Coronavirus Update
Out of an abundance of caution and a desire to love our neighbors and those in the church we have decided that we will not be meeting on Sundays during our regular times across all three locations for the foreseeable future.
However, God is still worthy of our worship (Revelation 4:11), and we still need the encouragement from the Word of God that gathered worship is intended to provide (Hebrews 10:24-25). So we will be streaming our worship service on Sunday mornings at 8:30am, 10:00am, and 11:30am. We hope you will join us!
A NOTE FROM YOUR PASTORS
As a nation, we are clearly in an unprecedented and very fluid situation regarding COVID-19, with new measures being introduced daily. The Citylight elders have been monitoring the ongoing developments with COVID-19, consulting with medical experts from our congregation, listening to the governor’s recommendations, and engaging in prayerful discussion. In light of this, we have unanimously decided, out of love for our members and neighbors, to suspend our normal worship gathering times and locations this Sunday. We will take this decision week-by-week as things develop.
Instead of gathering in person, we will hold “online services” on Sunday morning. You can access the online services at www.citylightphilly.com/live. The services will only be available at 8:30am, 10:00am, and 11:30am on Sunday. We encourage you to join the rest of Citylight Church (all three congregations) via the live stream. All three of our congregational pastors will be participating in these services.
Since smaller gatherings are safer, if you’re comfortable, feel free to invite over members from your Citygroup, a smaller group of friends, and even non-Christians who need the hope of Jesus in this frightening time. Of course, feel free to participate alone or just with your family, and please send the link to anyone that you’d like because we want to spread the hope of Jesus as far and as wide as possible. I believe this will be an incredibly significant time of corporate worship for our church family.
Why are we going to the extreme length of gathering for worship online rather than in person? We believe that the gathering of God’s people, in person, to worship on the Lord’s Day is central to church life. However, Matthew 9:13 says that our God desires mercy not sacrifice. In other words, we believe that it’s more merciful to our neighbors to worship together via online service in this rarest of occasions rather than to gather in person. We are doing this to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Finally, please continue to take confidence that nothing happens apart from your Father’s sovereign care. Please continue to exercise the biblical virtue of wisdom, and finally continue to pour your heart out in prayer for our city, nation, and world. I’ll see you online this Sunday at 8:30am, 10am, or 11:30am.
Yours in Christ,
Matt and Citylight pastors