Visitor's Guide

About First Reformed

About the United Church of Christ

Membership

Wedding Policy

Traditional in format-- spunky in spirit. Organ music, chime and vocal choirs, hymns, scripture readings, prayers, occasional dramas, and a relevant word from the pastor make every Sunday a celebration. It is our desire to conclude our service in an hour. We do our best to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit in every service so that we don’t rush through or unnecessarily prolong our worship experience.

•    For an easy to read map, click here.
•    GPS coordinates are N40°2.37246 by W076°18.27864.

Parking is easy on Sundays. There is on street parking right across from the front doors on Orange Street (Street parking is free—no need to feed the meters). There are four parking lots behind the church accessible from either Christian or Grant Streets. Sunday parking garage fees are as follows:
  Duke St. has a $1/hr rates ($2 for the first hour.)
  Penn Square & Prince St. has a flat $5 rate.
  East King St. - Tickets issued between 7:30 - 11:00 a.m. will be given 2 hours or free parking.
No matter where you park we will make it worth your while!

Enter through the front doors on Orange Street; the left side entrance at the accessibility ramp; or through the courtyard doors at the back of the building where you will see most of our friends and families arriving.  The sanctuary is on the second floor and is accessible by the elevator or the main stair case.   

Greeters will usher you in the door with a smile and offer directions to the restrooms, a hot cup of coffee and the sanctuary. Ushers will greet you at the sanctuary with a worship bulletin and an invitation to sit anywhere you like—though the best seats are down front!

No. While members may share announcements about upcoming events or prayer concerns that are on their hearts (and you are welcome to share as well), you will not be called on or called out for any reason. 

Offerings are given as an act of worship for attendees who consider First their home.  At First, we teach and believe in Biblical stewardship.  For new visitors, your presence is a gift to us. We want you to be blessed by the service without feeling an obligation to give.

We share communion on the first Sunday of each month and Holy Festival Days (Easter, Christmas, Pentecost). First Reformed celebrates an Open Table. The Spirit of the Risen Christ is our host. All persons (including children at the discretion of their families) who profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are encouraged to commune.

First is a “come as you are” church. Jeans or ties are equally welcome.

Yes, for infants through 4 years.  The courtyard entrance will put you right at the nursery door where you will see immediately that we take the safety and well being of our children very seriously. Amy Stuck coordinates our nursery care.  She and volunteer parents and members staff the nursery from 9:00-12:00 am.

We believe it is important for our kids to be with us at times in the main service. Our 5-year-old to 10-year-old children begin every service in the sanctuary and, after a “Children’s Message,” then head to “Children’s Church” downstairs. Our older children and young adults are invited to remain in worship.

Yes. There is a power assisted entrance at the far left front of the building with a ramp. Once you enter the building through those double doors, go straight ahead and the elevator is on the left, before the main staircase.

•    Before the service, check out the worship bulletin to see what's going on at First.
•    Make sure to fill out the visitor card in your pew and drop it in the offering plate or hand it to a greeter. This will help us get to know you, allow us to answer any questions you may have, and let you know what's happening at First.
•    Be sure to stop by Fellowship Hour after the service and have any questions that may have come up during your visit answered.
•    Spend some time walking around our campus. You'll meet some great people and get a feel for the history and happenings that make First “A Church for the City.”
•    Feel free to ask as many questions as you can think of. We're here to bless you and to help you feel at home.

We are a “Reformed Church” meaning that our lives are constantly being formed and reformed by experience, revelation, ancient scriptures and contemporary words. As God does new things, we grow and change and are formed into the persons God created us to be. And that is true of our church--275 years of new things (new people, new programs, new worship, new music, and new buildings) have formed and reformed our church. We’re in an exciting reforming process right now and anxious to see what God will make of us next. 

We’re not—Yet. That is what we are becoming.
•    We serve two community meals every week—Tuesday Dinner at 6:00pm and Saturday Breakfast at 9:00am.
•    We host the Temporary Overflow Winter Shelter and house about 50 homeless men, women and children for two-three weeks each winter.
•    We are home to Art Walk and New Years Eve Countdown

More members have joined the church in the last 5 years than in the previous 30.  You will see about 110 of our 210 members on any given Sunday.

Yes; some. After 275 years together, we have a BIG family tree. The Lancaster Historical Society (www.lancasterhistory.org) and the Evangelical & Reformed Historical Society (located at Lancaster Theological Seminary (www.lts.org) are now in care of the oldest documents. But we have retained basic information at our church office.

Our understanding of human sexuality evolves along with so many other understandings. We are glad that God is still speaking to and through us, urging us to welcome all people as fellow pilgrims on the journey of faith.

Yes. We celebrate “A Blessing of the Animals” Sunday in the fall when dogs, cats and other furry, finned or feathered creatures worship together in our courtyard.

•    You can email anyone on staff with any question. 
•    Call the church and Tiffany, our Church Administrator, will answer many of your questions—717.397.5149 or email her at firstreformed@dejazzd.com.
•    Pastor Bill will answer the rest—717.397.5149 ext. 2 or email him at billworley@dejazzd.com.

We are a proud congregation of the United Church of Christ--a progressive, protestant denomination of 1.4 million members (of which Barack Obama is one) and 6,000 congregations around the United States and abroad.  We claim the faith of the historic church expressed in ancient creeds and reclaimed in the basic insights of the Protestant reformers. UCCer’s also affirm the responsibility of each church in each generation to claim and live its faith in everything we do and say.  We look to the Word of God in the Scriptures and to the presence and power of the Holy Spirit to work its creative and redemptive will in our lives.  Want to know more? Check out www.ucc.org.

Worship with us for awhile. You’ll know when you’re ready to join. When you are, just tell Pastor Bill, “I’m ready.” New member classes to help deepen contacts and connections with new friends and a new home are offered periodically throughout the year.

No. In our tradition, baptism of infants and children mark their inclusion into the community of faith and Christ’s claim upon their lives. Therefore, it is important that their parents be a part of the congregation (or a congregation that we represent in the case of family or travel constraints). Both the parents and the congregation make promises to one another and to God. It is important that we be in relationship so that we can keep them.

Yes. There are several qualifications, however, including pertinent fees, pre-marital consultations, worship attendance and space-user agreements. Please contact the pastor at least one year in advance of your ceremony to discuss the possibilities of celebrating “your day” with us.

Wedding Policy