When Matt Cohen and his wife, Andrea, departed State College (PA) Alliance Church in 2011 to plant a church in Philadelphia, they had one goal in mind: to establish a vibrant gospel presence in the heart of America’s sixth-largest city.

Citylight Church of the C&MA (AKA “Citylight Philly”) was birthed in the Summer of 2012 as a small Bible study in Matt and Andrea’s apartment. Over the next decade, that modest gathering grew to nearly 600, experiencing a steady stream of conversions and baptisms while planting several more churches. Things were going well, and God’s blessing had clearly fallen on the church.

Then, Along Came Covid . . .

Like many other congregations, the pandemic hit Citylight hard, threatening to derail the forward momentum of the church and its ministries. During that time, church members and attendees experienced unprecedented isolation from one another and the spiritually lost people they used to rub shoulders with at work and at school. But through that isolation, God revealed some strengths and giftings within the congregation that offered Citylight a unique opportunity to welcome non-Christians into the church family. During the pandemic, the church raised over $100,000 to address felt needs arising in the greater Philadelphia area. As Pastor Matt recalls, “This allowed us to help with rent, groceries, and other felt needs for those who would otherwise have been disconnected from the church.”

 

 

The Need for a Permanent Church Home

The Lord has used Citylight to advance the gospel not only in the surrounding neighborhoods but throughout the Philadelphia metro area. However, not having a permanent 24/7 gathering space was inhibiting the church’s ability to extend its ministries even further. With its lease concluding at the synagogue where they were meeting, the church needed to find a new place to gather for worship and carry out the gospel-advancing work God had set before them.

“We needed a new place where we can set our roots down deep in the gospel and grow up as an oak of righteousness – lasting, grand, and far-reaching for God’s glory as laid out in Isaiah 61:1-3,” reflects Matt.  “A long-term facility would provide the space and flexibility to gather more people to hear the gospel and respond in worship through our gatherings. Our dream is to grow deep and reach far as an oak of righteousness that seeds and sprouts new trees everywhere. We needed a place where we could grow as the planting of the Lord— with deep roots and lasting fruit.”

Why Manayunk?

After years of prayer regarding a location for their permanent facility, God led Citylight’s leaders to the trendy northwest community of Manayunk, which hugs the banks of the Schuylkill River. “Manayunk is a place where people really from all over the city or the region will come for dinner or drinks—a ‘night out’ sort of place,” observes Matt. “We were blessed with the opportunity to purchase a 26,000-square-foot commercial building right on Main Street. The building is from the 1800s and needed a complete renovation—but the potential for ministry is off the charts. Above and below Main Street is all residential—tons and tons of row homes. It’s an incredibly densely populated area. Among the three Northwest Philadelphia neighborhoods, Manayunk is the most popular spot for dining, shopping, and nightlife. So, for us to have a building in a location that is this visible is such an incredible opportunity.”

 

 

“We see Citylight Manayunk as a regional church with a high capacity to plant future churches in or out of the city of Philadelphia.”

“We see Citylight Manayunk as a regional church with a high capacity to plant future churches in or out of the city of Philadelphia. We see this as the first significant sending church of our network, and one that has the potential to catalyze a church planting movement in the Philadelphia region, reaching as many as 10 churches by 2030 (what we call our ‘10 by 30’ vision).”

Those who have been with Citylight since its early days have experienced the entire church replicating four times, first with Citylight Center City’s launch in 2015, and second with Citylight Delco’s launch in late 2019. Then, in 2020, Citylight sent one of its church planting residents and his wife to his hometown of Amarillo, Texas, where they replanted a church that is being strengthened in the faith and increasing in numbers (Acts 16:5). And in September 2024, the church sent its executive pastor and his family to the Upper West Side of Manhattan to plant another church, which initially met in their home but recently secured a Sunday gathering space. As Matt explains, “Our primary strategy has been to recruit church planting residents, train them for two years, help them fundraise, give them a core team of 40 people, and send them to lead a growing congregation in a region that is harder for our mother congregation to reach.”

 

 

Urban Church Planting: It’s all about the math.

“The reason why urban church planting is so important to us has less to do with the cultural cachet of cities, and much more to do with the simple math of population,” notes Matt. “We’re passionate about planting churches where people are because we want to see the gospel transform lives. Certainly, we care about relieving suffering—and there’s suffering everywhere. Like John Piper says, ‘We want to be about relieving all types of suffering, especially eternal suffering.’ That’s the most important. And so I think the greatest impact for the gospel per square inch is going to happen in cities just because there’s more people there.”

 

 

“There are also enormous opportunities in large suburbs growing up around large cities.”

“We see Citylight Manayunk as a regional church with a high capacity to plant future churches in or out of the city of Philadelphia. It’s simply sociology. Millennials are moving to the suburbs at rates just like their boomer parents did. And so it’s not only urban church planting, but also the suburbs of major urban centers. Those are the major areas of need for church planting because many people who start in the city—who even keep their jobs in the city—will eventually become commuters into the city most of their lives. But their non-work lives remain in the suburbs. And so the line between the city and the suburbs gets fuzzy because people who work in the city don’t always live there.”

 

 

Deepening Roots and Emerging Fruits

After having persevered through an eight-month construction delay and a funding gap, the church successfully held its first service in the new building on August 3, 2025, and held its grand opening on September 7. The gathering drew over 800 people—far exceeding their prayer goal of 700. The church followed up with an outreach event, where volunteers knocked on 1,200 neighborhood doors to invite people to Christmas services.

Since the move, the church has experienced its largest influx of new people in its history and has consistently met its average attendance goals. The local community has responded positively to the church’s new, visible presence, evidenced by a local business owner beginning to attend and the local development corporation agreeing to rent the church a key parking lot less than half a block from the new facility.

 

 

In 2025, the church:

• Welcomed 154 first-time visitors
• Added 67 new members
• Baptized 23 new believers
• Hosted 27 in-home Citygroups (and counting!)
• Trained over 100 volunteers in evangelism
• Launched a Grief Share program to minister to those experiencing loss

By January, Citylight Manayunk was averaging well over 600 attendees. To accommodate the growth, the church expanded from two to three services in February.

 

 

A Fruit-bearing Partnership

When it came time to finance the purchase of the property, Citylight turned to Orchard Alliance for a loan. Matt writes, “There is an incredible debt of gratitude to Orchard for being willing to partner with Citylight in a way that is just different than some normative financial institution. There’s a particular passage of Scripture in 3 John that best describes our relationship with Orchard. In this passage, these church planters and missionaries are going out for the sake of advancing the name of Jesus—and needing financial support, but ‘accepting nothing from the unbelievers’ (v. 7), and instead being supported by ‘fellow workers for the truth’ (v. 8).”

“Orchard Alliance has been our fellow worker for the truth. Even though no one from Orchard attends Citylight Philly, they are our coworkers for the sake of the gospel in Philadelphia because of this financial partnership. It’s massively significant for us to be able to advance the gospel here in Philly and to plant churches in the future. A permanent building—especially in the city—is, as one pastor puts it, ‘a time machine’ that ensures the church will be there proclaiming the gospel well into the future. Orchard Alliance’s partnership is making it possible for us to have this time machine. So, we are so grateful to Orchard—and to those who invest in Orchard to make these loans possible—as fellow workers in the truth.”

Orchard Alliance thanks our investors for making ministries like this possible. Your investments fund the loans that enable and empower congregations like Citylight Philly to establish a vibrant gospel presence in the great urban centers of our nation.