Thinning Out the Middle

No, no, no this is not a weight loss post.  I could use a little thinning out in the middle, but this post will be a little more metaphorical than that.

We have now done 3 services for 2 weeks.  It has been a lot of fun.  It has, of course, also been tiring, but it’s definitely a good kind of tired.  Anywho, we weren’t really sure what the crowds would be like from service to service going into it.  We were pretty sure that 1st would be the smallest, but we didn’t know about the 2nd and 3rd.

Through 2 weeks, the first service has been about half the size of the 2nd service with the 3rd service being somewhat in between.  This last Sunday, we had standing room only at the 10:00 service.  That makes for great energy in the room, but doesn’t make for great opportunities for new people to find a good place to connect in the long term.  We want to keep making room for newer people.  Most new people will visit at 10:00.

So…we need to thin out the middle service and move to the outer services.  If you can make it to 8:30, please do.  It is certainly the earliest, and for the most people, the hardest one to get to.  If we can make room for newer, less engaged people at 10:00, by coming at 8:30, let’s do it.  11:30 is also a good option.  You can get some extra rest, have a leisurely breakfast/brunch and come to church at 11:30.

BTW, you guys have been doing a great job parking farther away and making space for newer people.  Kudos to you and the coolest people in orange vests, Grove Parking Team.

We are at an exciting time at The Grove Church where God is blessing us a ton, and we’re excited to see what happens next.  Thanks for making some small changes to make a big difference.

The Bridge

The next 12 months for The Grove Church will be exciting, challenging and a bridge to new opportunities for ministry in the future. God has blessed the Grove tremendously over the past year and we have seen new people come to faith in Christ and become a part of the Grove. As such, Sunday mornings in both services have become quite crowded, and we began looking for a new place to meet.

After considerable prayer and discussion the elders decided that we needed to wait for a season before we move into a different facility. We had some financial priorities that needed to shift first, most notably changing our missions giving from 3% to 10%. We still believe that God wants us to worship in a different facility, but not yet.

However, rather than calling this a season of waiting, we believe that this is a season of building and preparation, which we are calling The Bridge. We believe that God wants to multiply the impact that we are having in the lives of people. God wants to use the Grove to REACH people who are far from God, help people GROW into committed followers of Christ and SEND people into their communities and the world with the gospel.

In order to get there, we are asking God to prepare us. We are asking God to give us hearts that are open to him using us in the lives of people. As members of the Grove we are going to need to increase our level of commitment, both in our time and our money. Through this, we expect God to continually bless the church this year in the number of people who come to know God and begin worshipping with us.

Here are some videos that explain that describe what’s next for us:

The Need for Giving