Leading God’s People Scripture teaches that the local church should be led by elders and deacons (Phil 1:1), not just by the senior pastor. This “Presbyterian” form of leadership provides for a plurality of servant-hearted men who are elected by the congregation itself and set apart by God (“ordained”) to Read more…
Getting Back Together! We are super excited to be finally getting back to meeting in person on Wednesday nights starting this September 16. Although we are thankful for the technology that’s enabled us to stay connected digitally, it is not quite the same as really being together, we have missed Read more…
Bless Our Neighbors Food insecurity is a common problem for families and individuals in our local community — and it has been worsened by COVID-19 and the disruption it has caused to schools, the economy, and more. Our Mercy Team wants to help River Oaks do its part to respond Read more…
Nursery and ROCK Reopening Great news, parents/guardians and kids! As announced at our August 9 meeting, we are taking steps towards a safe reopening of some of our children’s ministry activities this weekend, September 13! We will begin by offering nursery (indoors) and ROCK/children’s church for grades Pre-K to 3rd Read more…
Staying Connected The leadership of ROC will post regular updates and notes of encouragement in light of the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic. The entries will appear in reverse chronological order, beginning with the most recent. Please note: given that the news is changing daily, more recent church-related updates will surpass previous Read more…
Growing in Faith River Oak’s Women’s Ministry invites you to our Fall Bible Study. Afterbeing encouraged from 1 Peter in the true grace of God and our living hope,we will continue our study this fall in 2 Peter. As we continue to walk downthe twists and turns of this day Read more…
Interested in Joining ROC? Have you been attending River Oaks Church for some time? We would love to invite you to experience the joy of belonging to your local church through church membership. Our new members class is an opportunity to find out more about who we are and what Read more…
Our COVID Path Forward On August 9th, pastors Camera and Lanier hosted a presentation and Q&A detailing our leadership team’s current understanding of the coronavirus data, which is a key input to our ministry plans for the upcoming months. Our goal is to continue exercising precautions to “keep the trains Read more…
Chasing Contentment During a time of so much unrest in our world with so many trying circumstances, how can we release our grip on anxiety and frustration unto the freedom of contentment? How can we learn, as Paul did, to be content in any situation? By God’s grace, this Women’s Read more…
At-Home VBS From the time we first announced this year’s VBS, we have been holding our plans with an open hand, recognizing the ever-changing situation with the COVID-19 pandemic could change things. In light of the recent surge in cases, our VBS leadership team, in consultation with River Oaks’ reopening Read more…
Help Save a Life! Each year, River Oaks Church joins several other churches in Seminole County to support the Pregnancy Centers (Sanford and Oviedo) in their Baby Bottle Campaign (find out more). This year, under the leadership of our Mercy Team, we will be participating in their virtual campaign! Our Read more…
In a Nutshell We are excited to announce that the leadership of ROC has developed a plan to enter “Stage 2” of reopening, which will begin on June 14. The major changes relative to Stage 1 are as follows: Two services: 9am and 11am Video service at 11am for those Read more…
Three-Stage Plan Stage 1 of our reopening plan is a prudent, sober first step (with limited attendance, social distancing, etc.) that will put us on the path towards something more “normal” over time. As of May 31, we have made a modification to the plan (dubbed “Stage 1b“): (a) our Read more…
Continue in the Word! Though we continue to do most of church life online, there’s at least one silver lining. Normally our Spring Bible studies would wrap up in April, but we are going to extend them with two six-week studies for the women and men of ROC. Both will Read more…
Oaks of Righteousness The leadership of ROC is excited to announce that our men’s ministry, after a bit of a hiatus, is back! We have re-tooled it to bring a sharper focus on cultivating leaders, growing in knowledge, and making a generational impact in our church. It officially kicks off Read more…
Interested in Joining ROC? Have you been attending River Oaks Church for some time? We would love to invite you to experience the joy of belonging to your local church through church membership. Our new members class is an opportunity to find out more about who we are and what Read more…
Viewing of “Overcomer” Ladies of River Oaks! Please join us Friday, February 21st, for a movie night together! The evening will begin at 6:30pm and wrap up by 9:15pm. We’ll be watching the movie Overcomer, which came out in 2019. Here’s a brief description: High school basketball coach John Harrison and his team face an Read more…
Going Deeper Two exciting women’s Bible studies in 2020 will provide an opportunity for members, visitors, and friends of River Oaks to grow in their love for the Lord through the study of his Word together. Women of all ages are invited to join in. Find out more below about Read more…
Protecting the Vulnerable Unfortunately, any glance at the news on any given day is a reminder that sexual abuse and predation, particularly of children, is and has been on the rise for years. And even more unfortunate is that the church is not immune from it. We at River Oaks Read more…
Making Progress! At our annual congregational meeting on December 8, the Building Committee (chaired by Steve O’Dowd, who represented the team) gave a progress report on the building expansion. We will provide audio of the meeting and the full presentation in a separate post soon, but we wanted to go Read more…