RUSSELL, Ky. — It started off as a simple way to minister in the community, now four years later it is much more. It’s a partnership. Every month, the small congregation of Grace Baptist Church gathers for their Sunday evening service, not at their building in the Flatwoods, but at Morning Pointe Senior Care in Russell, Kentucky.

“We have a good relationship with them,” says Pastor Marvin Boggs. “They respond. They participate. They enjoy the music, and the time talking. We know we are ministering to them and we can tell how much it means through their faces,” says Pastor Boggs.

The 45-minute service takes place on the second Sunday of each month at six o’clock at Morning Pointe of Ridge. Pastor Boggs says in addition to the singing and message, there is lots of sharing. He now knows resident birthdays, and even about how much one resident loved his job at Disneyland. “We feel like are we are not only giving a blessing to them, but we are getting a blessing back,” says Pastor Boggs.

“I enjoy coming down to fellowship with my neighbors and the members of Grace Baptist Church,” smiles resident John Burks. “It is a very joyful service.” Pastor Boggs has been leading the monthly service at Morning Pointe of Ridge for the last two of the four years since it began, and feels like this is where his church needs to be every month. “You can tell how much they enjoy it, how much they love it,” says Boggs.

Jessica Spears, Life Enrichment Director for the Morning Pointe of Ridge agrees. “We feel so fortunate to have a church like Grace Baptist make such a commitment to us and to our residents,” says Spears. “It’s not just a visit, its Sunday church here at Morning Pointe of Ridge.”

Independent Healthcare Properties, LLC, a Chattanooga, Tenn.-based senior healthcare services company, develops and manages 17 Morning Pointe senior care and Lantern Alzheimer’s/Memory Care Center of Excellence communities in five southern states including locations in Richmond and Frankfort. IHP was founded in 1996 by regional healthcare entrepreneurs, Greg A. Vital and Franklin Farrow.