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June 3, 2020

Some informational notes for our Wednesday Service:

  • Please bring your own chairs again.
  • Arrive at 6:15 p.m. to set up your chairs wherever you are comfortable under the tent.
  • Service will begin at 6:30 p.m. with the youth band leading all of us in worship.
  • There WILL be nursery, which will open at 6:20 p.m. 
  • There will be Children’s activities. Children will be with parents during the worship set and then will go with Mrs. Laura after into the gym.
  • It is FIRST WEDNESDAY for the youth. Invite a friend. After large group teaching time under the tent, the youth will go up to the field for games.
  • Adult Small groups will run from roughly 7-8 p.m.
  • There will be NO FELLOWSHIP MEAL.

June 1, 2020

After much prayer, deliberation, discussion, and seeking, Woodlands has made the very difficult decision to CANCEL all of their Freestyle camps for Summer, 2020, which means they will NOT be coming to Eastwood this year. Their hope and prayer is to resume in 2021.
This saddens us greatly, but we certainly understand the difficulty in planning mass gatherings so we trust God with this decision, as we know they are very prayerful and mindful to hear God’s voice.
This does NOT include their plans for their regular overnight Woodlands Camp at their facility. Mrs. Laura will be contacting you (or has already) about their plans for your children. Let us know if you have any questions.
We have already begun praying and asking for God’s guidance for what He would have us do this summer for your children to replace Freestyle. We ask that you join us in prayer for this. It might be that we do a Freestyle-like week on our own. We will be updating you soon with our plans, but our hope is to do something in order to pour the gospel into your kids and their friends. Whatever we do, it will most likely occur the last week in July, (27th-31st), so save those dates for now.
Please be praying and be on the lookout in the near future for more information. We thank you for your grace, patience, and understanding during this time, and if you have any questions, please contact Laura Smith at 423-284-9337.

May 30, 2020

We just wanted to highlight some information for this week’s Sunday service. Most everything will be the exact same as last Sunday, but there are a few additional pieces of information we would like to bring to your attention.

  • There WILL be nursery this Sunday. Please contact Laura Smith at 423-284-9337 if you have any questions.
  • There will once again be NO separate Children’s or Youth. Everyone other than nursery will be under the tent for the worship service.
  • Last week, a number of people sat outside the tent in order to enhance their social distancing and were able to hear very well. If you feel more comfortable doing this, please feel free to do so. You are even able to park your car down the far end of the tent and sit in your car and hear just fine as well. If you have any questions about how this works, please contact Sean at 423-598-0286.
  • This week, we will be doing a combination of printed lyrics on paper like we did last week and a PowerPoint projection of the lyrics on the tent ceiling. We did this on Wednesday night, and it worked pretty well. If you are sitting in the back, it may be harder to see the projection, so we ask that those in the front save the printed lyrics for people in the back.
  • There is no church-wide coordinated Sunday school; however, we do have several groups that are choosing to meet. Please contact your group leader to find out if your group is meeting and where. If you have any questions about this, please contact Sean at 423-598-0286.
  • Please bring your own chairs once again.
  • Please bring your own bibles.
  • We do once again strongly encourage everyone to practice good social distancing, wear masks if that is what you prefer, and be mindful of other people’s personal space.
  • Once again, we will not do our greeting time, nor will we pass the plate. There will be 2 offering boxes in which you can place your offering.
  • Please arrive at 10:45 a.m. to get situated. Service will be begin at 11 a.m.

We also once again ask that you come with your heart filled with grace and love. We are thankful to God for providing an opportunity to worship in person as a community again, and we hope you arrive tomorrow with your heart prepared to worship and prepared to hear from God. It should be a great morning at Eastwood.

May 26, 2020

As we have mentioned previously, we are excited about gathering together tomorrow (Wednesday, May 27) for corporate worship and small groups. Our service this past Sunday was such a powerful experience of connecting with God, and we believe Wednesday will provide more of the same. We hope you are excited and plan to attend. Here are some basic informational items:

  • Please bring your own chairs again.
  • Arrive at 6:15 p.m. to set up your chairs wherever you are comfortable under the tent.
  • Service will begin at 6:30 p.m. with the youth band leading all of us in worship.
  • We will transition from worship into small groups by 7:00 p.m.
  • Small groups should end around 8:00 p.m.
  • You will use your camp chair for your small group also.
  • Check with your small group leader for the location your group will meet.
  • If you are not in a small group already, we have plenty of options for you to join one if you desire. We really hope everybody will come who wants to just to be with the body of Christ, to worship together, and to connect in a small group after. If you are not connected in a small group and want to be, please contact Sean (423-598-0286) or see him Wednesday night.
  • There WILL be nursery and Children’s activities. Nursery will open at 6:20 p.m. Other children will be with parents during the worship set and then will go with Mrs. Laura after. She will email parents separately with her plan for the kids. Be on the lookout for this communication. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Laura Smith at 423-284-9337.
  • There will be NO FELLOWSHIP MEAL.
  • WEATHER PERMITTING: There is a chance of thunderstorms. In the event of severe weather, we may have to cancel all Wednesday activities. We will make this decision by 2:00 p.m. and will send out mass communication shortly thereafter. If we do have to cancel, please plan to meet in your small groups by Zoom. This includes youth as well.

As always, we thank you for your prayers, your grace and patience, and your understanding during this time. We really are excited about what God is doing at and through our church, and we hope you are too. Please let us know if you have any questions.

May 23, 2020

We just wanted to communicate a few more pieces of information for our Sunday service. Hope this helps answer any additional questions that have arisen.
  • For Sunday, May 24, there will be no nursery, no Children’s Ministry, and no separate Youth activities. All attendees will be together under the tent. We will be evaluating this for future weeks and will announce our plans in advance from week-to-week.
  • You are more than welcome to sit outside the tent if that is more comfortable for you. The sound should carry a decent distance into the parking lot. It’s also possible if your car is close enough that you could hear the sound from your car with the windows rolled down. We make no guarantees of this, but it is possible. There are a number of parking spots relatively close. Those will be open for parking. We also ask that if you see someone sitting outside the tent that you pay special attention to being mindful of personal space and social distancing. We are asking for this anyway, but if someone is outside the tent, please be extra mindful.
  • There is no current plan to video stream the service or post video after; however, we do plan to record the audio of the sermon like we always used to do and post that sometime after the conclusion of the service. We will do our best to post this as promptly as is possible. We will evaluate this element as we move forward to see what provisions we need to make to keep those of you who are unable to attend connected to the teaching. We hope the audio will be sufficient for those of you wanting to hear the sermon.
  • Please bring your own chairs.
  • After the service, please allow the worship team to do their own tear down of the equipment. This will help guard against a large collection of people in close quarters. They are prepared to do this.
  • Bring your own bible, if you want to follow along with the scriptures.
  • Please come with your hearts filled with grace for the entire process.
Additionally, we are planning to have Wednesday service and bible studies on Wednesday, May 27. There will be no meal, but we plan to meet under the tent at 6:30 p.m (plan to arrive 10-15 minutes early) for corporate worship with the youth band leading us. Then, we will break off into our regular Wednesday bible study groups. These groups will meet outside, so please plan to bring your own chairs again. We are excited about what God is doing, and we hope you are too. We also would love your prayers. Thank you!

May 22, 2020

As most of you have probably heard by now, Eastwood Church will be beginning it’s reopening this coming Sunday, May 24. We have prayed and prayed about what God wants for our church, and we feel He has guided us to open for at least the first three weeks outside, underneath a large tent. It should be exciting to be back together again worshiping together, while also providing plenty of open-air space to provide ample social distancing. Here are some basic informational items, so you’ll know a little bit about what to expect:

    • Arrive at 10:45 a.m. to get situated
    • Bring your own chairs for your family
    • Sit wherever and however you feel comfortable, spaced out from other families and people.
    • Please be mindful of social distancing.
    • Service to begin at 11:00 a.m. and go until approximately 12:00 p.m.
    • Masks will be available but not required. We are leaving this up to each individual person’s preference. Again, please be mindful of others who may differ in their thinking on these topics.
    • Hand sanitizer will be available.
    • The passing of the plate for the offering will NOT happen. Instead, there will be boxes where you can drop off your offering.
    • There will be no greet time.
    • We will not have PowerPoint, so we will provide sheets with the lyrics to the worship songs.
    • Also, since there will be no PowerPoint, you are encouraged to bring your bible to follow along if you wish.
    • There will be no organized Sunday School time. We are actually leaving this up to each individual group to prayerfully consider and decide what to do. If you are in a class that decides to meet, those meetings will occur outside. Your camp chair will be used for that as well. Please check with your class leader for plans.
    • The building will be closed, except the courtyard door between the gym and the sanctuary so that one set of Men’s and Women’s bathrooms can be used, if necessary. We encourage the usage of these bathrooms to be kept to an absolute minimum if at all possible. 
    • Grace toward one another in every aspect is a must.
    • Please be praying for our service, our body, and everything surrounding our church during this time.

Here is also a video you can watch with some information about Sunday!

We look forward to being with those of you who are able to attend. We have missed worshiping with you!

May 9, 2020

So, what’s next for Eastwood Church? Listen as Pastors, Bill Spencer and Sean Hanzelik, discuss how God is currently revealing plans for re-opening.

May 2, 2020

There are a lot of questions and uncertainties in our country and community at this time, and we are sure there are a lot of questions and uncertainties in our body at Eastwood. Please watch the video below for a message from our Pastor, Bill Spencer, as he shares a little bit about the vision and thinking Eastwood has during this time and moving forward. We also continue to ask you for your prayers for wisdom and guidance as we seek God for His direction for our church. We thank you for praying with and for us.

April 14, 2020

Meal Opportunity for Families Without Power
          Eastwood Family, Lisa Lawrence and Deb Jeffers are going to be cooking our regular Penne Pasta meal on Thursday for any families in need of a warm, home-cooked dinner for Thursday evening. We have a lot of families without power, so if you are in need of a meal, please contact Deb Jeffers at 423-595-3050 to make a reservation.
          Also, we need one person to volunteer to help coordinate deliveries to families, so if you are able to do this, please contact Deb Jeffers also at the number above. 

April 2, 2020

Watch the video below for some information on our upcoming Easter celebrations and services.

March 30, 2020

Watch the video below for some information on Children’s & Youth Ministry teachings and parental partnership.

March 28, 2020

          First of all, we want to thank each of you that have continued in your giving to Eastwood during the recent few weeks. God has proven to continue to be faithful in His protection of and provision for our church, so we praise Him wholeheartedly. We’ve had a lot of questions about the operation of the church (i.e. is the office still open, will people be there, will my checks be deposited promptly, how do I give, etc), so we wanted to take this opportunity to share with you some of those answers.

          Yes, the church office is open during the week. There are people there at various times and on various schedules, but yes, regular office work is getting done. We do ask for your patience and understanding during this time, and we also encourage you to text Sean (423-598-0286) ahead of time before coming by, just to make sure he or someone else is there. You can do this anytime. Also, any checks received will be deposited the following Monday or Tuesday after the day on which the check is received, which is our normal schedule anyway.

          Lastly, how can you continue to be faithful in your giving to Eastwood during this time? There are multiple ways you can give, as outlined below:

  • Bring your contribution by the church: As noted above, please text Sean ahead of time to make sure someone is there.
  • Mail a standard check to the church office:  The address is 4300 Ooltewah Ringgold Rd – Ooltewah, TN 37363. Again, the check will be deposited on the Monday or Tuesday after it is received.
  • Do an e-check through your online banking bill pay system: Same mailing address as above. Only difference is that these checks take approximately 7 days to be received. Once received, it will be deposited the Monday or Tuesday after receipt. NOTE: There is no fee for this, for you or the church.
  • Give online: Go to CLICK HERE. Click the link, follow the prompts, etc. If you have any questions, call or text Sean. NOTE: There are fees for this. See below for details.
  • Text To Give: This is a new feature for our church. Below are the steps:
    1. Text to Give Number: 423-301-5378 (save this number in your phone as Eastwood Text To Give)
    2. Go to your Messages/Texting app on your smart phone
    3. Enter the 423-301-5378 as the recipient
    4. In the message block, type the numerical amount of your donation. You do not need a dollar sign.
    5. Hit send
    6. You will receive a response text with a hyperlink. This is a registration link for you to enter your personal information and banking info.
    7. After clicking the link and entering all your personal information, hit the “Process” button at the bottom.
    8. This will complete your donation.
    9. You will receive a confirmation text. You can also set up recurring donations through this. You can also cancel your donation through this.
    10. If you have any questions, please contact Sean at 423-598-0286. Once your registration is done, you will not have to go through that process every time. After set up, you will be able to just text the dollar amount with one-click submission. Easy peasy!

Just a few other notes people often ask about:

  • If you give online via credit/debit, there is a 2.75% fee that the church pays. You are able to absorb this fee on the website.
  • If you give online via ACH, the fee is only 1%. The church does absorb this fee, but you can also choose to increase your donation if you would like to absorb it.
  • If you give by text, the fee is 2.75% also, but there is no way for you to absorb it unless you manually increase your donation.

As always, we thank you for your faithfulness, and if there are any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to reach out to Sean at 423-598-0286.

March 21, 2020

          We are so thankful for the grace of God during this time and also your grace as we navigate trying to “do church” and spiritually lead our people in new and vastly different ways. It’s been really amazing to see God’s hand of provision and protection already, despite being overwhelmed with so many new ways of looking at doing things. It’s made us stand in awe at the awesomeness of God, and we hope you are taking time amidst the hustle and bustle of learning and doing new things to just praise Him, thank Him, and truly worship Him. He is on the throne and is always working for the good of those who love Him.
          So, what are we going to do going forward? For now, our plan is outlined below. We know this will probably evolve and change as we learn and grow, so we ask for your patience and understanding.
Sunday Teachings
          Starting tomorrow morning, Sunday, March 22, we will post a video teaching each Sunday morning, at roughly 10:30-10:45 a.m. to coincide with our normal service time. These videos will run anywhere from 10-20 minutes and will more often than not feature Bill teaching on whatever God puts on his heart. Tomorrow’s video will be slightly different as it will be more of an introduction into this type of teaching and will feature both Bill and Sean just sharing some of their thoughts to kick off this new way of teaching.
Student Ministry
          Wednesdays and Saturdays will be the most likely days for Jonathan to post a video teaching for our Youth Ministry. Wednesday’s teaching will most likely post around 6:30 p.m. Saturday’s teaching will probably hit sometime in the afternoon. These may feature Madison or other leaders who will provide additional insights into the topics at hand.
Children’s Ministry
          Laura will be developing some video teachings for our Children’s Ministry. We will probably stagger these on different days throughout the week. We hope this will keep your children connected to the word of God and the body of Christ at Eastwood, while also giving parents some added things to talk about with their children. We hope this will be a springboard into families centering their lives more around the truth of God moving forward.
Daily Devotions
          We will also be posting a very brief (probably 3 minutes or less) daily video devotion done by Bill and Sean. We hope this will be a good way for you to kick off your day meditating on the word of God.
          We also are working on putting some things in place for our small groups to be able to do video meetings. Some groups have already tried these out, and the feedback has been great so far. Stay tuned for more information on this as the days go by.
          We have a lot of things in the works, and we are learning more and more every day. We ask that you just pray for God’s guidance and provision during this time, and please pray that He does a mighty work of making us even stronger during this time so that when things go back to normal we will have an even greater hunger and passion for the world around us than ever before.
          We love you all, and as always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

March 19, 2020

Dear Eastwood Family, 
          I know this is been a trying week for everyone. It is difficult not being able to be together and carry out our normal routines as we keep social interaction to a minimum in order to slow the spread of the virus and protect those most vulnerable among us. Meeting together really is the heartbeat of who we are as a church, so we have been praying and seeking God for ways to keep our connections alive and strong during this time.
         We have been working on setting up some platforms to be able to connect as a church in Christ-centered relationship during this time. We recognize these connections are so important to Eastwood, from our little kids through our youth, young adults, and all the way to our senior adults. We, as a church, are much more relational than technological, so this has been a challenge for us. We hope to be rolling out to you very soon some options for being able to connect in your small groups, one-on-one meetings, and also as a church for regular Sunday worship. 
          We feel it’s very important that we comply with the request of the CDC and our government to stem the tide of the infection in our country, so we will not be meeting on Wednesday nights or Sundays in person at least through March and probably April, assuming things remain the same. We are taking things day-by-day just like everyone. Our suggestion is even though they have asked us not to meet in groups larger than 10 that we would be careful even in doing that. Taking precautions now will hopefully enable us to get back to normal sooner than later.
          We will be contacting you in the near future on how to connect, and we will be relying on our small group leaders and Sunday school teachers to help organize and facilitate those connections. Thank you for your cooperation and for your prayers as we all trust God and seek to follow him as we walk through this together
          As always, if you need anything, please feel free to reach out. 
          I love each of you with the love of Christ,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Pastor Bill Spencer