Hello GRC!
It’s a Fall like never before, after a Spring and Summer… This has been a constant season of extraordinary adjustments and How and When God’s people gather here at GRC is no exception. In light of the changes coming, our staff thought it wise to lay out for you the details of what’s coming. So no devotional today, just an “orientation” to more change!
All summer long, we were evaluating the attendance so that we could stay ahead by ensuring sufficient overflow spaces. Our tech and worship teams, led by James Sang and Karl Stephens, have done an incredible job over the past few months, putting in place solutions that are mostly behind the scenes… to continue to provide a quality live-stream worship experience and to ensure safe distancing and excellent hearing/viewing for those worshipping in-person.
On Aug 30th, our attendance hit the max allowed. The following week, Gov. Murphy announced a higher capacity limit but we were outside for the first service, so we effectively doubled our capacity ourselves. This past Sunday Sept 13th, we hit the new capacity and anticipate doing the same this coming Sunday, Sept 20th. In light of these encouraging developments (i.e. more of you emboldened by the experience of hundreds of GRCers safely worshiping in-person over the last 3 months), we realized that moving back to 2 services is now necessary.
So … starting on Sunday, Sept 27th (not THIS Sunday!), we will move to our previously-normal schedule of two morning services, at 8:30am and 11:15am. Sunday school for Pre-K through 5th grade children will shift to 10am. We realize the challenge for our parents of young children, over 100 of whom are registered for at-home virtual Sunday School! You’ll either need to rush home after 1st service ends, or rush to GRC at 11am to make the 2nd service. But there will be no other means of accommodating the number of worshippers who will increasingly be comfortable returning to GRC. By the way, Adult Christian Education (ACE) is shifting to Friday evenings at 7:30pm starting tomorrow! You can come to GRC or participate via Zoom. Click for more information.
To encourage more of you to return and to ease the transition, the 1st two Sundays of 2 services will hold the 11:15am service outdoors. So on Sept 27th and Oct 4th the schedule will be:
- 8:30am – indoor service
- 10am – youth and children Sunday School
- 11:15am – outdoor service
The livestream will now take place during the 1st service but will be available for at-home viewing at any time following its start. Oct 4th will also include the celebration of the Lord’s Supper in both morning services.
We know this is a challenging season of adjustments! If you’re confused on any given week about what the upcoming Sunday will involve, then download the GRC app now! Text GRACEREDEEMERAPP to 77977 from your smartphone and you’ll receive simple instructions for setup.
Hope to see you this Sunday at our last 10:30am single service!
Grace,
Peter
Peter Wang is the Senior Pastor.