6/24/2007

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

It started out Sunday, June 10, with ordinations at Morning Worship. Tamara was ordained a Priest and Jenn was ordained an Elder. I had a brief message then Jenn's charge was given by Diane McNeil and Tamara's charge was given by Kris Judd. I was assisted in Jenn's ordination by Kris and assisted in Tamara's ordination by Danny. Nearly 60 people came to celebrate.

Immediately after the service we had a luncheon. The church provided meat & cheese platters and bread while members brought salads and desserts. We stayed and visited for nearly 2 hours after the end of the service. We had lots of bread left over so several families took some home with them. The Judds and the McNeils headed out afterward.

We had a small group at Kids' Church. We learned the story of Stephen then made bookmarks.

There was a lot of good sharing at Evening Worship. There were many testimonies and a variety of prayer requests. Afterward Ron visited with the mother of one of our members about some health issues she's been experiencing so she could get a referral to the right doctor.

Bryce, Onalee, and I flew to Michigan the next morning for a week with family. Vonceil joined us once she was finished with school on Friday. The only activity cancelled while we were gone was Men's Group.

We had the last SonRisers of the school year on the Wednesday I was gone. Only about 20 kids participated, but one of them was new. The Adult Disciples group watched a video from Rick Warren.

Tamara, Jenn, and Rachel lead Pizza Church and Kids' Church. Danny and Gloria presided over Morning and Evening Worship on Sunday. Earl brought the message at Morning Worship. Patricia was responsible for opening the building for the NA meetings.

Rachael continued her work that week through World Service Corps. She spent time visiting with several members of the congregation. She also repaired the murals by painting over graffiti restoring the original pictures. They look dramatically better.

Starting last Monday Tamara had problems with severe headaches. By week's end they discovered that she had an aneurism in her brain. She had surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center on Saturday, June 23. She'll be there for a while in recovery. We've all been on the phone and stopping by neighbors to keep everyone informed and prayerful about the situation.

She wasn't the only one in the hospital this week. Violet's mother, who got a referral from Ron, needed a pacemaker so she had one installed this week. Shane, who broke his foot a couple of weeks ago, broke his other foot this week.

Though we didn't plan for it to be quite this timely, we studied the sacrament of Administration this Wednesday at Adult Disciples. We reviewed some of the basics then talked through some of the logistics of the procedures. We did this together so Jenn could be better prepared for this new responsibility as an Elder. We then had a couple of people who needed this type of blessing. Jenn anointed one and offered the prayer for the other.

In the midst of this craziness, my DSL line quit working properly for my computer. We stayed home all day for the technician to come but he never did. When I went to the church that night the air conditioning wasn't working properly so I called for service. The technician didn't come for that, either. Meanwhile, in trying to balance the checkbook discovered a $99.49 error (in our favor) that it took Vonceil and I working together for quite some time locate the source and correct it.

People spent a lot of time this week in preparation for camp. With Tamara sick and not able to be the camp director there were some major gaps to fill in. Jenn was on the run all week making last minute adjustments to the plans. Rachel did a great job getting a lot of work done during the days while Jenn was at work. I was in seemingly constant conversation with kids and parents fielding questions, reviewing procedures, and addressing concerns about camp.

By Friday we made it to Pizza Church. We had good sessions all evening. We also had several guests and visitors. Miranda and Emily had arrived earlier in the day from Michigan to be on staff at camp so they came to meet with some of the kids ahead of time. Robert was in town, also for camp, so he came to help. His sister Anne and her three-month-old baby Yasmine stopped by as well.

Originally, Tamara's dad was to help transport equipment and supplies from Baltimore to the campgrounds in Virginia on Saturday. Since he was no longer available, Jenn and her friends packed our van completely full. Jenn, Miranda, Emily, and Rachel rode down in Jenn's car while I drove the packed van to the camp on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday night was our monthly Sundae Church. The kids who came were very excited about camp and had lots to say. I was also pleasantly surprised when one girl who had told me she wasn't going dropped off her $20 fee so she could go.

Amid the utter chaos of this week we've found testimonies of God leading us through it. One of mine was that when I was as I was leaving Tamara's room when she was at St. Agnes Hospital there was a large group of people waiting to get on the elevator. When the elevator doors opened there was only room for one more person. When you're wearing a clergy collar in a Catholic hospital, people treat you well. In this case, everyone stepped aside and had me be the only one to get on the elevator. As soon as the doors closed I heard, "Pastor Jeff?!?" It was Erin. I had forgotten that she worked at St. Agnes so I was able to tell her about Tamara. She, in turn, was able to spend part of her lunch hour visiting with Tamara.

Looking ahead to next week we'll have an adjusted schedule of activities. After Morning Worship Gloria is taking Vonceil and me to the airport so we can each pick up our rental vans. Back in the neighborhood, Woody will join us in driving the kids to camp. We're scheduled to leave by 2:00 p.m. We will not have Kids' Church or Men's Group this week because of camp. Danny is in charge of Evening Worship. I'm responsible for Thursday night's baptism service at camp so Patricia will take care of the building for Sisters in the Spirit (NA). For those kids who didn't go to camp I've given some extra incentives to be present at Pizza Church this Friday night. Woody, Gloria, Vonceil, and I will pick up the kids next Saturday.

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

Ida
Dawn
Justin
Xavier
Chris
Anthony
Brenda
Veronica

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