Updates & Announcements (3.31.20)

Updates
Written By Valerie Catrow

Reminder About City Church Events

As restrictions on gatherings continue, all in-person City Church events are canceled until further notice. 

Good Morning, City Church

We've gotten wonderful feedback on our new podcast, Good Morning, City Church, which launched last week. We're so thankful that it's been helpful to you.

New episodes are published on our website each weekday morning by 6am. You can also find it on iTunes, Spotify, and other podcast catchers.

Zoom Gatherings

We've got several Zoom gatherings in the works...

FAITH & WORK
Join fellow teachers and school employees TONIGHT (Tuesday) at 8pm to discuss how you are dealing with disappointment and changes during COVID-19. Contact Meg if you have any questions (meg@citychurchrva.com or 512.589.9158). Access this meeting via this link (Meeting ID: 558 963 398 / Password: 056927).

WOMEN'S MINISTRY
We have two standing meetings available for women. First, the women from our Wednesday morning Bible study plan to meet on Monday evenings (beginning next week) from 8pm, and ALL ladies are welcome to join. Access that meeting via this link (Meeting ID: 326 961 861 / Password: 097534) — that meeting is recurring, so you can use that link each week. Second, we're going to continue last week's lunchtime Zoom get-together and meet on Thursdays at 12pm. Access that meeting via this link (Meeting ID: 600 285 389 / Password: 043618) — that meeting is also recurring.

CHILDREN'S MINISTRY
On Wednesday at 6:30pm, we'll continue our weekly 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. 

On Thursday at 10:30am, Jennifer will host a Zoom Lesson & Craft Time with our Children's Worship kids. She will be in touch later this week with details on how parents can prepare for the lesson. Access that meeting via this link (Meeting ID: 607 157 807 / Password: 152430).

Jennifer will be meeting with our nursery-age children (and their parents!) at 9am on Fridays to share a Bible lesson, touch base with the kids and their families, and just give them a chance to connect with each other. You can access that meeting via this link (Meeting ID: 257 810 405 / Password: 585661) each week.

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

Serving Others

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.

STORYTIME VIDEOS
We’d also love your help in serving and caring for the youngest members of our church. We're looking for 43 people to record a video of themselves reading one story from the Jesus Storybook Bible. You record the video, send it back to us, and we'll take care of getting it out to all the families. If you'd like to volunteer in this way, use this sign up genius to reserve your spot. Readers of all ages are welcome to sign up! Jennifer will be in touch with your reading assignment.

SUPPORTING THOSE PROVIDING CARE
The Bon Secours Employee Wellness team is collecting photos of letters and drawings for the staff serving in their Emergency Department and ICU during the COVID-19 crisis. If you—and/or your kids, if you’ve got ‘em—would like to write a letter or draw a picture to offer encouragement to these hardworking folks, please take a photo of it and email it to Heather Tobey at tobeyheather@gmail.com.

ADDITIONAL SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES
We are in the process of identifying other ways City Church can be of service to one another and the city we call home during this time. We will share updates on those opportunities as they become available. 

Resources for Parents

We have several teachers in the City Church community who would love to support parents in their efforts to homeschool their children. They are open to creating schedules or lessons for parents to use with their children; offering online resources; FaceTiming with kids to work on assignments that teachers have given them; and helping with reading, writing, or grammar skills. If you'd like to get connected with one of these teachers, email Jennifer (jennifer@citychurchrva.com).

We've also created a Family Resources page on our website. There you'll find links to our Family Home Worship Guides as well as this month's Nursery Lessons. We'll add new resources to this page as they are curated and/or created.

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 an email address you can use to reach the City Church deacons. 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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