Last week I sent the following to our team leaders who shared it with their teams at GCC-Elkhart. This past weekend we announced this exciting change. Thought I'd pass it on so everyone can celebrate and be well informed. Enjoy!
The excitement about what God is doing at GCC-Elkhart is palpable! Our growth is more than obvious; each week we’re meeting new friends from our neighborhood and the surrounding area. We’ve waited past the holidays to confirm our need to add service times to accommodate our reach into the community. It’s been confirmed: we’re out of space on Sunday mornings. It’s time to add another service.Our lead team at Elkhart has considered many possibilities. We’ve joked about a Sunday, 7:30am service, but of course, we need to offer service times when people will actually attend and invite their friends to join them (I know seven of you would show up at 6:30am, but we'd like you to bring your friends with you.). Although we’ve talked about Saturday evening services, the funding required for equipment to stream the message live from Granger’s campus is currently prohibitive. Initially, Saturday evening services would require the investment to properly light our parking and sidewalk areas. We believe adding a service on Sunday morning is our best option.We can offer three service times on Sunday mornings without additional funding at this point. We believe this is not only good stewardship, but will offer a variety of service times that will reach a diverse audience from early to late morning. Beginning Feb 5 our GCC-Elkhart service schedule will be:
- 7:45am Volunteer Huddle
- 8:30am 1st Service
- 10:15am 2nd Service
- 12:00pm 3rd Service
I know you get this, but a quick reminder: While we will remain sensitive to the pace at which we make significant changes, I trust that you understand and accept this core attribute in our GCC DNA: we will do whatever it takes to reach people with the love of Christ. Change is often inconvenient. New people require us to change. I suppose we could conclude: new people create inconvenience. Every week we get to choose to make it about other people. I believe that is still your heart.I wanted you to know this news first, before announcing it this coming Sunday. After Sunday’s announcement, please help us tweet, Facebook and verbally communicate this schedule change with enthusiasm. This is great news! This additional service will enable us to invite our friends and make space for people we’ve not even met yet. Space for them to experience how much they matter to God and take their next step toward him.I’m so grateful for this phenomenal team of growing and developing volunteers at GCC-Elkhart.
Mark your calendar. Invite a friend. Our new series, Keeping Score launches with 3 services in Elkhart: Sundays, 8:30am, 10:15am and 12pm and 4 services at our Granger campus: Saturdays, 5pm and 7pm and Sundays, 9:30am and 11:30am.
