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mask guidance

8/22/2021

On 08/18/2021, Governor Inslee instituted a statewide indoor mask mandate effective 08/23/21 regardless of vaccination status. Pursuant to Romans 13:1-7, 1 Peter 2:13-17 and the governing authorities' legitimate role of protecting life and property (Genesis 9:5-6; Romans 13:1-7), the eldership of Redeeming Grace Church is:

Advising members, attenders, and visitors of the indoor mandate
Encouraging compliance with the mandate by members, attenders, and visitors especially when appropriate physical distancing cannot be maintained.
Advising that comments about, complaining about, or debating about masks are not be part of any of our meetings. This is to be especially true of our Sunday gatherings as we mark a rest from our labors, our activism, and our cares to celebrate and delve into our rest in Christ.
Furthermore, in the interest of being "eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace," advising that comments towards, complaints towards, arguments towards others about masks, whether they would be direct statement, indirect comments, or gestures should not to be part of our life as a church.
Stating that positions on masks are not matters of orthodoxy or essential to our theology, piety, and practice. Such arguments fall under the category of foolish controversies that only breed division and quarrels and are unprofitable (Titus 3:9, 2 Timothy 2:23-25). Thus, they should be avoided—especially among one another.

Plans for the week of 02/07/2021

2/3/2021

Greetings all! The grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. This is just a brief update for our plans for Sunday and the ensuing week. On Sunday, for our 1:00pm service, we will be returning to our "First Sunday Psalms" series with a look at the 17th Psalm. Click here for our order of worship. We'll also be having our annual business meeting immediately after worship.

On Thursday evening we'll be meeting on Webex for Chapter 4 of A Pilgrim's Guide to Rest. Also, the men should mark their calendars for 02/20/21 as we will be in chapter 6 of Horton's A Place for Weakness.

SERVICE PLANS FOR SUNDAY 07/19/2020

7/14/2020

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We have a change of plans for our Sunday gathering for 07/19. We will not be meeting at the CRC facilities this week. We will be having an outdoor service in Clinton at Lakeside Bible Camp. We will still be meeting at 1:00pm. A map is below. The address is:

4170 Bible Camp Dr.
Clinton, WA 98236

We are also planning for baptisms after the service in Deer Lake. Grace Family, watch you email for more information. We look forward to seeing you there!

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OUR NAME CHANGE

7/10/2020

we've changed our name

7/8/2020

Since April 1998, when we first constituted, we have been known as Grace Evangelical Church. That name has served us well. However, over the years, the word "evangelical" has come to mean way too many things to way too many different people. When we first started, we used Evangelical in the sense of a people committed to historic Christian orthodoxy, the fundamental tenets of the Protestant Reformation (the five Solas), and the centrality of the the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to our life and witness.

While "Evangelical" can be a useful descriptor, it really no longer functions well as a primary "noun" to describe our identity. To some, the name refers primarily to a political lobbying movement. To others, it refers to a generic form of "lowest common denominator" Christianity that is light in doctrine and worship. Neither of those are true of us--as a church. While we have members vested in social and civic affairs, that is distinct from our mission as a church. Social and civic agendas do not form the basis of what unites us. We recognize our common bond of Christian brotherhood with those whom we may not see eye to eye on in secondary and tertiary doctrine. However, we don't want to reduce our doctrine, thus our piety and practice, to just a few broad points. We are a church that is deeply connected to the heritage of the Reformed tradition in general and the Particular Baptists of 17th century London in particular, and we think that our name should reflect that.

Thus, on February 2, 2020, our church voted unanimously to begin the process of changing our name to Redeeming Grace Church. We think that most accurately reflects who we are, and what we wish to be known for, as a body of believers. As of yesterday, July 7, 2020, the name change was completed in terms of our "legal" recognition. Signs, stationary, and graphics are in the process of being updated.

While we have just begun acting on this, it has actually been something in the works for a number of years. A number of elders over the years have seen a need for the change, but it hadn't been the right time to act. Now, it seems was the right time to do so.

--Pastor Mark