COVID-19 Update **7-24-20
Hello Rock Family,
In the past few weeks we have seen a swing from a promising reopening of businesses and community to stricter safety practices and even closures of certain businesses that had begun to open. Currently our county is on a watch list for the uptick in COVID-19 cases. They are looking for criteria to get off the watch list and to be able to reopen businesses in the future. At present we do not have a date for reopening of our county. With the increase in COVID-19 cases being reported we will be doing our part in keeping you safe while on campus at The Rock Church and World Outreach Center.
Our sterilization and sanitization procedures will continue and we have invested in supplies and tools to help make this process safe and to take less time. We also have a supply of masks available in case you do not have one or forgot to bring one from home. Additionally we encourage social distancing between members of different households.
As always, if you are not feeling well or are exhibiting symptoms please stay home and do not come on campus. Our live stream for online church services continues to be a great way to participate in worship, giving of tithes and offerings and for receiving the Word during each of our 8 weekly services. The Children’s Church and Youth Church services are available online as well.
We have implemented modified office procedures while our county is on the watch list. Any business that can be conducted from home or remotely will be done off campus so that we can reduce contact. This doesn’t stop our ability to communicate or even meet with you. We currently are scheduling phone and video chat meetings with individuals through our front office. We want to be available for you as we know that many people are going through a wave of emotions and difficulties as a result of the closures and stresses people are experiencing.
We would love to pray with or for you too. Don’t hesitate to reach out. Getting prayer is as easy as going to our homepage at rock.church and clicking the prayer button. You may also call or e-mail us with a prayer request. Additionally we open our live stream 15 minutes before church service starts and our online hosts can pray with you in a private chat room.
I was recently on a conference call with those who serve with our county board of supervisors and the community of faith leaders. The man who was leading the conversation asked for our help to reduce the number of cases in our county. We are ready and willing to do our part. Beyond the physical things we are doing like staying 6 feet apart and wearing masks, we have a much greater ability to help. Our prayers and faith can move mountains and heal the sick. We need to pray that this foul sickness leave our land and not return. We need to pray also for our leaders to have wisdom, for righteous reporting and practices and that there would be no new cases of COVID-19.
Thank you for doing your part to help. May God give you grace and peace as we navigate this difficult time.
Much love,
Pastor Dan Roth
COVID-19 Update **6-20-20
Hello Rock Family,
The County of San Bernardino has once again asked each resident to wear a mask when out in a public setting. Where we have been recommending masks, we now ask that each member wear your mask until you are at your seat and as you exit. We want to continue to be good neighbors and responsible citizens and as we do our part. We will continue to sanitize and disinfect thoroughly between services and throughout the day as well as practice safe social distancing with our seating. As your church we continue to pray God’s protection and safety over your families.
Sincerely,
Your Rock Church Family
COVID-19 Update **5-29-20
A Call to Prayer
Hello Rock Family,
We celebrated this weekend, gathering together in the building as a church and it was wonderful. So many of you had tears in your eyes as you walked on campus and felt the presence of God. There is nothing like the corporate gathering of the Church of Almighty God.
Earlier this week our state released guidelines for churches to resume in-person gatherings. I was happy to see that most of the guidelines we already have in place. We are continuing to offer in-person gatherings as well as online gatherings for everyone to participate at their own level of comfort. Additionally, we will resume children’s and youth ministries in the coming weeks as we are able to safely do so with leaders and the added cleaning regimen in place. For the time being, we will offer online experiences for these age groups, and should you bring your children on campus they will stay with you for church.
As always if you choose to come on campus remember that we are being reasonable and responsible when it comes to the health and safety of our community. We are practicing social distancing with three seats between families/individuals and recommending masks. Hand sanitization stations are at all exits, all materials are on tables for you to pick up, offerings are dropped in the receptacles as you exit and we are cleaning every surface that would be touched between services.
I wanted to ask you this week to take some time out each day to pray specifically for the situation we face as a church in the days and weeks ahead. We are being asked to have 25% capacity or 100 people in attendance, whichever is less. This is obviously unreasonable for a church our size. It also has no congruency with common practices of the area business guidelines and other shared spaces like parks and beaches. We have reached out to the contacts we have within the state government and are trying to bring an equitable and scalable solution for churches of all sizes. That is why we need you to pray for our leaders and to pray for the voice of the church to be effectual in the area of reopening the church with fair guidelines.
For the time being, we will be opening additional seating in the Foyer, the Youth Auditorium, Courtyard, and other rooms in order to allow the most people to attend in person gatherings while still keeping distance and safety as a priority. If you aren’t comfortable with the in person gatherings yet, please enjoy the live streams on one of our online platforms and rejoin us in the future.
Thank you for taking the time to pray and petition the Father to move in our land on behalf of His church. The gospel is not bound, we will continue to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ and anyone who wants to express their religious freedoms to attend an in person gathering may do so at The Rock Church and World Outreach Center. While these are difficult times we know that it is through many trials we must enter the kingdom of God. Keep pressing on church!
Just a reminder as well that if you have not yet been baptized that we are offering water baptism this weekend immediately following each service. Please bring a towel and dress modestly with a t-shirt and shorts. No sign-ups or classes are needed before getting baptized, you just need to be a follower of Jesus!
I look forward to seeing you in church and online. Much love,
Pastor Dan Roth
COVID-19 Update **5-22-20
The Rock Church and World Outreach Center is open this weekend!
This morning President Donald Trump made the announcement that church is essential and he called for all churches across America to open. In his words, he said “We need more prayer, not less.” He also said that the governors who had any issues with his order would have to submit to his authority.
We are happy to announce that we are opening our doors for church this weekend!
What will that look like? We want you and your family to be able to worship with us and be safe. That means we will have social distancing and safety measures in place. We strongly recommend wearing a mask when walking on campus to your seat, and when in shared spaces like the restrooms and common areas. We also ask that if you are showing symptoms of sickness or are not feeling well to please livestream the services from home.
Currently we are opening all of our adult church service times; Saturday at 10 am, Sunday morning at 9 and 11 am, Spanish service at 1:30 pm in the afternoon, our Wednesday night church service at 7 pm, and our Women Rock service at 9:30 am on Thursday morning.
We will resume Sunday night services as we are able to readjust our staff and volunteer teams. This also applies to our classes and ministries throughout the week. Some ministries will resume in an online format or look different as we slowly resume them. Be looking for communication and announcements about this in the future.
For a season, we would like you to bring your children and youth in to the sanctuary with you. Eventually we will open their age appropriate church services as we can safely do so. If you have young children who you know will not sit through a church of service, we invite you to come sit in the foyer or in the courtyard and plaza where they can be with you in an environment that allows for their attention span and energy while still allowing you to be at church. Remember that live-streaming is still available if you want to attend online.
In Psalm 122:1 David says “I was glad when they said to me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.” We couldn’t be more excited to get the family back together! We will be safe, clean and respectful of the season we’re in. We will also be jubilant, loving and welcoming to everyone as we reopen this weekend.
We can’t wait to see you all this weekend!
Pastors Dan and Jessica Roth
& your Rock Church Family
COVID-19 Update **5-12-20**
Things are happening fast. It reminds me of when we first started this whole process of receiving information and eventually the order to shelter in home. As rapidly as things were changing then it seems like they are now.
Here we are in phase 2! Some business have reopened or adjusted the way that they serve their customers. For others, this was a non-event and nothing has really changed. Maybe you feel that way. Some of you may feel a weight lifted off your shoulders and have enjoyed going out freely. I went out to get some items for Mother’s Day and was shocked at how many people were out. Whatever the scenario we can all recognize that things are happening around us.
That is why we are looking at the reopening phase that is ahead of us as a church. We have met with a large coalition of churches and are united in our goal to reopen churches by the last weekend in May for Pentecost Sunday, May 31st. (And in our case Pentecost Saturday, May 30th in addition to Sunday.) We have also reviewed the proposed plan that was sent to the governor’s office with the suggested safety guidelines for churches of any size. Additionally, we are creating our own unique safety plan to ensure our members and guests are safe and healthy as we reopen and start having church services on campus again. Be assured that we are working on the city, county, and state level in communication with government and health officials.
As we get closer to the opening date we will follow up with you through your e-mail and our blog posts to give clear and specific direction for you and your family to safely enjoy coming to church. The plan will include seating, distancing, sanitization standards and information regarding ministry’s outside of our weekly church services in the sanctuary.
We at The Rock Church and World Outreach Center want to thank you for your prayers and faith through these past few months. What a joy it was to see those of you who came to the Drive Through Mother’s Day Service. As I watched our Rock Family drive-in with tears in their eyes and saw and heard all of the expressions of love it reinforced in my heart the fact that church is essential. We need to gather. There is a corporate anointing when we gather in person. There is healing and encouragement in community.
I look forward to seeing you all in church very soon.
With Love,
Pastor Dan Roth
COVID-19 Update **4-26-20**
Rock Family,
As you heard this weekend we are starting to look to the future for what opening the church will be. The operative word was “slowly”. As much as we want to go back to having our doors open to the thousands we serve we can tell that the opening will be less of an event that happens and more of a gradual process.
Picture it like a sunrise that gets brighter and brighter until the tip of the sun pierces through the horizon and eventually it rises high in the sky. The light is there long before you ever see the sun peek out. In the same way, this process will be a lot like that. Things will slowly be happening behind the scenes until we are finally able to open our doors and get back to having church gatherings.
We have always had our essential media team members at the recordings for the church services. Our plan is to start with our pastors and broadcast the Wednesday night and the Saturday morning church services live. Sunday will be a rebroadcast and Sunday night will continue to be prerecorded for the time being.
As we see the national, state, and county leadership open more businesses and public spaces we too will expand our church service times to our staff members and eventually the volunteers and congregation. We will monitor the announcements and make sure to maintain social distancing and any guidelines for numbers of people gathered as well as the strict cleaning processes needed to help stop the spread of the virus.
Be encouraged and do what James says in the first chapter of his letter to the church in the fourth verse;
Let patience have it’s perfect work…
As frustrating as it may be to wait and seemingly do nothing remember that God is working behind the scenes in the invisible realm. We love to sing the line in the popular song Way Maker, “Even when I don’t see it You’re working…” but living that statement is difficult to do.
Rest in the knowledge that God is working and that He will create something good from all of this. The verse we started from James finishes by saying that you will be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. The perfect work of patience helps to perfect our lives. In other words, you will be fully equipped for what is next.
There is a beautiful sunrise in our future where we will get the family ready, drive to the church and together we will worship our Lord. For now, it is getting brighter on the horizon.
Grace and peace to you all!
Much love,
Pastors Dan and Jessica Roth
