COVID-19 Update

November 17, 2020

Hey Grove Family,

As many of you know, due to the recent cases of COVID-19, our school district will switch to virtual learning this week with plans to return to face-to-face learning following Thanksgiving break.

Out of a desire to remain prudent and exercise caution we are postponing our Wednesday night activities (Kids & Students) until December 2nd. While it makes us sad to suspend our programs we want to put the health and safety of our volunteers and community first.

Our Sunday schedule will continue as normal and our staff will be discussing our safety practices as well as making any adjustments that may be needed. Be on the look out for another email later this week.

As always, we trust that you will continue to make the best decision for you and your family. We continue to live stream our Sunday service at 10:45am and our overflow room remains open during service. We have hand sanitizer stations throughout our building and masks available for anyone who needs one.

If you have any questions or prayer needs please feel free to let me know.

_____

When faced with the unknown be reminded that God never promised easy days, but he did promise a GREAT eternity ... ... Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:2-3)

I love you church!
Pastor Roland

LATEST UPDATE

August 29, 2020

Hey Grove Family!

If you have not already heard, beginning September 2nd we will be re-opening all our ministries. You can get detailed information by watching an instructional video we published earlier this week. You can view the video on our home page.

In an effort to remain safe and have a clean and sanitary building we have created some safety policies and procedures that will guide us as we continue to minister and love our community during this time. You can read it by CLICKING HERE.

I love you church! If you need anything please feel free to reach out.

Blessings,
Pastor Roland

COVID-19 UPDATE

August 2, 2020

Hey Grove Family!

Here is a quick update regarding the full reopening of our ministries.

Our staff and servant leaders met this past Sunday and after much prayer and discussion we are planning to reopen our ministries at the beginning of September. This will coincide with the start of the "in-person" school year as well. Of course this season is ever changing and the situation remains fluid so we will continue to keep our church updated if any changes occur. Stay tuned for more information as we will be releasing policies, including online options, that detail all the guidelines we plan to enforce and follow as we approach a full reopening.

Our staff and servant leaders remain in prayer and will re-evaluate where we are at the end of the month. In the meantime, continue to join us in prayer as we seek the Lord's wisdom and direction.

Psalm 27:1 - The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life of whom shall I be afraid?

I love you church! If you need anything please feel free to reach out.

Blessings,
Pastor Roland

LATEST UPDATE

July 2, 2020

Hey Grove Family!

As many of you know our staff and servant leaders have been prayerfully seeking the Lord's guidance and direction regarding the full reopening of church ministries. Thank you to everyone who took the time to participate in our church wide survey and to those who shared their thoughts and concerns.

After much discussion and prayer and given the recent spike of COVID-19 cases in our surrounding areas we have decided that it would be best to hold off on the full reopening of church ministries. For the month of July we will continue with our 2 service format on Sunday mornings. You can join us at 9:00am or 10:45am. For those who continue to worship with us from home, you can still join us online at 10:45am.

For the time being, Sunday School, Nursery, Toddler, Kids and Student Ministries remain suspended. We want you to know that we continue to approach this season by exercising prudence, bold faith and spiritual wisdom. I am grateful to be surrounded by a staff that is filled with the spirit and servant leaders who are wise and full of faith. In stewarding our role as leaders we feel it is the best decision we can make for our church body and our community.

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind:

• Please attend a church service only if you feel comfortable. If you have a fever, any sign of symptoms or a pre-existing condition that would make you prone to getting sick, please worship with us from home. We know that families will continue to make the best decision for themselves and their loved ones.

• If you do attend church service we want to remind you that we have hand sanitizer stations available throughout the building. We will also be providing masks for anyone who would like to wear one. This is a great way to ensure the best safety protocols are being met.

This is a fluid situation and things can change rapidly. Our staff and servant leaders remain in prayer and will re-evaluate where we are at the end of the month. In the meantime, continue to join us in prayer as we seek the Lord's wisdom and direction.

Psalm 27:1 - The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life of whom shall I be afraid?

I love you church! If you need anything please feel free to reach out.

Blessings,
Pastor Roland

We are GATHERING again!

On Sunday, May 31, 2020 we will be regathering for in person worship services. We are excited and look forward to lifting up the name of Jesus together. As we prepare to regather, here are some things to be mindful of and to give us clarity as to how we will do “church.”

• 2 Service Times: We will be offering two worship services, 9:00am and 10:45am. This will allow us to accommodate crowd size due to the CDC’s recommendations regarding social distancing (see below). At the moment, we plan to follow our two service schedule at least through the month of June and possibly July.

• Safe & Clean: Our building has been deep cleaned and sanitized so you can rest assured that you will be able to worship in a safe and clean environment. Hand sanitation stations have been set up in our welcome area. In between services our chairs and common areas will be wiped down and sanitized. Masks are not required but feel free to wear one if you feel comfortable doing so.

• Social Distancing & Seating: Due to CDC recommendations that groups continue to practice social distancing we have set up our worship seating to accommodate this. Every other row has been removed and chairs have been grouped together to allow families to sit and worship together.

• Giving: During our service we will not be passing the offering plate. Instead, a giving basket will be stationed at the entrance of the worship center. You may utilize this option if you feel led. Families can continue to worship through their giving via online, text or mail. CLICK HERE for more information on ways to give.

• Bulletins: Physical bulletins will not be printed. Instead we will continue to publish a virtual bulletin that you can view HERE.

• Comfortable: We are asking you to attend service only if you feel comfortable. If you don’t feel ready yet to attend that is fine. We know and trust that families will make the best decision for themselves. Also, if you are sick, experiencing any symptoms or have any pre-existing conditions that may put you at risk to getting sick we ask that you continue to worship with us from your home.

• Online Service: We will continue to stream our service online at 10:45am. If you are unable to gather with us in person we encourage you and your family to continue to join us via the grace of technology. CLICK HERE for ways to join us online.

• Greeting: We encourage everyone to follow the social distancing recommendations. There will be greeters in our welcome area who will share a smile and wave as you enter on Sunday morning.

• Kids Ministries: At this time we will not be offering any Nursery or Toddler services or Children’s Church. Families may utilize this time to worship together. We love when our kids are worshiping with us. We welcome the additional noise, fidgets and movements.

• Sunday School: At this time we will not be meeting for Sunday School.

• Pray: One of the best things we can do is pray! Continue to join us in prayer as we engage our mission to glorify our savior and proclaim his gospel.

We are excited to continue to gather and grow! If you have any questions, need prayer or have a physical need please reach out to us. We love you, miss you and know that our best days are still ahead.

Blessings,
Pastor Roland

Timeline on Church Reopening

Hey Grove Family,

As many of you may have heard, Governor Abbot has unveiled a plan to slowly re-open the state of Texas. In that plan churches were given the green light to begin hosting in-person worship services.

With that in mind I wanted to take this time to update you on what our plans are for The Grove moving forward. First, I want to assure you that our staff and servant leaders are approaching this prayerfully and wisely. We want to continue to be prudent in our responsibilities to our church and our community and never want to put people in a position where they are at risk. There are still a lot of unknowns and we want to be careful on how we take our next steps.

At this moment we are planning on reopening the church on Sunday - May 31st. As of now, we will have worship services only. There will be no Sunday School or Nursery & Toddler services but we do hope to have these back up and running in the near future. We simply want to approach the reopening cautiously and wisely.

Because the CDC recommends that physical distancing still be practiced, our worship center seating will be set up in order to accommodate that. As a result and in order to prevent a large gathering of people in a confined space we will reopen with 2 worship service options: 9am and 10:45am. Both services will be identical.

There are some things to be mindful of as we approach the reopening date. We want you to know that our building is being deep cleaned and sanitized in all areas. Between both services areas will be thoroughly sanitized as well. We will also have hand sanitation stations available throughout the building. We will not be passing an offering plate but will have a designated spot where you can place your offering. You can still give online as well.

We are asking you to attend only if you feel comfortable, are not sick or not showing any symptoms of sickness and don’t have a pre-existing condition that might make you at risk for getting sick. We trust and know that you will make the best decisions for you and your family. If you feel comfortable enough to join us or if you feel you still need a bit more time we want you to know that our church is taking steps to slowly get back to normal. If you are unable to attend we want you to know that we will continue to stream our service online at 10:45am and you can continue to GATHER and GROW with us via the grace of technology.

Also, as we mentally and physically prepare to return to church we will host 2 Drive-In church services. One on Mother’s Day - May 10th and the other on May 24th. We hope this will get us into the practice of getting ready and driving to church. Both these services will be streamed online as well.

Church, we are excited moving forward and while things may be a bit different we know that our GOD is the same.

I love you church!
Pastor Roland

Latest Update

For the moment have suspended all in-house church activities and are continuing to monitor the situation as we make plans moving into the summer months. At this time we have moved our service online.

You can watch our service, every Sunday at 10:45am, on our Facebook Page or on our Youtube Channel. We will continue to provide additional resources for your family during each Sunday service. Be sure to take advantage of our Discussion Guide and Kids Ministry Resources.

Know that our staff and servant leaders are continuing to pray for you and your family. Our staff is continuing to meet weekly via remote conferencing and our servant leaders are meeting weekly via Zoom to pray as well.

If you have a need, spiritually or physically, PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO LET US KNOW. If you are a senior adult or have any health conditions that would limit you and are in need of someone to make a grocery store trip for you, or any other errands please let us know. Feel free to contact us HERE.

Remember, we can continue to stay connected during this time. Though we are physically apart we can continue to GATHER through the grace of technology. You can always connect with us on Facebook, Instagram or on our Facebook Group.

Pastor Eric and Ms. Jackie will continue to provide resources and updates for our students and kids through our Facebook Group and our Student Facebook Page, Student Instagram Page and Kids Facebook Page.

We also want you to know that you can continue to worship through your giving during this time. Your giving is vital, not only for the mission of The Grove, but for our ministry partners as well. Our church has partnership locally, statewide, nationally and internationally that depend on our financial contributions. The organizations are an extension of who we are and our mission to spread the Gospel. You can find out more about our ministry partners HERE.

You can give in two ways:
1. You can give online HERE.
2. You can mail in your gift to our church;

The Grove
PO BOX 565
Orange Grove, TX 78372

Finally, stay connected with us and engage with us online throughout the week. We'll be posting quick devos, worship sessions, live interactions and anything else we can think of to help encourage you and push you toward Jesus during this time.

We love you church!
Pastor Roland