COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Action Plan
As concerns continue to mount nationally & around the world regarding the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus), the pastoral staff of Graceway has been in continual conversation this week regarding the best action to take which would ensure the health and safety of all who call Graceway home. Our team has been monitoring the developments and flow of information which changes & evolves almost every hour. At this time, it is clear that there is a great uncertainty as to the overall outcome of this pandemic.
After much prayer and counsel, and in light of the continually growing list of cancellations / postponements and recommendations from our government leaders, we have decided not to gather for on-campus corporate worship services or activities this coming Sunday (March 15) or Wednesday (March 18). We will also also suspend our off-campus LifeGroup meetings. Instead, we will opt to stream our worship service online from our Facebook Live platform, which we currently use weekly to reach those who are homebound or living outside the local area. We are thankful that, at a time like this, we have the opportunity to still stay in contact and worship together through this technology.
This Sunday morning, we will begin our Facebook Live broadcast at 10:30am. We invite you to join together in worship through this platform. And, we also encourage you to invite your friends, neighbors, and family to join in with us. If you cannot access the Facebook live feed, we will post the service to our website by mid-afternoon Sunday.
We would also like to encourage you to approach this pandemic seriously, exercising diligent health and hygiene practices to stay well and help inhibit the spread of disease. Please be mindful to wash your hands often, avoid unnecessary contact with public surfaces (doorhandles, countertops, etc.), cover your coughs and sneezes, etc. If you are feeling sick, please take precaution to stay home if you can and take advantage of testing as it becomes more readily available in the near future.
Since it is our strong desire to reconvene public worship services as soon as is safely possible, we will continue to monitor the ever-changing situation closely over the next week and inform you about our plans for the weekend of March 22nd on Friday, March 20th. In the mean time, our team will be working to put extra safeguards and practices in place to ensure a safe and healthy environment when we all return to campus together.
It is important to note that this decision been difficult. As followers of Jesus, ...we are not given a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). Our ultimate hope rests in Jesus Christ. While we are not motivated by fear, we must be motivated by our love for one another. Love is how Christ said the world will know we are His disciples.
During this time, we want to make sure we are loving one another well. As a spiritual family, we want to make extra effort to stay connected and be tuned in to one another’s needs. If you need to talk, or if you find yourself in need of support or physical help, we would consider it a blessing if you trusted us enough to call us and invite us into whatever struggles you are walking through…
In a lot of ways, we can look at this as a time of great opportunity for the church to put into action the things we preach and hear preached every week. We must remember that the church is not a scheduled event. The church is the body of Christ which moves and operates all day every day in every place. The church is us!
It is by no accident that our church is currently in the middle of the “Who’s Your One?” Evangelism series. We are called to be the light in the darkness — the hands and feet of Jesus Christ to this world. We are called to be agents of hope and peace. This is a time when we can all show extra love and concern for those in need, those who are afraid, and those who are without help or hope. Let us all pray for those in our church, city, state, country and world who are affected by COVID-19. Pray with confidence that God will show Himself faithful and merciful in this time. Let’s pray for our, “Ones” that we might be able to redeem this time to engage in real, meaningful conversation about life and hope in Jesus Christ. Let’s be that light in the darkness!
Jeremiah 29:7 invites us to “…seek the welfare of our city… to pray to the Lord on its behalf, that in its welfare we find our welfare.” This week, let’s love our city and world well. Let’s be the church on this unprecedented week where we couldn’t “go” to church.
Be blessed, Graceway. Keep washing your hands, keep lifting them to Jesus, and keep extending them to others.
We love you and are grateful for all of you!
- Graceway Pastoral Staff
After much prayer and counsel, and in light of the continually growing list of cancellations / postponements and recommendations from our government leaders, we have decided not to gather for on-campus corporate worship services or activities this coming Sunday (March 15) or Wednesday (March 18). We will also also suspend our off-campus LifeGroup meetings. Instead, we will opt to stream our worship service online from our Facebook Live platform, which we currently use weekly to reach those who are homebound or living outside the local area. We are thankful that, at a time like this, we have the opportunity to still stay in contact and worship together through this technology.
This Sunday morning, we will begin our Facebook Live broadcast at 10:30am. We invite you to join together in worship through this platform. And, we also encourage you to invite your friends, neighbors, and family to join in with us. If you cannot access the Facebook live feed, we will post the service to our website by mid-afternoon Sunday.
We would also like to encourage you to approach this pandemic seriously, exercising diligent health and hygiene practices to stay well and help inhibit the spread of disease. Please be mindful to wash your hands often, avoid unnecessary contact with public surfaces (doorhandles, countertops, etc.), cover your coughs and sneezes, etc. If you are feeling sick, please take precaution to stay home if you can and take advantage of testing as it becomes more readily available in the near future.
Since it is our strong desire to reconvene public worship services as soon as is safely possible, we will continue to monitor the ever-changing situation closely over the next week and inform you about our plans for the weekend of March 22nd on Friday, March 20th. In the mean time, our team will be working to put extra safeguards and practices in place to ensure a safe and healthy environment when we all return to campus together.
It is important to note that this decision been difficult. As followers of Jesus, ...we are not given a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). Our ultimate hope rests in Jesus Christ. While we are not motivated by fear, we must be motivated by our love for one another. Love is how Christ said the world will know we are His disciples.
During this time, we want to make sure we are loving one another well. As a spiritual family, we want to make extra effort to stay connected and be tuned in to one another’s needs. If you need to talk, or if you find yourself in need of support or physical help, we would consider it a blessing if you trusted us enough to call us and invite us into whatever struggles you are walking through…
- Derek Holmes (859) 806-4635
- Ryan Blackburn (859) 270-3662
- Jason Lail (859) 494-8559
- Kurt Lang (859) 494-7926
In a lot of ways, we can look at this as a time of great opportunity for the church to put into action the things we preach and hear preached every week. We must remember that the church is not a scheduled event. The church is the body of Christ which moves and operates all day every day in every place. The church is us!
It is by no accident that our church is currently in the middle of the “Who’s Your One?” Evangelism series. We are called to be the light in the darkness — the hands and feet of Jesus Christ to this world. We are called to be agents of hope and peace. This is a time when we can all show extra love and concern for those in need, those who are afraid, and those who are without help or hope. Let us all pray for those in our church, city, state, country and world who are affected by COVID-19. Pray with confidence that God will show Himself faithful and merciful in this time. Let’s pray for our, “Ones” that we might be able to redeem this time to engage in real, meaningful conversation about life and hope in Jesus Christ. Let’s be that light in the darkness!
Jeremiah 29:7 invites us to “…seek the welfare of our city… to pray to the Lord on its behalf, that in its welfare we find our welfare.” This week, let’s love our city and world well. Let’s be the church on this unprecedented week where we couldn’t “go” to church.
Be blessed, Graceway. Keep washing your hands, keep lifting them to Jesus, and keep extending them to others.
We love you and are grateful for all of you!
- Graceway Pastoral Staff
| covid-19_statement.pdf |