A Guide to Grace Church for the Remainder of 2020 (FAQ)
Friends, we recently released our plans for the remainder of 2020 and this FAQ Guide is designed to help you navigate life at Grace Church in this season. We know you probably have lots of questions, so we’ve compiled the most common questions we hear into this convenient guide for you! This Guide will be updated over time as we field more questions.
If you haven’t already, please watch Pastor Devon’s sermon titled “No Pastors, Only Preachers,” which explains many of the decisions we’ve made for this season, here:
The remainder of this Guide is broken into the following sections for easy navigation:
Questions about Services
Q: Why haven’t we gone back to regular in-person services on Sundays?
We have two primary reasons for not returning to the usual Sunday services yet.
First, while we all desperately desire to get back to normalcy, we have to accept that our world will not return to normal anytime soon. Since we are living in extraordinary circumstances, we need extraordinary measures to maintain our spiritual health. We full-heartedly believe that forming small, relational Table Groups have the greatest capabilities to meet our spiritual needs during this uncertain time (see more below in “Questions about Table Groups”). For this reason, we are reserving our primary Sunday focus on finding and investing in these relationships expecting the Spirit of God to fill them with the safety, connectedness, and direction we need right now.
Secondly, we do not believe it is safe for us to return to Sunday service as we’ve known it without attendance restrictions and with full kids and nursery programs. We have been having services with restrictions on Thursday nights since the beginning of June and are transitioning that service to Wednesday night starting the first Wednesday in August (August 5th).
Q: Are we ever going back to Sundays?
Yes, and we look forward to the day when it is safe to return to full in-person services. This question, however, gets at the heart of why we are making these changes in this season. Our faith is more than attending a service on Sunday, and we genuinely believe if you will engage these changes you will grow from it in ways that just aren’t possible in the traditional church service setting. Rather than longing for things to “go back to normal,” embrace this season as an opportunity to grow in a new and meaningful way.
Q: Do you think the government is trying to control places of worship?
No. While Arkansas has given suggested guidance to places of worship, they have yet to place any actual restrictions on them in the state. All restrictions in place are there because we choose them to be for your safety.
Q: Can I attend if…?
We still strongly discourage attendance for anyone (or anyone who lives with someone) who is immunocompromised. You should definitely not attend if, in the past 14 days, you have:
been in contact with a COVID-positive patient
traveled outside of Arkansas
or have had symptoms associated with COVID-19 yourself such as:
fever or chills
cough
shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
fatigue
muscle or body aches
headache
a new loss of taste or smell
sore throat
congestion or runny nose
nausea or vomiting
diarrhea.
Q: Are face-coverings still required?
Yes, masks or face-coverings are still required for everyone over the age of 10 for the duration of their time indoors at Grace Church.
Q: Do we still have to RSVP or reserve seats to attend the Wednesday night service?
No, starting August 5th you will no longer be required to reserve seats to attend the service. However, you will be required to have your temperature taken/recorded and sign in prior to entry.
Q: Is there still maximum attendance capacity?
Yes. However, since we will be utilizing more of the campus, starting August 5th we are increasing the total attendance capacity to 75 people.
Q: When will the Wednesday night service begin and how will it flow?
The Wednesday night service will begin at 6:30PM and last approximately 1 hour. We will likely tinker with the Order of Service until we find something that works best in this season, but for now, it will be as follows:
GraceKids (10 minutes)
Worship (20 minutes)
Giving (5 minutes)
Message (20 minutes)
Corporate Communion (5 minutes)
Q: What if someone who was at a service tests positive for COVID-19?
Once verified, we will notify everyone in the attendance registry that there was a COVID-positive person at the service (we will not release names publicly). We will also submit the attendance record to the appropriate authorities for contact-tracing purposes.
Questions about GraceKids
Q: Why aren’t we doing anything to reach K-5th Grades?
We are! The GraceKids programming will continue to be incorporated in Main Service and, starting August 9th, will air in a separate video on YouTube.
Q: Why can’t our children be in their own classes?
We have chosen to continue incorporating GraceKids programming into the main service due to safety and simple logistics (resources and volunteers). We would love to explore this further, but it will take a lot of extra work and many more volunteers to do safely. If you feel passionate about making this a possibility, pray about it, and let us know by sending an email to info@gracealma.org.
Questions about Youth
Q: What’s the plan for the Youth Ministry?
Starting on August 5th, we will offer separate youth lessons and activities during the Wednesday night service. Our new Youth Pastors, Nathan & Lynae Otten are very excited to get to know you and your kids!
Q: Will youth be in the Main Service for worship or have their own?
The youth will be in the Main Service for worship and separate for youth-specific activities and teaching.
Q: Are youth required to wear masks or face coverings?
Yes, masks or face coverings are required for everyone over the age of 10. We will adhere to other social and physical distancing guidelines as well.
Questions about Table Groups
Q: What are Table Groups? What’s the point/goal?
A response to this question will be posted here soon!
Q: When do Table Groups meet?
We prefer for Table Groups to meet on Sunday mornings to watch the online service, engage with the discussion questions, and share a meal together. If Sunday morning doesn’t work for your Group, however, feel free to meet at a time that works better for your respective schedules. Whatever it is, make a commitment to each other to be there consistently. We also encourage Table Groups to alternate attending the Wednesday night service together one week with meeting in their homes on the following week.
Q: Should I start my own Table Group or join an existing Table Group?
A response to this question will be posted here soon!
Q: How big should Table Groups be?
We think committing to meet with one other family is the best way to get started. You’re welcome to add more, but we strongly recommend keeping it to no more than three to four total families. Exercise wisdom when considering group composition.
Q: Ok, I want to start my own Table Group. How do I do it?
Go to gracealma.org/tables to register your Table Group and we will contact you for further information.
Q: I think I’d rather join an existing Table Group. What do I do?
As more people register their Table Groups, the Church Center app will update with a listing of groups with openings. Just open the app, tap “Groups,” and then tap “Table Groups” to see the list of currently open groups.
Q: What do we do with our kids during Table Groups?
This is actually one of those things we want you to embrace right now. Don’t view life as a distraction that prevents you from engaging. Instead, view these “distractions” as the means for your spiritual growth. This isn’t easy and it will take practice, but that is precisely how we grow!