A Open Letter about our Move from Pastor Ryan
What a couple of months it has been for Valley Church! If it is true that "whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger", then Valley Church may be ready for anything.
This Sunday, we will be moving our location and time once again. Valley Church will meet at 5:30 PM at 36 Hadley Street, South Hadley, MA 01075. This is the same building that houses Stony Brook Community Church and we are honored to share the space with them.
Beyond the cold, hard facts of the move, I would like to address the necessity and heart for the move. As many of you know, we left the Middle School at the end of November and had planned to move into a local coffee shop beginning in December. That plan fell through and we met from December - Februaruy in our house. It really was a sweet time to gather together (too close together at times), pray, hear the Word preached, sing and fellowship together. However, as 2012 marches on and we add more people, it became too much for our house and was limiting what it seemed God wanted to do. So the elders and I began looking at other options. Two major factors came to the forefront of this search for a new location: time and money.
The first major hurdle was the availability of space and the cost. The space that was available was often too expensive and the space that was affordable was not available when we needed it. When all was said and done, we found a cost effective space that didn't fit our already established Sunday schedule.
At this point, we had to make a choice. Our elders prayed and eventually decided that the move to Sunday Night would be the direction we need to go.
However, in the process, we have realized and adjusted a couple of things that we want to share with you. First, for the past year, we took the emphasis off of the Gospel community and work that was being done in the House Churches and redirected that time, effort and energy into a Sunday meeting time. This understanding forced us to reevaluate why we meet in House Churches during the week and worship corporately on Sundays. Our elders realized that both of these meeting times are Biblical and serve vital roles in the life of our church. House Churches work to connect people to one another and to the Gospel. This is where real Gospel work is done. We "grace" one another in this time by confessing sin and being encouraged by those in the House Church to see the finished work of Jesus in our lives and accept his forgiveness. Sunday Worship Gatherings are just that, a time to gather fully together to see that God is working and to corporately, together, worship Jesus, be encouraged and hear the Word preached. These two times in unison provide members of Valley Church a more full experience of growth and worship.
Second, we know that the change of time will be a challenge to many of you. Any change like this is not taken lightly from us because we realize the challenge that it presents for you and for us. However, we want to encourage you in a couple of ways as you consider this time and location change.
1. Plan your day around the priority of gathering in worship of Jesus. We believe that coming together during this time is really important and even supernatural. It is not to be taken lightly. One of the prayers that we have prayed at the beginning of each service Sunday is asking God to give us the eyes to see and the ears to hear Him on that day. He uses this meeting time to cut through the distractions and lies that we are forced to deal with during our week. Therefore, His work is done during this time. Changing from meeting in the morning to meeting at night does not change what God will do during this time.
2. Please consider whether choosing not to attend Valley Church anymore is based on convenience or necessity. It would be very easy to say this move is an inconvenience and find some place else to worship. However, I want to encourage you to press through and make gathering in worship the priority and plan everything else around this event. As a society, we will move heaven and earth to make time for a date, a movie start time and a ballgame, but the same cannot be said for gathering in worship of Jesus. The irony is that when we gather for these things, it is actually worship. Our heart is actually more fond of these experineces. If this is you, I encourage you to pray and ask God to lead you in considering whether you are simply being inconvenienced and not willing to trust Christ for this change.
3. If your day cannot be rescheduled to meet with Valley Church, find a church to attend. If you need help finding a church or need recommendations, we would be happy to talk with you about the wonderful churches in our area that we believe are our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Finally, the elders and I would like to communicate that we believe this move will provide the stability that Valley Church needs to grow and flourish in Grace. Being somewhere for a period of time is important and this move at this time will help us be where God wants us to be we believe.
Thank you all and have a great week. See you Sunday at 5:30!
By His Grace,
Pastor Ryan