UPDATE: 7/24/20
Find Pastor Matt's most recent Update HERE.
Excerpt from the update on services:
It was a great disappointment to be unable to go through with our open service on Sunday, July 5. As you remember, we had been planning the reopening of our morning worship service for weeks, but Allegheny County called for a cancellation of gatherings over 25 people and we had to continue holding our service by invitation only. We also began to realize that our hopes for the fall were not going to be realized in the ways that we had been planning. In response to the increase of infections in Allegheny County and increased concern by government officials at all levels, we recognize that we will need to think about ministry in creative ways. Last Sunday John McCombs preached about our urgent need for evangelism and witness during this time of uncertainty. He said that in order to accomplish that, we will need to be more decentralized and more creative. We hope that all of our members can pick up that challenge in their personal lives, but here are some ways we are seeking to do that together:
“Open” and Outdoor PM Services. We are finalizing the start date and location, but we are planning to make alterations to our PM service so that it can be conducted in a way that is open – that is anyone can come and we don’t need to sign up. This will allow us to find ways to gather together in person and also receive communion. We are hoping to start this in mid-August and more details will hopefully be available soon. Essentially, it will be quite similar to our Easter Sunrise Service, but even shorter.
UPDATE: 7/3/20
7/5/20 Worship Service LIVESTREAM only and remains CLOSED and re-opening is postponed.
7/5/20 Bulletin HERE.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 6/13/20
Find Pastor Matt's City Reformed Green Phase Announcement HERE
City Reformed is planning to move to a socially distanced and open worship service beginning as soon as July 5, 2020.
Please complete the SURVEY by Tuesday, June 16th.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 5/30/20
Find Pastor Matt's member letter on Going Green, Pentecost, Minneapolis HERE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 5/14/20
Find Pastor Matt's member letter on reopening HERE.
Excerpt from the letter regarding gatherings:
We also plan to expand our “in-person” attendance at the worship service from 10 to 25, following guidelines from our state. People who are interested in attending should sign up by sending an email to Sol. Each week we will invite interested people to attend the service in person. Priority will be given to people who are otherwise socially isolated, but most members will have an opportunity to attend. Because we will not have childcare facilities available, some families will be limited in their participation. During the Yellow Phase, we will only allow children to attend who have shown the ability to maintain social distancing guidelines throughout the service. It is understood that anyone who signs up is agreeing to abide by the guidelines for official activities listed below, including wearing a facemask throughout the service.
With this in mind, it is important to be clear about the guidelines that we are asking our members to observe while they meet together officially (such as a small group or our Sunday Worship Service.) While we see inherent wisdom in all of these guidelines, it is not our intention to require adherence to these policies in social interactions beyond “official church functions.” (See Appendix A.)
UPDATE: 5/9/20
Following the news that Governor Wolf will move Allegheny County to the Yellow Phase on Friday, May 15th, City Reformed will begin preparing for changes to our church life. This means that the stay at home order will be lifted and that the maximum size of group gatherings will increase to 25. Precautions to limit the spread of infection are still in place. More information will be given early next week, but we plan to use the next 6 days to prepare for this transition. We anticipate the following steps:
UPDATE: 4/25
CLICK HERE for Pastor Matt's most recent member letter
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 4/24
THIS SUNDAY 4/26: City Reformed continues to LIVESTREAM the worship service: DIRECT link to the livestream. While we may be separated by distance, we will draw near in spirit. Sunday, April 26, 2020 Bulletin
Adult Education: “By the Rivers of Babylon: Psalms for the Exiled” in a four-part series via Zoom Thursday evenings at 8:00 pm April 30th through May 21st. We will look at different psalms each week and think about how the Book of Psalms encourages us and speaks to us today, especially in difficult times. Click on this link: tinyurl.com/CRPCAdultEd. If Zoom asks you for a password, type “CRPC”. If you have any problems connecting, contact Seulgi.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 4/17
THIS SUNDAY 4/19: City Reformed continues to LIVESTREAM the worship service: DIRECT link to the livestream. While we may be separated by distance, we will draw near in spirit. Sunday, April 19, 2020 Bulletin
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 4/10
Good Friday, April 10, 2020 Tenebrae Service Bulletin
Good Friday, April 10, 2020 Tenebrae Service Direct Link to the Livestream (which will go live at 6:55PM)
Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020 Worship Service Direct Link to the Livestream
Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020 Service Bulletin
Easter Sunrise Liturgy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 4/3
Sunday, April 5, 2020 10:15AM Palm Sunday Service LIVESTREAM on our YouTube channel
Sunday, April 5, 2020 Bulletin
Easter Week Devotional
Pastor Matt's full member letter on devotions in quarantine
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 3/28
Easter Week Services:
Weekly videos for children will be made available to families. If you are interested, please contact Charis.
Adult Education: The Isaiah class will resume online via Zoom every Thursday evening at 8:00 pm for the next four weeks beginning on April 2nd. If you’ve never used Zoom and want to join us, create a free Zoom account on Zoom.us and click on this link tinyurl.com/CRPCAdultEd. If Zoom asks you for a password, type “CRPC”. Join us for an interactive study of Isaiah 24-27 this Thursday. Feel free to share this information with others you think may be interested. If you have any problems connecting, contact Seulgi.
A new document which describes our theological framework for how we conduct our livestream worship service can be found here.
Find Pastor Matt's full member letter on COVID-19 HERE.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 3/27
THIS SUNDAY 3/29: City Reformed continues to LIVESTREAM the worship service. While we may be separated by distance, we will draw near in spirit. Sunday, March 29, 2020 Bulletin
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 3/20
THIS SUNDAY 3/22: City Reformed continues to LIVESTREAM the worship service. While we may be separated by distance, we will draw near in spirit. Sunday, March 22, 2020 Bulletin
Church Building Use NOTICE: 3929 Coleman Street is closed, except for essential purposes as determined by Session.
Social Distance UPDATE: Our leaders remain committed to praying and caring for your needs even as we are removed from physical proximity to each other. Realizing that these needs may have changed, or are changing, we would like you to take a few minutes to fill out this Google form so that we can address where the needs are and where the help can come from.
Join Pastor Joseph on his YouTube channel for daily devotionals in Philippians.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------UPDATE: 3/14
3/15/20 our worship service will NOT BE OPEN to the public and we will NOT BE AT WINCHESTER THURSTON.
10:15AM WORSHIP SERVICE will be LIVESTREAMED on our YouTube Channel HERE.
The Sunday, March 15, 2020 Bulletin can be found here.
While we may be separated by distance, we will draw near in spirit.
Prayer: We would like to pray for you. We are re-activating prayer@cityreformed.org and all emails go directly to Pastor Joseph.
Deacons are ready and willing to help, particularly financial assistance for those missing work related to the Coronavirus. It can be awkward to ask for help, but it’s generally better to do it sooner rather than waiting for a crisis. Contact Nik or any of the deacons.
Please find Pastor Matt's full note on the livestream worship HERE.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 3/12
THIS SUNDAY 3/15: City Reformed has made a decision to cancel everything BUT the 10:15AM worship service for Sunday morning. We will continue to monitor this situation and make a final decision regarding the worship service by Saturday afternoon.
1.) We will postpone reopening our worship service. Instead, the Allegheny County closure order3 means that we will need to shift our focus and return our service to the protocols that we used during the yellow phase.4
2.) We will comply with the general call of the closure order and keep our service size below 25.5
3.) We will continue with our move to WT and hold our livestream service from there.
4.) We will continue our current masking policy for the worship services.6
Find Pastor Matt's most recent Update HERE.
Excerpt from the update on services:
It was a great disappointment to be unable to go through with our open service on Sunday, July 5. As you remember, we had been planning the reopening of our morning worship service for weeks, but Allegheny County called for a cancellation of gatherings over 25 people and we had to continue holding our service by invitation only. We also began to realize that our hopes for the fall were not going to be realized in the ways that we had been planning. In response to the increase of infections in Allegheny County and increased concern by government officials at all levels, we recognize that we will need to think about ministry in creative ways. Last Sunday John McCombs preached about our urgent need for evangelism and witness during this time of uncertainty. He said that in order to accomplish that, we will need to be more decentralized and more creative. We hope that all of our members can pick up that challenge in their personal lives, but here are some ways we are seeking to do that together:
“Open” and Outdoor PM Services. We are finalizing the start date and location, but we are planning to make alterations to our PM service so that it can be conducted in a way that is open – that is anyone can come and we don’t need to sign up. This will allow us to find ways to gather together in person and also receive communion. We are hoping to start this in mid-August and more details will hopefully be available soon. Essentially, it will be quite similar to our Easter Sunrise Service, but even shorter.
- The service will be held outside with a mandatory mask policy for everyone over two years old. (We feel this is essential for allowing an open gathering given the added risk of group singing.)
- The service will be significantly shortened, but will contain all of the basic elements of worship. (We will aim for a 30-35 min service.)
- Attendees will bring their own chairs and direction will be given to maintain a safe social distance.
- We intend to hold this service every other week, and communion will be served each time. (We will alter our procedures to ensure the safest possible distribution.)
- The services will be intentionally short, thus allowing us to hold several each day, and to continue the service in less than optimal weather. (We will cancel if the weather is dangerous.)
- We plan to have multiple services, starting on the hour. (Perhaps 5:00 pm, 6:00 pm, and 7:00 pm.)
- We will aim to keep our service size to around 50 people, but we believe we can take enough safety precautions to allow our gatherings to continue to be safe if our attendance grows beyond that.
- We will continue to hold our morning worship service as we have been doing and we will increase or decrease the numbers as medical concerns dictate.
UPDATE: 7/3/20
7/5/20 Worship Service LIVESTREAM only and remains CLOSED and re-opening is postponed.
7/5/20 Bulletin HERE.
- We will postpone reopening our worship service. Instead, the Allegheny County closure order means that we will need to shift our focus and return our service to the protocols that we used during the yellow phase.
- We will comply with the general call of the closure order and keep our service size below 25.
- We will continue with our move to WT and hold our livestream service from there.
- We will continue our current masking policy for the worship services.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 6/13/20
Find Pastor Matt's City Reformed Green Phase Announcement HERE
City Reformed is planning to move to a socially distanced and open worship service beginning as soon as July 5, 2020.
Please complete the SURVEY by Tuesday, June 16th.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 5/30/20
Find Pastor Matt's member letter on Going Green, Pentecost, Minneapolis HERE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 5/14/20
Find Pastor Matt's member letter on reopening HERE.
Excerpt from the letter regarding gatherings:
We also plan to expand our “in-person” attendance at the worship service from 10 to 25, following guidelines from our state. People who are interested in attending should sign up by sending an email to Sol. Each week we will invite interested people to attend the service in person. Priority will be given to people who are otherwise socially isolated, but most members will have an opportunity to attend. Because we will not have childcare facilities available, some families will be limited in their participation. During the Yellow Phase, we will only allow children to attend who have shown the ability to maintain social distancing guidelines throughout the service. It is understood that anyone who signs up is agreeing to abide by the guidelines for official activities listed below, including wearing a facemask throughout the service.
With this in mind, it is important to be clear about the guidelines that we are asking our members to observe while they meet together officially (such as a small group or our Sunday Worship Service.) While we see inherent wisdom in all of these guidelines, it is not our intention to require adherence to these policies in social interactions beyond “official church functions.” (See Appendix A.)
- Please continue all CDC recommended behavior for official gatherings. (Wash your hands, cough into your sleeve, avoid handshakes, etc.)
- If you have an infectious disease, do not attend any church events until you have had no fever for 72 hours, 10 days have passed since your symptoms first appeared, and other symptoms (cough, shortness of breath, etc) have improved. (Per CDC guidance)
- Please continue to observe social distancing by remaining six feet apart from the nearest person who is not part of your household group. (This may require small groups to think about creative places to meet.)
- Members who are highly vulnerable or who have had contact with infected persons should refrain from attending an official group or service.
- Please wear a facemask during the entirety of your participation in any official City Reformed event. (See Appendix B in the letter)
UPDATE: 5/9/20
Following the news that Governor Wolf will move Allegheny County to the Yellow Phase on Friday, May 15th, City Reformed will begin preparing for changes to our church life. This means that the stay at home order will be lifted and that the maximum size of group gatherings will increase to 25. Precautions to limit the spread of infection are still in place. More information will be given early next week, but we plan to use the next 6 days to prepare for this transition. We anticipate the following steps:
- Our Sunday Worship Service will increase to the max attendance of 25 people per week.
- We will continue to livestream our worship service from our Greenfield building for the foreseeable future, and will encourage our members to meet together to participate in the livestream as much as possible given the health concerns.
- Individuals who are particularly vulnerable will need to be more careful and many will need to continue more extreme forms of social isolation.
- Community groups and other small groups can begin to meet in person (with constraints) following Friday, May 15th. Pastors and staff will discuss these plans with each group leader.
UPDATE: 4/25
CLICK HERE for Pastor Matt's most recent member letter
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 4/24
THIS SUNDAY 4/26: City Reformed continues to LIVESTREAM the worship service: DIRECT link to the livestream. While we may be separated by distance, we will draw near in spirit. Sunday, April 26, 2020 Bulletin
Adult Education: “By the Rivers of Babylon: Psalms for the Exiled” in a four-part series via Zoom Thursday evenings at 8:00 pm April 30th through May 21st. We will look at different psalms each week and think about how the Book of Psalms encourages us and speaks to us today, especially in difficult times. Click on this link: tinyurl.com/CRPCAdultEd. If Zoom asks you for a password, type “CRPC”. If you have any problems connecting, contact Seulgi.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 4/17
THIS SUNDAY 4/19: City Reformed continues to LIVESTREAM the worship service: DIRECT link to the livestream. While we may be separated by distance, we will draw near in spirit. Sunday, April 19, 2020 Bulletin
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 4/10
Good Friday, April 10, 2020 Tenebrae Service Bulletin
Good Friday, April 10, 2020 Tenebrae Service Direct Link to the Livestream (which will go live at 6:55PM)
Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020 Worship Service Direct Link to the Livestream
Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020 Service Bulletin
Easter Sunrise Liturgy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 4/3
Sunday, April 5, 2020 10:15AM Palm Sunday Service LIVESTREAM on our YouTube channel
Sunday, April 5, 2020 Bulletin
Easter Week Devotional
Pastor Matt's full member letter on devotions in quarantine
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 3/28
Easter Week Services:
- Good Friday Service will be livestreamed at 7pm on Friday, April 10.
- Easter Sunrise Service will be cancelled, but members will receive a liturgy that they can use with their families, roommates and neighbors (at a safe social distance.) We encourage you to celebrate the beginning of Easter with those around you. Some people may choose to use an internet or phone connection to participate with those who cannot join them in physical proximity.
- Easter Breakfast will be cancelled.
- Easter Sunday Service will be livestreamed at our normal time and channel.
Weekly videos for children will be made available to families. If you are interested, please contact Charis.
Adult Education: The Isaiah class will resume online via Zoom every Thursday evening at 8:00 pm for the next four weeks beginning on April 2nd. If you’ve never used Zoom and want to join us, create a free Zoom account on Zoom.us and click on this link tinyurl.com/CRPCAdultEd. If Zoom asks you for a password, type “CRPC”. Join us for an interactive study of Isaiah 24-27 this Thursday. Feel free to share this information with others you think may be interested. If you have any problems connecting, contact Seulgi.
A new document which describes our theological framework for how we conduct our livestream worship service can be found here.
Find Pastor Matt's full member letter on COVID-19 HERE.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 3/27
THIS SUNDAY 3/29: City Reformed continues to LIVESTREAM the worship service. While we may be separated by distance, we will draw near in spirit. Sunday, March 29, 2020 Bulletin
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 3/20
THIS SUNDAY 3/22: City Reformed continues to LIVESTREAM the worship service. While we may be separated by distance, we will draw near in spirit. Sunday, March 22, 2020 Bulletin
Church Building Use NOTICE: 3929 Coleman Street is closed, except for essential purposes as determined by Session.
Social Distance UPDATE: Our leaders remain committed to praying and caring for your needs even as we are removed from physical proximity to each other. Realizing that these needs may have changed, or are changing, we would like you to take a few minutes to fill out this Google form so that we can address where the needs are and where the help can come from.
Join Pastor Joseph on his YouTube channel for daily devotionals in Philippians.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------UPDATE: 3/14
3/15/20 our worship service will NOT BE OPEN to the public and we will NOT BE AT WINCHESTER THURSTON.
10:15AM WORSHIP SERVICE will be LIVESTREAMED on our YouTube Channel HERE.
The Sunday, March 15, 2020 Bulletin can be found here.
While we may be separated by distance, we will draw near in spirit.
- To see the LIVESTREAM, simply click on this link SUNDAY ~10:10AM and select the video that says “live”. If you miss the stream when it is live, you can find the older ones through the same link. Please find my welcome video here.
- If you are able, please also become a subscriber of City’s YouTube account which will give us the ability to stream more easily and make it so the link can be more easily found via search.
- If you need any assistance with the livestream contact Taylor; and if on Sunday morning you need help, call the church office: 412-720-7014.
Prayer: We would like to pray for you. We are re-activating prayer@cityreformed.org and all emails go directly to Pastor Joseph.
Deacons are ready and willing to help, particularly financial assistance for those missing work related to the Coronavirus. It can be awkward to ask for help, but it’s generally better to do it sooner rather than waiting for a crisis. Contact Nik or any of the deacons.
Please find Pastor Matt's full note on the livestream worship HERE.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 3/12
THIS SUNDAY 3/15: City Reformed has made a decision to cancel everything BUT the 10:15AM worship service for Sunday morning. We will continue to monitor this situation and make a final decision regarding the worship service by Saturday afternoon.
- CANCELLATIONS: Shuttle Service, Sunday School, Nursery, Children’s Church, Fellowship Hour
- The Evening Service is CANCELED.
- City Reformed is preparing to offer a live video stream of our church service beginning Sunday, March 15. More information on this will follow.
1.) We will postpone reopening our worship service. Instead, the Allegheny County closure order3 means that we will need to shift our focus and return our service to the protocols that we used during the yellow phase.4
2.) We will comply with the general call of the closure order and keep our service size below 25.5
3.) We will continue with our move to WT and hold our livestream service from there.
4.) We will continue our current masking policy for the worship services.6
