3/8/2009

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



It started out Sunday with Morning Worship. For our oblation offering at a communion service, our tradition is to bring in canned goods for the food pantry. Lately, the need has been high while donations to it have been low. We were down to basically green beans and cranberry sauce. I put out a reminder last week that our supplies were low. This week, people came to church with bags of groceries. It was the single biggest donation weekend we’ve had for the food pantry and we now have more food in it than we’ve had in the nearly 11 years I’ve been here. Smitty cleared out some additional cupboard space and organized it after the service.



During the service we continued our study of the Beatitudes learning about having and experiencing mercy. We had some really intense things happen with people in the congregation during the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Edith and Tacy were visiting the congregation so Edith offered the pastoral prayer.



When I picked up my email that afternoon I had a note from the marketing director at the new Chick-fil-a that’s just a few miles down the road from us. We’d been able to coordinate calendars and now have April 6 as a fundraising day for us at the restaurant.



We talked about healing with the kids at Kids’ Church. They then made invitations to next Sunday’s health fair as their craft.



A small group gathered for Evening Worship. Damon talked about his experiences at this weekend’s the Hunger Challenge. We had several other pieces of good news and prayer concerns in the group.



With the winter storm that went through overnight on Sunday there was no school on Monday. Since she was home all day, Crystal emailed me several times with some follow-up questions and plans after her weekend at the Hunger Challenge. She and Damon are both going to tell about their experiences during Morning Worship next Sunday. They also planned to go out and feed some homeless people in our neighborhood.



56 kids participated in Wednesday’s SonRisers activities. Later in the day Marjorie and I finalized plans and clarified some details about Sunday’s health fair. The Adult Disciples group finished their study of Romans that night.



During the day on Thursday some volunteers at the Village Center distributed some Health Fair fliers at that end of the neighborhood. That evening the NA group was celebrating one member’s 11th anniversary so they stayed late and served food.



As the weather warmed up this week more and more people were out and about enjoying the break from winter. I was able to catch up with many people while walking around and also visit with people on my front steps when they came by my house.



Friday night brought Pizza Church. We had smaller groups throughout the night. During the senior high session we had Damon and Crystal talk with the group about the Hunger Challenge.



Saturday started with a training session from the Church Leadership Institute. It was a 90 minute teleconference about how to make Easter celebrations more effective.



Immediately afterward Damon and I distributed about 400 additional Health Fair fliers on this end of the neighborhood. It was over 70 degrees outside so we were able to visit with lots of people along the way.



As we finished with that, Paul arrived. He’s from the development office at Graceland University and had been in the area for the week. He had heard about the congregation and wanted to visit before heading back to the Midwest.



While he and I were visiting Billy Jo stopped by. She used to be active in the congregation years ago but we’d lost track of her and I hadn’t seen her since her father died. She said that she’d been clean and sober for three years, introduced me to the fiancé, and asked if I could perform their wedding. We set the date for March 21.



When I got home that afternoon I noticed that airfares had dropped on the date that our kids are to go to IYF this summer. The tickets were priced below our target price and were less than what we had budgeted for the event so I snatched them up immediately.



Late Saturday night as I rounded the corner of the church heading back to my house I could see and hear quite a commotion in the street between me and my house. I saw that some police cars were already there to deal with the situation. Just then my neighbors, who were leaning out their upstairs windows to see what was happening, and I saw the police lift up a man, body slam him onto the hood of my car, and begin tazering him. As things broke up we saw the family gather and carry the limp man’s body back into the house.



The police were still there when things were clear enough for me to get to my house. Even with me wearing my collar, the officers were hesitant to believe that a.) It was my car; and b.) That the damage to it was the result of what had just happened. (It was clearly dented in the shape of a person and covered with skin oils.) A supervising officer came over and told them to write up a form for me to take to my insurance company. Based on how the officers were describing what happened (“It’s too bad that man fell on your car.”) I doubt the police report will look anything like what my neighbors and I clearly witnessed.



Looking ahead to next week we have our regular schedule of activities. The exception will be on Sunday when the Health Fair will replace Kids’ Church and may override Evening Worship as well. In addition, Crystal and Damon will be sharing about the Hunger Challenge during Morning Worship. Tuesday evening the Citizens of Pigtown will use the building for their meeting. I’m meeting with Dave during the day on Thursday and we have our monthly Priesthood Meeting Thursday evening. Saturday is our monthly Solid Rock Café.



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



The Nelson Family

The Harris Family

The Conley Family

The Gray Family

The Smead Family

The Holquist Family

The Kerler Family

The Jones 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