Zoom gatherings; Good Morning, City Church; and more

Updates
Written By Valerie Catrow

Updates on City Church Events

As restrictions on gatherings continue, all in-person City Church events are canceled until further notice. This, unfortunately includes Fancy Bingo and our Easter Party.

The plan is to hold Fancy Bingo at a later date. We're not sure when it will happen, but it will happen—and it will be a time of great celebration for our church.

Good Morning, City Church

We published our first episode of our new, weekday podcast, Good Morning, City Church, on Monday. New episodes will go up by 6am, Monday through Friday. We hope these short reflections shared by familiar voices will offer a moment of sanity, truth, and grace to start your day during this time in our lives together.

We’ll be using the Daily Office Lectionary as a guide for this podcast. We won’t go through all of the readings, but we will reflect on at least some of the Scripture designated for the day. The lectionary is widely available on the Internet, but the ESV app offers a well-designed option. You can also subscribe to the Daily Office Lectionary on the ESV website to have readings emailed to you directly.

Zoom Gatherings

Tomorrow at 6:30am, we'll have our regularly-scheduled Wednesday prayer via this link (Meeting ID: 224-378-719). Come as you are and join us in prayer.

Tomorrow evening at 6:30pm, we'll be having a Zoom meet-up with our upper elementary City Kids via this link (Meeting ID: 988-060-866). This will give the kids a chance to see one another, read the Bible together, and talk about how things are going. They'll also get to sing Happy Birthday to Eleanor Allen who is turning 10!

Ladies, if you are available, we hope you'll join friends from the Wednesday morning Bible Study to reconnect, share, and pray together at 8:30pm tomorrow. Join via this link (Meeting ID: 439 494 061 / Password: 081954).

We'll also have a Zoom hangout for women at noon on Thursday. Hop on to say hello whether you're working from home, wrangling kids, and/or just need a break. Join via this link (Meeting ID: 654 685 544 / Password: 098964).

Our Youth Group (middle school and up) will also meet virtually every Sunday at 7pm via this link. Email Jim (jim@citychurchrva.com) if you have trouble accessing it.

Serving RPS

We are still helping RPS in its effort to provide meals to those who need them. If you are 18 or older, willing, and able (i.e. healthy and not in a high-risk group), we hope you'll consider volunteering for a shift. You can sign up here. Contact Jim (jim@citychurchrva.com) with questions.

Mercy Fund

Ever since City Church first started meeting, we've always held a special Mercy Fund offering on the final Sunday of the month. Contributions made to the Mercy Fund are kept separate from our general budget and are used to aid those in our congregation, and in our community, who have emergency needs. While we aren't worshiping in person on Sunday, we want to continue the tradition of giving this fund special attention on the final Sunday of the month. Please prayerfully consider what you might be able and willing to give. Contributions can be made online, via your online bill pay, or through the mail. Visit our Giving page to learn more about those options.

Please also know that the Mercy Fund is not just something we ask our church members to contribute to; it's intended to be a resource as well. These are uncertain times for all of us on many levels, and if you are facing financial strain, we want to help. Mercy Fund requests can be directed to Eric Morgan, City Church deacon and treasurer, at ericrichardsmorgan@gmail.com. All requests are confidential.

Staying Connected, Getting in Touch

During this time when we can't be in the same physical space, it's important that we make an intentional effort to stay connected in other ways.


In addition to encouraging you to check in one another via phone calls, text messages, and emails, we want to offer a chance for us to connect more broadly. We would love for you to write a blog post or record a brief video or audio update sharing what this strange time is like for you and how you are seeking (and seeing!) Jesus in the midst of it. We hope to share these posts via this email newsletter, our website, and our social media channels.

We've been fortunate to hear from a few folks already. If you haven't yet, we hope you'll take a moment to check out what they've shared...

if you have something you'd like to share, email it to Val (val@citychurchrva.com) or contact her with ideas, suggestions, or questions.

We also want to encourage you to get in touch with the church staff if you are in need of anything, or are aware of someone else who is. Our email addresses are listed below. We've also included contact information for David Boyce, the Chair of our Diaconate. Our deacons are here to help with tangible needs you might have, and they are ready and willing. Please reach out if there's something you need.

Remember: we're all in this together, and caring for each other is what we do.

Valerie Catrow
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