5/27/2007

It's been a busy couple of weeks at the Power House in Baltimore, Maryland.

It started on Sunday, May 13, with morning worship. We talked about faithfulness and sewing seeds of faith. At Kids' Church we learned the story of Jesus' ascension. After Evening Worship we had our monthly priesthood meeting.

Vonceil finished her graduate program and received her degree that same day. This is the first time since 1999 that neither she nor I have been in graduate school.

A couple of weeks ago we had some vandalism on one of our murals. We had planned to repair it but before we could get to it someone tried to fix it. Some of what the did was OK, but they ended up painting the background color all over some of the other elements. We now need to get out and fix the repair job.

Friday night brought Pizza Church. The first two groups went well but then no high school kids came for the third session. That was highly unusual and we're not sure why that happened.

Saturday morning came early as Danny took me to the airport at 5:30 a.m. I met up with Robert's mother, father, sister, and fiancé as we boarded a flight to Kansas City. Once there we drove up to Lamoni, Iowa, to celebrate Robert's graduation. That evening at Baccalaureate Robert was responsible for the offertory.

The Smead family spent the night in Lamoni while I went back to Independence, Missouri, for the night. I was able to meet up with Kris and Peter Judd for dinner and a visit.

On Sunday morning I met up with the Smeads at Graceland University for commencement ceremonies. Robert carried the Graceland flag during the processional. Afterward I drove them all back to the airport in Kansas City so they could catch their flight home.

While I was gone Tamara participated in the annual Healing Workshop that Ron Gillilan directs. She had a great experience there and has offered rave reviews.

That Sunday morning instead of a preaching service Gloria presided over a service during which 5 people shared testimonies. Kids' Church featured a video. Danny presided over Evening Worship.

To get a substantially cheaper flight I waited until Monday to return to Baltimore. I was able to visit with several people on Monday and had dinner with Tony and Charmaine Chvala-Smith.

Barb Kernohan arrived from Ottawa, Ontario, on Tuesday afternoon. Gloria picked her up at the airport. She came here for a week-long visit.

That evening the Village Center used the church facilities to host another home improvement grant program. During part of the meeting Barb and I walked around the neighborhood and visited with some members of the congregation.

Wednesday morning brought SonRisers. Jenn and Gloria were both out of town so Barb and Robert filled their places on staff. For the first time since we started this in the fall of 2000 a fight broke out between a couple of kids. You've never seen so many people rush into a church as fast as the kids outside did immediately upon hearing that there was a fight. We were able to break it up quite quickly and get people back on their way to school.

That afternoon while setting up for the Narcotics Anonymous meeting a couple of teens stopped by. They were kids who were active years ago in the church but had moved away. They had ridden their bikes across town to visit the old neighborhood and stopped in fist at the church.

That evening the Adult Disciples group finished their study of the book of James. I think many of the people got more out of this book than almost any other study we've done.

During the day on Thursday Barb and I toured a few things around the harbor in Baltimore. That night the Men's CORE Group had Barb come and visit for the first half of the meeting. She then left and met with the women at the Sisters in Spirit NA group while we finished up. That night I took Barb on an "after dark" tour of some of the monuments in Washington, DC.

It was an especially violent week in the city. During one 24 hour period there were 15 shootings and 3 stabbings. On that same day 6 people died and 7 were injured in a house fire. Many people were a bit more on edge than usual because of these things.

While out hunting down camp form signatures Joe flagged me down. His two grown kids had been active in church for many years and had regularly participated in camp. He and their mom had split up a long time ago and he now has a new girlfriend with two younger children. He wanted to introduce me to them and for me to make sure the kids knew when the age-appropriate activities were at the church so that these kids could have the same kinds of church experiences his other kids did.

Friday night brought Pizza Church. The first two groups talked about the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The third group continued its video curriculum. This week focused on dealing with anger. That group had an enlivened discussion and through it we could clearly see that the kids could not distinguish between feeling angry and being threatened. One girl requested baptism at the service. Afterward, Tamara, Barb, and I went out for dessert.

On Saturday Barb and I were able to visit with some people in their home and on the streets. That night Tamara, Barb, and I joined a couple of kids for Sundae Church

Looking ahead to next week we'll have our regular schedule of activities. In addition, we'll have cake after Evening Worship to celebrate graduation from college and graduate school programs. Danny and I are hoping to install a banner on the Glyndon Avenue side of the church. Weather permitting we'll work on repairing the mural. We'll also be finishing up taking care of the camp forms and continuing our fundraising for that effort.

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

Amber
Amanda
Autumn
Paige
Molly
Brian
Aries
John

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