Over the past six months, we have all experienced plenty of challenges and changes to our everyday lives. The COVID-19 Pandemic has forced us to pause and reflect on our lives and what we do with our time. Many of us have made adjustments to our priorities and are continuing to make changes to have a healthier lifestyle. For the church, it is the same. We have been forced to “do church” differently. And in many ways, it has been a blessing, even through the difficulties.
If there is one thing we have learned from our study in the book of Acts is that the church has survived through incredible hardships. We know that God works through suffering, and He promises that when we get to the other side, and we WILL get to the other side, we will experience the true kingdom of God. We believe that we are in a very unique season. We believe that the church is at a crossroads, and we can either decide to go back or move forward to a new promised land.
Over the last month, the leadership team has prayed and discussed ideas and plans for our church in the coming months. We are in a very unique and challenging position right now because of our normal meeting place, Pioneer Middle School is no longer an option due to the renovations at the school. Even if they allowed us to start meeting back at schools, Pioneer would not be an option for us. We are also closing in on our 3-year lease at the warehouse and we do not feel that God would have us renew the lease because at this point the warehouse does not serve our needs entirely. So here we find ourselves, back to the beginning. But rather than taking it as a negative hit, we believe God is wanting to do a NEW thing among us. We believe God is challenging us to look at the way we “do church” differently.
One of our very first studies as a church was in Ephesians. And we learned that “I am the church”. Church is not a building or a set of programs, WE are the church and we take it wherever we go as long as Christ is in us.
“The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.” Luke17:21
As we begin to lay out our plans for the coming months we know one thing is for certain. We know that we are ALL missing fellowship. Fellowship is a vital part of the church and without it, we cannot fulfill the vision God has given us to make disciples and to love and serve our community. So we have put together a plan that includes the creation of new Community Groups which will consist of small groups of 12-15 people meeting in homes and monthly Corporate Gatherings so that we can worship together again. As we begin to meet again we will be following proper social distancing guidelines to help protect the most vulnerable among us. We have laid out a three-phase plan to begin “re-gathering” in the coming months.
PHASE 1 [OCTOBER 2020]: CONTINUE WITH ONLINE SERVICE. START NEW COMMUNITY GROUPS. STARTING IN OCTOBER WE WILL BEGIN MEETING IN SMALL GROUPS FOR FELLOWSHIP, COMMUNION, PRAYER AND DISCUSSION EVERY WEEK. WE WILL HAVE IN-PERSON AND ONLINE OPTIONS AVAILABLE.
PHASE 2 [NOVEMBER 2020]: CONTINUE ONLINE SERVICE AND COMMUNITY GROUPS. ALSO BEGIN MEETING MONTHLY FOR CORPORATE WORSHIP GATHERINGS. BEGINNING IN NOVEMBER.
We are putting much thought and prayer into how we should move forward in the coming months. We know that with a little creativity and a lot of flexibility we will continue to love and serve God as we love and serve each other. If you have any questions please email info@risecommunity.org.