Hey Church Family,
I hope you’ve had a good week! We’re working on a church-wide newsletter that will have updates from many of our core ministry initiatives and plan to release that in the next few weeks through our various communication channels. Since it’s not ready for this weekend I wanted to write and update you on a few things.
First, remember we now have THREE morning service times.
8:15 (Traditional)
9:30 (Contemporary)
11:00 (Contemporary).
We still put out a livestream of each of these services. However the 9:30 and 11:00 livestream is an “At Home” service specially created for people who are worshiping at home. Please let us know your thoughts on this service as we are trying to discern the best strategy moving forward.
Also, remember that for this new series there is a corresponding video Bible study on Right Now Media entitled “The Meaning of Marriage” by Timothy and Kathy Keller. The Sunday messages go along thematically with the outline of this Bible study. You may find it beneficial as a group study or personal reflection throughout the week.
If you don’t have a Right Now Media account then you can sign up for one here.
Secondly, our small groups are back on campus.
Our groups meet directly after our 8:15 and 9:30 service times. Most of them are getting started 10-15 minutes before the 9:30 and & 11:00 worship service as our service times have been around an hour long. This allows for us to shrink the amount of cross traffic in usually congested areas like the Gathering Place and building hallways.
If you’re part of an adult small group, I’d encourage you to reach out to your group leader to see what the plan is. Several have shifted their meeting time to a mid-week or Sunday afternoon on-campus option. If you’re looking for a small group, now is a great time to get plugged in!
Thirdly, you must RSVP for Preschool and Children’s Ministry.
The reason we must have you RSVP for our Preschool and Children’s ministry environments is because we still lack the needed volunteers to make all our space usable. Since we don’t have the workers we can’t fully use our ministry space. We are also trying to be mindful of physical distancing and like-measures to slow the spread of COVID-19.
If you would be willing to help volunteer in either of these key ministry environments you can let me know by replying to this email or filling out this volunteer application. I know it’s a long volunteer application but we increased safety measures and background checks for ministry to our vulnerable populations and this volunteer application is step one of the process.
Remember, if you sign up as a volunteer you don’t necessarily have to work every week in either department. You can sign up for as much or as little as you want. ANY AMOUNT will absolutely go a long way in our current situation. Thank you for prayerfully considering this need!
Wednesday Nights Are Back!
This past Wednesday we resumed our preschool, children’s and student ministry programing. It was a GREAT evening and so many of our kiddos and parents are glad to be back in the swing of things. It’s a far cry from “normal” but it’s much closer to normal than we’ve ever been before.
If you’re ready to bring your kids back then you can drop them off at 6:30 and the ministry programming goes until 8:00PM. We have opportunities for Preschool (ages birth through 5yrs), Children (grades 1-5) and Students (grades 6-12.)
New Ladies Bible Study
As of now, there is only one adult gathering on Wednesday Night and it’s a new ladies Bible study that starts September 9th. This study will actually have TWO meeting times. One at 10:00AM and the other at 6:30PM. The name of the study is “Psalm 23: The Shepherd With Me” and the author of the curriculum is Jennifer Rothschild. (Watch the trailer)
You can register for the ladies Bible study here.
You can purchase your study guide online or through the church. Contact Tiffany Lohse for answers to any questions you may have. Childcare is available for the study (both hours) but you must RSVP if you’re going to need childcare on Wednesday morning.
Marriage Night – September 12th
To accompany our focus on marriage for the next few weeks, we’re also hosting a special event entitled “Marriage Night.” The event will be held on September 12th from 6:00-9:30pm. The cost is $15 per ticket. You can register here. To learn more about the speakers you can go here. We will have refreshments available but do not plan to provide a meal given the current climate.
Unfortunately, the ticket price is set by Right Now Media so we have no control over that. If you want to attend but cannot afford a ticket please let us know so we can try and secure a scholarship.
Closing Thoughts
I titled this week’s update “Getting Back To Normal.” It’s honestly a little “tongue in cheek” as things are in no way “normal” right now. But, the effort to recapture some semblance of what “used to be” is a good effort in my opinion. We should never grow complacent in our faith but there’s nothing wrong with pursuing “comfort” in the Lord.
Getting back to our normal rhythms (including our spiritual rhythms) can act as a healing balm on our anxious souls. The fall of 2020 is sure to have it’s highs and lows (if 2020 continues to go as it has thus far). We will likely continue to learn of the ways in which COVID-19 has forever changed our cultural landscape.
But for all of the things that do change, one thing remains. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. His faithfulness is great and his grace is sufficient no matter the evidence that may point to the contrary. As we continue to move forward let us do so with confidence in the Lord, love for one another and hope in our promised future that will one day be revealed.
If I don’t see you tomorrow, I’ll see you on the interwebs!
Have a great rest of your weekend!
With Love,
Pastor Wes