Hey Grace Hills family!

First of all, I went live in our Facebook News & Happenings Group earlier with this announcement. Click here to watch that!

Things are changing rapidly right now when it comes to the global coronavirus health crisis, so we wanted to establish this page as THE place to find the most up-to-date information about how we’re handling it all as a church.

We walk by faith and not by fear, but we take very seriously the health of people in our community. Therefore, we will take this issue very seriously as well.

About Our Weekend Worship Gathering…

As of right now:

• We will NOT be gathering publicly this weekend, but…
• We WILL be gathering online on Sunday at 10:00 am.

So first of all, be sure to “like” our Facebook page and tune in on Sunday.

Let me share about WHY we’re going online only. While, as of my writing this, there have not been any confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Benton County, it’s entirely possible that it’s present in the community but simply hasn’t shown up in a test yet. Therefore, we’re going online only for these reasons:

First, because we CAN. We have the technical capability. We started as a portable church, meeting in offices, hotels, and movie theaters and we’ve used Facebook a LOT since we started because it’s social by nature. In other words, when you tune in on Sunday, you’ll be tuning in with other people that you normally attend with.

Second, we want to cooperate and partner with the community we love so much in helping to slow the spread, for the sake of the most vulnerable around us and for the sake of local healthcare providers and workers. We care deeply about Northwest Arkansas.

Third, we know that some Grace Hills attenders are passionate about showing up for weekend services, so much so that they might take an unnecessary risk in doing so. We’re thinking of attenders who are pregnant, elderly, or are immune-compromised for a variety of reasons.

And fourth, we believe that we are the church when we gather together, but we’re just as much the church when we scatter! YOU are the church, and you get to be the church to neighbors and friends in a variety of ways, such as…

• Demonstrating faith, hopefulness, and calm when others may be experiencing worry and anxiety.
• Meeting physical needs for others, like delivering groceries and supplies (see below).
• Praying for government leaders, local officials, healthcare providers, and those who may be infected or particularly vulnerable.

There are three things we want to invite you to do:

1. Attend Sunday via our Facebook page.
2. If you’re part of Grace Hills, give online, especially since we don’t know when we’ll gather publicly again. This season will likely stretch our resources thin.
3. If you have a prayer request, a special need, or you can assist others, click here and use the form in the middle of the page to let us know!

And if you’re not sure where to find trustworthy information, we recommend these websites:

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 Page
• The World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Page
• The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Coronavirus News Page (no subscription necessary for this page)

As You Pray Through This Difficult Season…

I wrote a blog post about how we approach this issue, spiritually speaking. Essentially,

Don’t live by fear, walk by faith. Don’t waste time worrying about tomorrow, but do wisely prepare for the future. And never, never stop loving your neighbors on Jesus’ behalf!

Please click here to read the entire post.