12/14/2008

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



It started out Sunday with Morning Worship. Robert and Ebony led the lighting of the Advent candles. After that, Renford was baptized and confirmed. I baptized him while Ron was the spokesperson for the confirmation. Earl, Gloria, and I assisted with the confirmation. After that we had the communion message and celebrated the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.



After the service Crystal wanted to talk with me. She used to come to SonRisers regularly when she was in middle school. Now in 10th grade, she’s in Vonceil’s chemistry class. A few weeks ago Crystal started emailing questions of a spiritual nature to Vonceil after school, some of which dealt with baptism. She asked me this Sunday if she could be baptized. We talked a bit and she said she’d go home and talk about it with her mother.



Between Morning Worship and Kids’ Church, Jenn and Tamara decorated the church for Christmas. Vonceil also got an email from Crystal saying that her mom had given approval for her to be baptized.



At Kids’ Church we reviewed the story of Christmas. We then had the kids use stickers to create a manger scene they could take home. Afterward, I went over to Crystal’s house to visit with her mom and to set a date for her baptism.



Bitter cold weather made for a tiny group gathered for Evening Worship. Those who came asked to sing Christmas songs rather than the praise music we had on the docket. We took a few minutes to see what Christmas music we had available at the church and then sang those songs together.



The Ravens game was moved to prime time this week so it didn’t start until 8:00 p.m. and wasn’t over until after 11. Afterward, the group set up the room for Tuesday evening’s Citizens of Pigtown meeting.



Nearly 70 kids participated in the SonRisers activities on Wednesday. That afternoon the Narcotics Anonymous group celebrated an anniversary. Since Christmas Eve is on a Wednesday this year, some people in the group asked if it would be alright if they stayed after their meeting that day and joined the congregation for the Christmas Eve Service. Needless to say, I was more than delighted to welcome them to do so. That evening the Adult Disciples group studied the Christmas story in the Gospel of Luke.



On Thursday I had lunch with Marjorie from the Nursing School at the University of Maryland. We were able to catch up, review the fall’s events, and look forward to next semester.



As she was leaving the church, the group from Diggs-Johnson Middle School arrived. They had just completed their community service project and came to the church for debriefing and for lunch together.



That evening Danny emptied and put away the font. He and I visited together afterward.



Throughout the week we made preparations of this weekend’s Christmas celebrations. Vonceil made hundreds of cookies for the kids to decorate and eat. We had several contacts with Diane about her bringing her horses. Earl and Charlotte made arrangements to get her keyboard up here for the Arundel Singers to use at their concert on Sunday night.



Friday night brought Pizza Church. The first two groups reviewed the Christmas story in the Gospel of Matthew while the senior high group continued its study of the Gospel of John.



Early Saturday morning Tamara, Jenn, and I met in Greenbelt for the Reload seminar put on by Urban Youth Workers Institute. The training lasted until around 3:00 p.m.



That evening was our monthly Solid Rock Café. This was the first Solid Rock we’ve had since the end of our grant period so we were able to have the Wii out for the kids to play with. Interestingly, several of the kids went back and forth between the Wii and the very old Nintendo 64 game system.



Looking ahead to next week we have our full schedule of activities. In addition, we have our Kids’ Church Christmas Celebration with cookies, games, Legos, crafts, and horses at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday. At 6:00 Sunday night we have our Christmas Concert with the Arundel Singers. On Wednesday we’ll be assembling our Christmas care packages for teachers at the local elementary and middle schools. We’ll deliver those packages on Thursday. Toward the end of the week we’ll begin distributing postcards inviting people to participate in the Christmas Eve service. Next Saturday Steve Gillilan is using the church building in preparation for a documentary he’s filming.



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



The Pettis family

The Addison Family

The Mitchell Family

The Morris Family

The Cox Family

The Hardy Family

The Stallings Family

The Ludwig 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