.
What about my kids?
Please feel free to bring your children into worship with you! We love the rustling sound of families worshipping together and certainly do not consider it a distraction. The services will be slightly shorter than usual, around 50 minutes or so. Ms. Amy and her team will also provide an awesome (sanitized) activity pack that will help your kids worship along with us!
What if I’m not ready to attend church or if I’m in an at-risk group?
Each person must decide when it is right for him or her to venture out in public again. We are offering the on-campus worship gatherings as an option for those who are able to attend, but no one should feel any pressure to do so (we don’t take roll!). Again, we will also be live-streaming the services until further notice.
REMEMBER, as we look forward to and prepare for returning to some form of regular on-campus ministry, we must do so with gracious caution and compassion. We must also be vigilant to make sure that we love and protect one another well - and the most vulnerable among us - by adhering to these guidelines. We are taking every precaution we can to make you feel safe and secure when you decide to gather with us in person. Also, please remember that not every member of our faith family will have the same views/stance on gathering as you. Diversity is part of God’s wondrous plan for the church! No matter our differences, let’s be a witness to the world around us by practicing hospitality and encouraging one another in both thought and speech.
We love you, Capstone Church! See you soon.
Elders & Staff
May 10, 2020
Faith Family,
We have all obviously been impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Among the many changes we’ve seen to our daily lives has been our inability to gather together as a church in person. As we look forward to and prepare for returning to some form of regular on-campus ministry, we want to do so with gracious caution and compassion. In addition to prayer and consultation with a variety of experts, we also believe it’s important to hear input from you, our faith family.
We would ask for each adult attender of Capstone to complete this short survey, which should take you no more than 5 minutes. Please only take this survey once. All responses are confidential, and we appreciate your open and honest feedback. The results of this survey will help inform the steps we take toward gathering again.
TAKE THE SURVEY -->
April 30, 2020
Faith Family,
In light of the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis - and in compliance with current mandates from our national, state and local officials - we've updated a few timelines regarding our Sunday gatherings, community groups and midweek ministries.
1. Worship Gatherings - We will not be gathering for corporate worship until further notice. Instead, we will continue to pre-record a service and make it available online by 10AM on Sunday morning. This will include a time of worship, scripture reading, prayer and teaching - as well as the sermon notes and family worship guide. Again, we know this service is very different than what we’re used to but we believe God is being honored as we worship together, seek Him in prayer and proclaim the gospel. Remember: The video and worship guide will be available here on Sunday morning at 10AM. We will also provide reminders and links on social media.
2. Community Groups - Community group gatherings will continue to be suspended at this time (both on-campus and off-campus). Please still seek to communicate well and be proactive in finding ways/tools to encourage and care for one another (GroupMe, FaceTime, etc) and your neighbors.
3. Midweek/Weekday Ministries - All midweek ministries (MS/HS, College) and any other weekly meetings/events will continue to be suspended at least through May. Again, there will be no gatherings at 4115 and this timeline may be extended.
How can you help/respond?
1. Pray - Please continue to pray for our nation, for our local, state and national leaders, for those that work in healthcare, for other countries around the world that have been affected, for Capstone’s staff and elders, for healing, for one another and, ultimately, for this to be an opportunity to shine a bright light on the kindness, grace and mercy of Jesus!
2. Lead - Especially you, dads! We strongly encourage fathers to take an active role as the spiritual leaders in your home at this time. Lead your family through the worship guide as you watch the service together. Lead them in daily prayers & devotions… Use the JesusStorybook Bible or Big Picture Storybook Bible. If you need some help or guidance, please don’t hesitate to contact one of our elders.
3. Care - Continue to look for ways to show compassion to your neighbors and community. Be proactive… Don’t wait on them to ask you. Look especially for ways to serve the most vulnerable among us (elderly, home-bound, already sick, low income, etc). Also, if you have needs or know someone in need don't hesitate to contact us or download this info card to let them know how to contact you.
4. Give - Continue to give financially to the ministry of Capstone Church. The opportunity to meet needs and love others is great in these days and we want to be more faithful now than ever before! You can read about our online giving options here.
5. Anticipate - Continue to long for the day we can gather corporately again! We hold a very, very high view of the gathered church but we understand this is a temporary necessity and the wisest course of action. We know it isn't how things should be and it isn't how things will be... But let's continue to pray, encourage one another, trust Jesus and greatly anticipate the day we will be together again!
Our goal remains to both honor God and care for you, the Body and our community well during this crisis. This continues to be our prayer and we thank you for joining us in asking God to work all these things together for our good and His glory. As always, no matter the circumstance, let’s continue to preach Christ, look for ways to better exist for those not here yet AND show compassion to one another and the world around us.
We love you, church!
Your Elders & Staff