Important Update on In-person Worship Gatherings

At our recent Joint Board Retreat, we were guided by these words from I Peter 5:10:

And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you.

We are thankful that God is helping us restore some of the things that we have missed over the past year. We are grateful that God has continued to support and strengthen some of our ongoing ministries and activities. And we are excited about some of the new opportunities that we believe God wants to establish in our congregation (stay tuned for more on that!).

Some of the elements of our Sunday Morning Worship services are being restored. We have opened the doors to in-person attendance in keeping with the safe gathering guidelines that we have set. Please consider attending in person on Sunday morning. Our online registration (through the New Philly website) helps to “save your spot” and you may also simply “show up” on Sunday morning (you will be asked to fill out a contact card and place it in the offering plate in the vestibule before you leave).

For the time being, masks are still required. We are using liturgies that include shorter congregational responses so that you can take part in the liturgy if you feel comfortable doing so. Hymnals and pew Bibles have been restored to their places and may be used during the service. We have marked off available seating in the sanctuary and we have about 95 “spots” where people may be seated. If you attend with other people from your household or “inner circle,” you are all welcome to occupy the same “spot.”

Please continue to hold our congregation (our members, our staff, people who are involved in worship leadership, our musicians, our tech team, and others) in your prayers. The past year has not been easy but Peter’s words remind us that God will indeed restore, support, strengthen and establish us as we move forward rejoicing in hope!