At City Reformed, we view it as a high calling of our whole church body to welcome and to help teach the children among us. Our approach may look a bit different from that of other churches. The following are a few items which may help to clarify our ministry to children.

Sunday Morning Worship

During worship, we have nurseries for infants and for children up to age 5. We encourage parents to bring children age 6 and older to the worship service with them. This is because we view the worship service as “family time” in which the whole church comes together to meet God. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me” (Matthew 19:14). Worship is not too “serious” for kids—it is for all God’s people! We ask that children not participate in Communion until they are old enough to understand what it means and make a profession of faith in Christ for themselves (1 Corinthians 11:28-29). There is no age limit or formal process for this to happen. We simply ask that the child meet with the pastor or an elder to make a profession of faith. We encourage families to come forward together with their children during Communion, even if one or more children have not made a profession of faith. In that case, just indicate this to one of the elders, and he will offer a blessing for the child. Since we welcome children in the service, we have a high tolerance for distractions! Your child doesn’t have to be a perfect child. If a child is becoming a distraction, parents may take him or her to one of the nurseries. We ask that you not leave older children alone with the nursery workers, or allow children to roam unattended in the halls.

Wednesday Night Family Group

We don’t have Sunday school on Sunday morning. On Wednesday evenings, however, we have a family program which meets at the Greenfield Presbyterian Church, 3929 Coleman Street, Pittsburgh PA. Contact Sandy Snoke for information in regard to the children’s groups, scsnoke(0)comcast.net. Contact Matt Koerber for information about the adult study, pastormatt(0)cityreformed.org. We currently divide the children into the following groups, but they may eventually be split if need be. This includes the following groups which all meet at the same time, from 6:30 PM to 8 PM: Preschool Group, for ages 3 to 5, Elementary School Group, for age 6 through 6th grade, and an Adult Bible Study for parents and other adults.

Youth Group

We also offer a community group designed especially for youth in 7th –12th grades. This group meets at the home of a church family – just like other community groups do. For more information contact the youth group leaders, Nathaniel and Amanda Moore, nate.amanda.moore(0)gmail.com, and Daniel Snoke, djsnoke(0)comcast.net.

Catechism Study

During the school year, on Sunday mornings we have a study aimed at teaching the Westminster Shorter Catechism to our middle school children. This group is open to people of all ages and frequently college students and other adults will join in. The class meets at 10:15 am in the same building in which we meet for Sunday Worship. Parents who bring children are invited to join the pastor and other church leaders for prayer in the school cafeteria at 10:30 am. For more information contact Bill Gould, wwgould(0)surfbest.net.