12/27/2009

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

It started out Sunday with about a dozen people navigating the record snowfall to be at Morning Worship. Based on the cancellation announcements scrolling on the television, we were just about the only church in the area having services that day. Our weather policy is that if I can get from my house to the church we’ll have the scheduled activities for whoever can make it. The topic for the service was Peace.

About a dozen kids participated in Kids’ Church that afternoon. Many of them came in quite wet and snow-covered because they had been playing in the snow. We watched the Veggie Tale “The Toy that Saved Christmas” then ate Christmas Cookies together.

Throughout the afternoon we got phone calls from people who had planned to attend the evening’s activities but would not be able to due to the weather. The turkey was already in the oven, the rolls were purchased, and the pies were baked so we didn’t have a lot of alternatives. In addition, the font was filled and water was warm for the baptism.

Just before the evening service one of our neighbors stopped by. The kids at his house were refusing to eat dinner because they had heard that we were having dinner at the church. We validated their information and invited him to come, too.

About 20 people came to the Celebration Service at 6:00 p.m. Unfortunately, the person scheduled to be baptized was not among them. After a brief worship service we had a Christmas dinner together. Tamara had prepared the turkey and stuffing. Gloria had baked pies. Vonceil had brought rolls from her school’s bakery and made some vegetable dishes. We had leftover cookies from last weekend’s Kids’ Church Christmas Celebration. A couple others brought side dishes as well.

Though the sun came out, the city was still basically snowed in for the next couple of days. We had planned to distribute the fliers for the Christmas Eve Service, historically the largest service of the year, those three days. We were unable to do so on Monday. I distributed about half of what I normally would in a typical day on Tuesday. Tamara and I covered a few streets on Wednesday. The snow and ice on the sidewalks and steps made for slow going. In the end we distributed about half of what we had planned and put hundreds of fliers in recycling.

The care packages we had assembled last Thursday were to go to the schools on Monday. The schools didn’t reopen before Christmas break so the packets are still at the church. The teachers will get their Christmas gifts in January.

With school closed we didn’t have SonRisers on Wednesday morning. Instead we were awakened with a call that Gary’s dad had died. The NA group has sparse attendance at its meeting that afternoon.

On Wednesday evening people went in a variety of directions. As soon as the NA meeting finished I started draining the font. We had been given some gift cards and some monies to provide Christmas blessings for people this year. Vonceil and Tamara took some people out to the stores to spend their cards. While that was happening, Danny scrubbed the church in preparation for Thursday’s service. Once the floor was dry I set up the chairs in the configuration necessary for Thursday.

We had several medical emergencies on Wednesday and Thursday. A few of us spent time getting professional help for someone experiencing mental anguish. We learned that Earl had been hospitalized. Also, Derris’ mom was hit by a car and spent the day in the hospital. As of this writing all appear to be on the road to recovery.

Tamara, Bryce, and I spent Thursday afternoon setting up the church for that evening’s service. We set up about 100 candles, 3 nativity scenes, and other focal points for the service. We folded bulletins and prepared to set up extra chairs. Bryce also practiced for his trumpet solo.

We’re not sure exactly how many people were at the Christmas Eve Service that evening. A few people came early and left just before the service started. Several people had to leave mid-service. To take there place, we had a steady stream of people coming in as the service progressed. The last of the latecomers arrived about 45 minutes into the 60 minute service.

Charlotte led the congregation in song as we sang traditional Christmas hymns and heard the Gospels’ accounts of Jesus’ birth. This was followed by a short message and the blessing of two babies. Sarah and Ron assisted in those blessings.

As is our tradition, the offering during the Christmas Eve Service is our “Christmas Gift for Jesus.” Each year the monies received during this service are given to service projects outside our congregation. This year’s gift was nearly $600 that will go toward a project through Outreach International.

The church was closed on Friday due to Christmas. We’ll be closed next Friday as well due to New Years. This is the first time any of us can remember that we’ve had two weeks in a row without Pizza Church.

With Friday off and a holiday schedule for next week, lots of work landed on Saturday. We had all our regular things, like writing the report and making final preparations for Sunday’s service. Bryce and I cleaned the church and reconfigured it from the Christmas Eve setup to a more standard seating arrangement. We also wrote, printed, and prepared the mailing for the January “Kids’ Church News.” Several other odds and ends were checked off the list as well.

Saturday night brought our monthly Sundae Church. With Pizza Church cancelled on Friday we weren’t able to remind kids the way we usually do. Still, a few kids showed up. Nearly 100% of the conversation was about the NFL.

Looking ahead to next week we have an adjusted schedule of activities. We follow our regular schedule on Sunday. On Wednesday, however, the NA meeting is the only activity that will be on its regular schedule. With the holiday and its staffing challenges we’ll be closed on Friday as well. Our regular schedule will resume on January 2.

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

The Spenser Family
The Brown Family
The Vincent Family
The Dodds Family
The Latham Family
The Cizic Family
The Webb Family
The Kerler 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