Sunday Services

One of the duties of the Resident Council at The Grand Court is to take suggestions or complaints from residents, and investigate what should be done about them, from our point of view. If the comment seems to us to be pertinent, and worth considering, we discuss it, and take whatever action we think we should - mostly discussing it with Management.

A complaint or suggestion might be from, and/or about, just one resident, or about the group as a whole.

The Grand Court is committed to caring for each individual here in whatever way is practicable and possible.

For many of us, we are “shut-in” here, without any way to leave. If there are things we would like to do, or have done for us, we need to find some way to accomplish them.

At the first meeting of the newly organized (after the election) Council, someone mentioned that there are some residents who would like to go out to church, but have no transportation. Could we have a service here?

In past years - in fact when Jean and I were here the first time - our Grand Court Bus took residents to a different church each Sunday.

By the time I got back here last Spring, the bus no longer ran on Sunday. The trips had to stop, due to a lack of interest. They were down to just one resident each week, and it was hardly good stewardship to pay a Staff Member for at least a half-day, just to take one person to a Church Service.

Thus - “Could we have a service here?”

The Management here is very open to that, we are told. In fact, our Activities Director has already planned a letter to local churches, asking if any one (or more) of them could come in on, say, Sunday afternoons to provide a service.

One of our Council Members has a cousin who is a retired minister (whom I have known for maybe 40 years also), and the Member thought he could ask him to consider coming in.

He was able to finally contact him - at about the same time that I sent him an e-mail - to ask him to consider providing a service.

It turns out that, though officially “retired”, he still speaks every Sunday, at various venues, and could not commit to this.

Apparently, contacts have been made with others in the past, to no avail.

The new Council is going to try to get this going.

I sent a letter to my pastor about this, a copy of which follows - with some omissions to not identify the church:

One recent request by some Residents is for a weekly Church Service here.

The facility used to provide a bus ride to some local church when we were first here over 2 years ago, but declining riders (maybe only one a week), made its continuance unfeasible.

Enter this group of Council Members.

Though the Facility cannot pay for a service here, they seem to not object to it, if it's essentially run by the Resident Council.

At our last meeting, we felt that Sunday afternoon would be the best time - both as convenient to the residents, and to any church group that would come in.

Now, my reason for writing to you (as if you didn't already realize):

1. Is there presently any group at our church that would or could provide an hour long service - including music - or shorter, if message only, as an extension of the church?

2. Or, is there an individual who would be interested in doing this, as an extension of the church?

3. Or, is there a Sunday School class, or youth group, that would be interested in the same thing?

4. Or, anything else you can think of - as an extension of the Church?

5. Or, does this fit in with one of the Assistant Pastors' opportunities at our Church?

6. Or, would one of the above 1 to 5 options fit on an irregular basis - say with another or two churches?

I can't promise what the attendance would be, but a quality teaching and worship service could be possibly well attended.

My pastor, by the way, responded right away and said they are already doing two of these each week, and are unable to add another at this time.

For a couple weeks, no one else responded, then, last Monday, Rev. Marv Wiseman, Pastor of the Grace Bible Church, agreed to see what he could to.

Praise the Lord!

Let’s see what transpires.

A week later:

Rev. Wiseman has now graciously agreed to a three month trial of this, for January thru March. Praise the Lord!

His question to Timi about song books (since we presently have only 6 or 7) was answered by a mimeograph machine (or, probably a computer) at the church, with the songs available each week.

I’m not a shut-in, PTL, and I have a car that takes me to my church every Sunday, but I plan to participate in this service to The Grand Court, provided by Grace Bible Church, every Sunday I can.

I have previously mentioned the Bible Study offered here each Tuesday night by a layman, with as much actual Bible knowledge as anyone I know.

He’ll say, “Over in (Book) in about, verse (number), you’ll find – ”, and he goes right to the verse, knowing where it is on the page, the reads it. Of course, it is the right one that he was looking for.

Sometimes he wanders a little off the specific passage we are currently studying – maybe relating a personal experience – but “he ties it all in”!

We sing Gospel Songs also at the beginning, with him accompanying on the guitar. The whole time is very enjoyable, and mostly enlightening.

Our task now, is to do the right thing in encouraging our shut-in residents to attend the Sunday meetings.

Knowing of Rev. Wiseman’s teaching, I can assure anyone that these services will be spiritually enlightening as well.

Thank the Lord for the victory in this project!