Worship at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church is different. I commented a little bit on the changes back on September 8, 2023. There are now no pews, and the chairs can be configured in different ways. I still haven’t gotten used to it – one year later. I took a picture of the sanctuary back in 2023 and it is posted again on the left.

Last Sunday I stayed home from worship and watched it on U-Tube. A couple of weeks ago, I realized that attending worship overstimulated me so I decided to watch it at home instead. The picture on the right is of my computer screen. You can see the Sanctuary at the bottom of the picture and a little bit of my plant that was behind the screen. The woman standing is the pastor – Marcia Mount Shoop.

You’re probably wondering about all those supplies. Since Tropical Storm Helene, GCPC has become a supply center for those who have lost all or many of their belongings. The center is open seven days a week from 12PM to 4PM so people who need supplies can get them. GCPC has also paid over $500,000 on rent that folks cannot manage. The church has gotten grants and gifts for this purpose. Rental assistance is available M-F.

It makes for a crazy worship experience and all of those items visually overstimulate me. For the past few weeks when this ministry began, I was exhausted when I returned home. I needed to get up and get away from everything for a few minutes. I realized that I had mental fatigue and cognitive overload. Although there are places at the church to get away, it’s just not the same as being home. It’s so much easier to “rest my brain” at home. I may go back to in person worship at some point but for now I am going to stay home.

Above is a picture of the children’s time led by Amy Kim Kyremes-Parks – Director of Formation for Children and their Families. Even though there were no babies there (as far as I could tell) it’s appropriate that the children’s time was done in front of the table with infant supplies.

There was a time when I considered leaving the church and attending somewhere else because I’m uncomfortable with the worship services. I have decided to stay at least for now because I appreciate GCPC’s ministry. Who knows what the future holds.