Reconnecting in Autumn

21/09/2021

Dear Grace Church,

This autumn at Grace Church is all about reconnection. It has been 18 months since we were last able to gather and experience a sense of unity as a local church family. Wonderfully we are now free to begin to reconnect across the church. 

To enable us to slowly reconnect we are now running some simple services as many of you will be aware. From October 3rd adults and children will be able to worship together at Isca School, adults will also be able to worship at the Hall in the evening and we will continue with our evening livestream. 

As I have returned from sabbatical it has been very encouraging to see people working to make these initial gatherings possible. A massive thanks to hospitality teams, tech teams, worship teams and kids teams who are enabling us to take these first steps together. 

We are aiming to keep our gatherings as simple as possible this term. This way of gathering is not an agreed destination for us, rather it is a stepping stone that we will then review together. From a personal perspective – I have simply loved seeing so many dear faces again! 

Coming out of last year is likely to be very difficult at times. We have all been on different journeys and will likely feel differently about many things. Readjusting and reviewing our lives, faith and church and what we want for our futures is very normal. 

Some of us will not be ready to re-connect for various reasons. Some of us will feel ready to connect into another church. Others still longing to reconnect with old faces who they have missed. I want to encourage us all to bless this natural process, though sometimes painful. Our heart is for people to follow Jesus the best they know. May we all feel support and freedom to discern for ourselves what the Lord has for us into the future. 

For those who are ready and wanting to re-connect at Grace, I can’t wait to see you. We feel blessed to be able to serve you. I pray that my teaching ministry would be strengthening you at this time and my leadership would be full of love, grace and wisdom as we share this next season together.

Loads of love,

Stu