March 1, 2024

Dear Rockford Reformed Church family and friends,

We are having to make an adjustment related to our planning around the renovation. Our renovation team had been pressing EV construction and everyone involved to be mostly finished by mid-March and in time for us to hold a first worship service near the end of March. We wanted to do this, in part, so we could hold the larger crowd for our Easter worship gathering in the new space. However, it has become clear, after some delays, that this is not the best path forward. There are several reasons that led us to this conclusion, including that since the new audio/visual/streaming equipment cannot be installed until April, we would have had to quickly relocate and cobble together our temporary audio/visual equipment in the new space in the week leading up to Good Friday and Easter. This would have yielded an unreliable and unsafe mess of cables and equipment scattered through the space. Our temporary settling in of equipment could hamper and delay the installation of the new equipment. As well, since Easter is a part of the Spring Break and families travel at this time, our attendance will be down a bit, and thus we can likely hold the larger crowd in the gym.

The audio/visual/streaming equipment installation, technical training, and preparation will start on April 8 and take 3 weeks. And so, we will continue in the Family Life Center at least through April 21, and then likely have a first worship in the new space on 4/28 with a grand opening/dedication on May 5. This plan provides some breathing room for all the last finish work and details to be done with excellence and allows us to well celebrate and enjoy this space as it has been wonderfully designed. God has provided for and blessed our worship in the Family Life Center this far and will continue to do so in these next two months.

This is also traditionally the time when the planning for Vacation Bible School is underway. In the past, Beth Jennings well invested heavily into this effort with the help of many others. Emily Cutter has wonderfully taken up the leadership with children’s ministries, but it was not a part of her job description, and she does not have the margin in her life to provide the leadership for VBS. Jeannie Remelts surveyed the scope of the work with Beth and carefully considered providing leadership for the planning and implementation. Jeannie concluded that she should not serve as a primary leader, and we would need a leadership team of at least four people to address this large commitment.

In light of this, we ask that you consider whether you would be passionate to provide leadership for this ministry. If you are interested, or would like to explore what this would entail, Jeannie is glad to hear from you and answer any questions. Contact Jeannie by March 4 and then, we will evaluate whether we have the leadership at this time to go forward with VBS. If we do, we will run and get underway. If not, we will take a break from this ministry for a year. Emily is working on plans for a summer weekly ministry at our facility for a lunch, kids, parents, connecting, fun, and more.

We praise God for the gracious work of his Spirit throughout our ministries and church family. I look forward to sharing with you on Sunday from John 17:1-5 and learning what it means for us to truly know God. Join us as well for the connections, meal, worship, and learning at Focal Point. Some of you are wonderfully inviting friends and family to join us. Who can you invite especially for our Easter morning celebration?

Grace and peace,

Pastor Tim