Revival Today is hoping to expand its reach from Moon Township to McKees Rocks with a two-day event this week.
“McKees Rocks Revival,” a church outreach and recruitment program, will be held at the Sto-Rox Stadium from 6-9 p.m. Friday, May 23, and Saturday, May 24, with giveaways, games, music and food trucks.
The Coraopolis Heights Road megachurch also wants to resume its outdoor services, which were banned in 2024 by a court order until the church obtained the required permits from Moon Township. Last month, the Moon Board of Supervisors held a public hearing on the conditional use application filed by Revival Today, Inc.
Revival Today submitted a grading permit application, to cover work they already completed without prior approval, a post-construction stormwater management plan, land development plans, a transportation impact study and a tent structure review.
However, church attorneys did not present a noise study at the hearing — a main point of contention for many residents.
Joe Vespignani, Coraopolis Heights Road resident, said the noise from the church is “obnoxiously loud,” and it’s not just on Sundays.
“Last year they had a 7-day revival and [were] loud every day and people were there until 3 in the morning,” Vespignani said. “When they have a morning service the band starts practicing at 7 a.m.”
The 18,000-square-foot tent opened for frequent outdoor services last summer, until the Allegheny County Common Pleas Court ordered them to stop on Dec. 26, 2024. On a typical Sunday morning, the evangelical church hosts hundreds of congregants for services, which residents say creates traffic and noise disturbances in the surrounding area.
Revival Today also operates a former office building at 107 Patton Drive, where they hold additional indoor services and house their administration.
Rhonda Lee lives near the Patton Drive location and said noise has always been an issue there, but since Revival Today began shuttling hundreds of patrons from that location to the larger complex at Coraopolis Heights, disruptive noise and traffic has increased exponentially. “It’s a nuisance property here as well,” she stated. “It’s several days a week.”
Lee said residents have met with the Moon Township Board of Supervisors and that “they are aware of our concerns here with safety issues with shuttles and noise as well at this location.”
The church was supposed to present the noise mitigation plan to the Board of Supervisors in May, but there were no representatives from Revival Today at the May 7 meeting. Neither Moon Township nor Revival Today Church responded to requests for comment prior to publication.
For the neighbors of Revival Today Church, the wait is prolonging concerns and tensions.
“I just built a new house on this property which abuts the church’s,” said Vespignani. “This was my dream home and is threatening to be my nightmare.”
Moon Township will need to approve permit applications, stormwater management and development plans, and other municipal requirements before Revival Today could be allowed to resume outdoor services.
The next Board of Supervisors workshop meeting is on Wednesday, May 28, and the monthly public meeting is set for Wednesday, June 4, both starting at 6 p.m. in the municipal building.
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