11/2/2008

It’s been a busy week at the Power House in Baltimore, Maryland.



It started out Sunday with our three services. The topic for Morning Worship was faithfulness. At Kids’ Church we talked about letting Jesus’ light shine through us then colored pictures of Jack-o-lanterns with the phrase “Shine with the light of Jesus” on them. Ron and Carol came for Evening Worship and brought Halloween cookies from the Towson congregation with them. We give them out with candy on Halloween.



Between the services the young adults watched the Ravens football game in the front room. After Evening Worship, Smitty, Tayvia, Bryce, and I painted half of the floor in the back room.



Having moved some heavy furniture and the sound system speakers for the painting it made sense to replace some worn items while everything was already dismantled. I ran over to IKEA on Monday and found several things we needed, including new tables for our speakers, some new plants, and some smaller items. There are a few more odds and ends to replace as we finish up the project.



Nearly 90 kids participated in Wednesday’s SonRisers activities. Among them were only a few elementary school aged kids as they’ve been encouraged by the school not to participate.



Immediately after SonRisers Gloria and I sat down together and updated the church’s address and birthday lists. We hadn’t done this for quite a while so it took some time to get everything updated. Once we were finished with that I assembled the things we bought at IKEA and set up chairs on the newly painted floor. That lasted until the time the New Moms group started their meeting in the front room.



Later that afternoon I leaned that a member of our congregation, Tim Conley, had died. A few members of his family are also members of the congregation. After opening the church for the NA meeting I was able to visit with his sister for a while.



Wednesday evening was Family Bowling. We had about 25 people participate in the activity. As usual, people seemed to really relax and have a good time together. There are only two more bowling nights until the grant period is over.



We had our Footings class on Thursday morning. I spent much of the rest of the day running errands and catching up on paperwork. That evening after the NA meeting, Danny and I met together to discuss and pray over some situations in the neighborhood.



Friday brought Halloween. Bryce was responsible for most of the candy and cookie distribution at the church. Over the course of the evening Robert, Vonceil, and I helped him. We had an unusually small number of kids (fewer than 100) trick-or-treating this year so we had lots of leftover candy.



We expected to have just a few kids at Pizza Church on Halloween. We were right. We had 3 kids come to the middle school session while no one came to either the elementary or high school sessions. For those who did come, the lesson seemed to go quite well.



This weekend Tamara is with some others from the mission center in Pittsburgh. They’re participating in the Youth Specialties conference there. We’re looking for her to bring back some fresh ideas for use here.



One of the kid prizes for church attendance last year was a night at the drive-in theater (given for coming to church on average of 3 times a week throughout the year). With our schedules, the choice of movies playing, and the weather, we hadn’t been able to coordinate it happening. This was the last Saturday they’re open for the season, they had two family movies back to back, and we had unseasonably warm and dry weather. Therefore, we spent part of Saturday evening at the drive in watching “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” and “High School Musical 3.”



Looking ahead to next week we have our full schedule of activities. In addition, we’ll finish painting the floor of the church after Evening Worship on Sunday. We’ll be encouraging people to “get out and vote” on Tuesday, especially those we’ve registered this year. On Friday Len Young will be in town visiting us. We have some young adults planning on going to a retreat at Deer Park Campgrounds in Pennsylvania next weekend. Next Saturday we’re hosting our Mission Center Conference.



Along with the individuals and activities mentioned, please keep the following families in the forefront of your prayers:



The Northrop Family

The Bonnett Family

The Ferguson Family

The Harris Family

The Burton Family

The Houston Family

The Howe Family

The Yankee Family



Thank you for your continued prayer support.



Jeff and everyone at

The Power House

“Building the Kingdom of God Here and Now”

PowerHouseMD@Juno.com

www.pigtownchurch.org