Dear Grace Family,
I wanted to give an update as I know that many of you are wondering what our next steps will be.
It’s been incredible to watch the church in action during this time as we are spread out into our communities. Currently we have over 20 groups meeting online weekly through Zoom, our online church services are reaching over 2,000 newsfeeds each week on Facebook, with over 5 different countries tuning in to watch. We also have been able to serve our community through weekly meals, hotel rooms for our shelter guests, snack bags for kids, and even delivering toilet paper and prayers to our neighbors. As Bill Goans used to say, “It’s a “but God” moment when HE can turn a terrible pandemic into a pathway for us to reach those that might otherwise never have been met.
As we move forward, please know that you were a HUGE help as we considered how to move forward. A big thanks to all of you who took the survey last week – we had the largest survey response that we’ve ever had at Grace! In general, you let us know that you want to proceed with caution, waiting to see how these next phases affect things before you are ready to meet together “in person”.
Click here to view the results
As you can imagine, there are many different points of view on how to proceed with this “re-opening”. We know that the enemy can use times like these to divide our church family so please understand that we want to proceed with wisdom and grace during this time of “new normal”. Please know that the elders and staff have spent countless hours praying, researching and discussing the different options. Although churches have been given the freedom to begin meeting (and our heart is to have everyone here together), we are also aware that we must proceed with much wisdom and caution.
For this reason, our current plan is to not have services at Grace at least through the month of June but will continue with online Sunday services via Facebook Live. We will also not be having any “on site” meetings or events at Grace and our staff will continue teleworking as much as possible. However, during this next phase, Missional Communities and Gathering Groups have the option to meet in person preferably outdoors (if possible). We are also working towards some potential “hub” groups that would gather as small groups (25 or less) outdoors to watch the sermon together online. More details will follow as we work through those plans & details. In regard to these small groups, we know that some may choose to meet together outdoors while others may feel more comfortable continuing to meet online. We want to encourage you to move at your own pace and do what feels best for you and your family.
I’m sure we’ve all heard that “the church is not a building” numerous times in our lives and it has never been truer than in this season. We are so grateful for technology and the ways that we have creatively stayed connected and gathered together as a church family. Thank you all for Facebooking, Zooming, and You Tubing each week. Thank you for prayer walking and reaching out to help your neighbors.
Thank you, Grace family, for all you are continuing to do as a church body!! YOU are the church!!!
In Him,
Eric Anderson