1/18/2009

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



It started out Sunday with Morning Worship. At the start of the service we had only a handful of people at the church. By thirty minutes into the service we had a good sized crowd. Tamara brought the message during this service. It was her first full sermon and she did a great job.



After the service, a couple of people visited with Gloria and me about some things happening on their block. First, they were concerned about police behavior and wondered if we could help them get the information to someone who could do something about it. They were also concerned about a series of anti-Jesus and conspiracy videos that have been circulating on the web. The information on them was disturbing and seemed to be having a strong influence on people, especially teens and young adults.



At Kids’ Church we learned about how special each person is to God. We then took each kid’s picture and incorporated it into the day’s craft.



The bitter cold kept most people home for Evening Worship. Some of the time was spent talking and praying about the start of the new school semester.



I started auditing a class at St. Mary’s Seminary on Monday. In it we’ll be learning about both the theology and sociology of the city.



Tuesday night was the monthly Citizens of Pigtown meeting at the church. Jenn opened for the group and I secured the building afterward.



Around 75 kids participated in Wednesday’s SonRisers activities. It actually seemed like quite a few more because, with the cold, more kids than usual stayed inside to eat and visit for a while.



Later that morning Gloria and I met at the village center with Lou, the public safety director. We shared with him some of the concerns about the police and crime in the neighborhood. As a result, he set up a meeting time with some people at the church. We also met with a man representing a stop-smoking program co-sponsored by a local health clinic and Morgan State University.



That evening at Adult Disciples we reviewed some of the content of this week’s reading assignment from the Gospel of Matthew. We focused on portions of the Sermon on the Mount.



Later Wednesday night we got notice of the dates for camp this summer. With those dates firm I reserved rental vans for Vonceil and me to transport kids and emailed others to keep the date clear so they can assist with transportation.



While the Narcotics Anonymous group was meeting on Thursday evening, Lou came over and met with about a half-dozen people in the church who had been having trouble with the local police. He was methodical in gathering his information and got quite an earful. He was scheduled to meet later that evening with district police officers to discuss the concerns.



After that meeting we immediately reconfigured the church for Family Bowling. We were glad to have nearly 30 people brave the cold to come out and play together. We had people ranging from 5 to 80 years old out for the activities.



Friday night brought Pizza Church. While I was getting things set up we had a man come by looking for the NA meeting. He had been to the meetings the two previous nights and was disappointed to learn that we didn’t have them every evening. We also made some repairs to the ping-pong table, which was accidentally damaged when we were setting up for Family Bowling the night before.



The kids at the first two sessions of Pizza Church were a bit wound up. The third group was more focused. Sarah handed out forms for next weekend’s Ski Retreat to the senior high group and discussed a few policies, plans, and procedures with them.



Jenn and Tamara stopped by the church Saturday evening while I was working on the sermon for Sunday. They had been to the rally with and for the Obama and Biden families on their way to Washington for Tuesday’s inauguration. Because of the numbers of people going to the inauguration the public school here in Baltimore will be closed on Tuesday.



Looking ahead to next week we have our regular schedule of activities. The one exception is that we’ll be canceling Evening Worship as nearly everyone who regularly participates in that service will be watching the Ravens playoff game at that time. I’m meeting with Marjorie on Wednesday to solidify plans for the upcoming health fair run by the school of nursing. In addition, Men’s group will resume this Thursday evening. Next weekend several teens and a couple of adults will be going to Virginia for a Ski Retreat. Saturday evening is our monthly Sundae Church. I’m also hoping to close out the books for 2008 this week as well.



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



The Takacs Family

The Buchanan Family

The Wallace Family

The Curtis Family

The Cizic Family

The Stinchcomb Family

The Coffman Family

The Arnold 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