This weekend, November 14,15, we return to our normal (pre Covid-19) worship hours. We have been immeaurably blessed by the Lord during this pandemic, and we must be thankful to Him for all He has done. We have had more opportunities to gather for worship, because of the outdoor services, than most people have had, and God has been at work in these services. Now, we are seeking to return to our normal hours, and we are thankful and excited about that.

Saturday services will be at 5:00 p.m. and will remain outdoors for the time being. We do have people who feel more comfortable gathering outdoors in the fresh air to worship. We are going to honor our church members who are more comfortable in that context by keeping the Saturday service outdoors.

Sunday morning services will return to 11:00 a.m.. We will be practicing best safety practices, those given by the CDC and used in every school and business in the area. We are aware that there is another 'surge' in Covid-19, and we are monitoring that closely, but for the time being, as long as we are able, we will gather indoors on Sunday mornings, practice social distancing, wear masks and continue to follow our King, the Lord Jesus, in faith, no matter what may come.

There will be a registration tab on the website later this week. Please take time to register for Sunday mornings. Seating will be more limited in the sanctuary due to social distancing, but there are overflow areas on in the main building and in our portables for people to gather as well. 

Thematically, this weekend, we gather to rededicate ourselves to the Lord, to rededicate all facilities and ministries to Him. Our God is the One True God, the Most High God Over All Creation, the Sovereign Ruler who is Holy, Holy, Holy, and is worthy of all praise, glory and honor. We, His people, belong to Him. The church is His. All ministries are His. We only want Him to be glorified. 

This weekend is an important time for our church body. 

There will be more learning curves as well. One of the many blessings of the past year is that God has shown us several ways to gather for worship and taught us to be flexible that we might adapt to different situations. Now, as we seek to return indoors, we recognize that even with all of the ministry groups preparing and praying for the return to normal hours, even with the many ways people have been contacted, there will still be hiccups and things missed. We will grow and learn through all of these and walk graciously together as we prayerfully take next steps toward the future. 

For now, the most important thing I can encourage you to do is to pray. Pray for the services. Pray for yourself. Pray for church members. Pray for guests. Pray for me. Pray that God is glorified in us, in this time of worship and that He uses us mightily for His glory and the blessing of many.

As for bible studies and other ministries, we are first focusing on getting worship services running well, and by that, I am referring to our volunteer crews, the adjustments we must make and for both services to function smoothly. We will need more volunteer crews for that time that bible study groups return to campus. I would encourage us all to stay in prayer. God will give us wisdom and clarity on how we are to scale ministries back on campus, and, at the same time, we are also confident that He will continue to show us new and creative ways we can be on mission in our communities through small groups as we move forward.

I look forward to seeing you this weekend. May God be glorified in each of us, and may He renew His works in our time!

Grace to You,

Pastor