Opening Church Back Up!

Grace Family,

Let me start by saying THANK YOU so much for all the feedback on my last email! It has helped so much with what we are planning and what you will read in this email! This has been a crazy, challenging, and difficult time. It still seems unreal that our whole world was flipped upside down. Just like you, we have had no road map, blueprint, or set of detailed plans for navigating this time. It forced us to try to do what seemed best in a constantly changing environment. We know that not everyone has agreed with all of our decisions. I am sure some will not agree with the decisions shared in this update. But………I want to assure you we have earnestly sought God’s leading every step of the way. Every decision we have made was brought before the Lord in prayer. We are very grateful for the many emails, notes of encouragement, prayers, and support that you have sent our way!

I have received so many phone calls, emails, and texts regarding, “when will we start church again?” I have been talking with pastors around the country that are opening faster than Michigan to see what they are doing. I also sought feedback from hundreds of you (THANK YOU!) We are aware of churches in our area that are opening, and I have talked with some of those pastors. But above all of this feedback, we are seeking God’s leading and trying to follow His timing.

I know some of you want to be back in church this Sunday! I know some of you do not want to be back in church until the governor says it is okay. However, this is what the governor said in her letter that extended the restrictions until the end of this month, “You cannot be penalized for engaging in or traveling to engage in religious worship at a place of religious worship. You are also not required to wear a mask inside a place of religious worship.” So that does not clearly say we can meet, but clearly implies it can happen or it would not have been addressed.

So, here is our plan:

Small Groups / Ministry Teams:
• We encourage our small groups to continue to meet virtually. Once the social distancing guidelines increase to 50 people, they can begin meeting in homes again. Please poll your group and find out when they are ready to meet, and NO ONE should feel pressured to meet in person if they do not feel comfortable.
• Ministry Team leaders are given the authority to meet with their teams at church as needed or to continue to do that virtually.

Large Gatherings / Events:
• We will not be doing any large events / gatherings until the restrictions are lifted further. Yes, this kills me and YES I want to throw a BIG Grace lunch / bounce house / BBQ party!

Worship Services:
• We will continue to do church online throughout the month of May. I know technically we can open up, but we want to be respectful of our authorities and keep our people as safe as possible.
• Starting in June we will be opening in person services and continue to stream online. We will be spreading people out to help adhere to the distancing guidelines. We will be removing chairs in the sanctuary to help with this and using other rooms in the building if needed. Below is our plan, (please note that this could all change based on what happens in the future.)
o Thursday June 4th @ 6:30 PM – Live church service
 We would ask the dedicated Grace folks to come to this service to open up space on Sunday. This also allows all of our summer “lake birds” to still make it to church!
o Sunday June 7th @ 9 AM – Live church service
 If we have too many we will overflow in the lobby and then the teen room.
o Sunday June 7th @ 10:45 AM – Drive in church.
 We will direct cars to park in the grass on the west side of the building. The worship / preaching will be on the deck. We will transmit the service over speakers and a FM station. You are welcome to bring a lawn chair to sit in front of your car or in the grass by the deck staying spread out. Rainy day plans will be forthcoming.

There are several things we need to communicate regarding this plan.
o First, we would urge anyone who is sick (regardless of whether it’s a cough/temp/etc., has a compromised system), or simply uncomfortable with gathering to please stay home or come to our drive in service.
o Per the Governors guidelines you are NOT required to wear a mask inside church. If you want to you are MORE than welcome to. Our request is if you wear a mask or gloves be kind to those who do not. If you do not wear a mask or gloves be kind to those that do.
o There will be NO kids’ ministry for now. At all services we will provide family service busy bags with snacks and activities will be provided. And weekly lessons and devotions will continue to post on the Grace Kids Facebook page for you to do with your families at home.
o Teen Ministry will start up once we are allowed to have groups of 50.
o We will have people open doors to reduce the number of people touching things and potentially spreading germs of any kind.
o We will continue to have our coffee and donut ministry, but it will change. For now, ALL will be served by the café team (wearing gloves) to help reduce the number of people touching food or drinks. The cafe worker will pick up the cup, fill it, add what you like, put on the top and give it to you. There will be no refilling cups or using your own cup because we do not want things touched by others inside the café causing cross contamination to happen. We will hand you a donut or cookie (or multiple if you are really missing them). Please understand, we will take care so there is no physical contact between our gloved hand and tongs and your napkin.
o We will have our normal hand sanitizer stations and additional brown spray bottles of stronger hand sanitizer everywhere, for your use.
o There will be NO printed bulletins or other information. All this will be on the church app if you want the bulletin or fill in the blank note sheets.
o Our “greeting time” in worship will be suspended, and people will be asked to not engage in personal physical contact.
o We will suspend passing the offering plate in service. Instead we encourage you to continue to give online. If you want to give in person, the big blue “Mail” box will be by the doors as you exit and you can drop your offering in there.

What we need your help with!
• We are looking for volunteers to help with Thursday evening welcome / Bible give away.
• We are looking for volunteers to help with café on Thursday evenings. We will probably change from donuts to FREE pizza on Thursday’s aka dinner on Grace!! We will have a training the last week of May for new volunteers. Cafe leader will be there every Thursday to help with any questions you may have and to make sure protocol is followed.
• We are looking for volunteers on Sunday for second service if we decide to run coffee or donuts to cars.

We appreciate your prayer and feedback. God has been gracious in His leading thus far, and we have complete confidence and faith He will continue to lead with clarity throughout this difficult time. If you have any questions and/or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

Pastor Adam