9/17/2005

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

It started out Sunday with our three services. At Morning Worship we talked about our role of being a blessing to the world. Afterward, Cricket and I talked about baptism and set the date for September 25. The Livingstons and I ran over to Staples after the service so I could make copies of the blueprints and give them to Sue. The company she works for is installing and monitoring the fire alarm in the new building and they needed blueprints to design the plans.

We had more kids at Kids' Church than we've had in nearly a year. Of the over 30 kids who came this Sunday about 1/3 had never been to the church before this weekend and several more hadn't been here in at least 6 months. Attendance had been down in recent months so we weren't quite prepared for the onslaught. That coupled with some of our staff on retreat and another out with a broken arm it was a harried 45 minutes.

The young adults got back from their retreat in time for Evening Worship. Even so, the Ravens game cut into our attendance quite a bit.

We had something come up nearly every day this week with the building. We worked with the phone company to come out and move the phone lines and we did a walk-through with the fire alarm company. We priced paint, block fill, and balcony flooring. We selected colors for cabinets and countertop. Meanwhile, the builders finished installing the windows, began running air ducts, built the balcony, installed the stairwell, connected the attic to the balcony, painted the top half of the interior, and overall made tremendous progress throughout the week.

Wednesday morning brought SonRisers. 85 kids participated this week. Afterward, I took some of the leftover donuts to the local middle school. I was able to meet and visit with the new principal who is thrilled with the relationship we've had with the school over the years and wants to expand it.

That evening the Adult Disciples group finished the Old Testament. We've been reading it together since January. We'll work on the New Testament from now through the end of the year.

We can already see some of the impact that the building is having on the neighborhood. I've received positive feedback about its design and construction from the neighbors with no expressed dissenting opinions. The windows, which gently carry the shape of the cross, were all the talk when they were installed. I think they are second only to the murals in the kind of positive response we've gotten to our projects from people in the neighborhood.

Seven women piled themselves into our van Friday evening and headed up to Deer Park in New Hope, Pennsylvania, for their annual retreat. One other woman was going up a little later. They are scheduled to return Sunday afternoon.

Once they left it was time for Pizza Church. The kids were a little edgy all evening but we made it through the lessons.

Looking ahead to next week we have our full schedule of activities. In addition, the women will be returning from the retreat Sunday afternoon. Throughout the week we'll be working on things that are not in the builder's contract but are required before moving into the building, such as paving the parking lot, preparing for our October 1 painting day, getting a sound system, and anything else that comes up.

Along with the individuals and activities mentioned as well as the continued progress on our building project, please keep the following persons in the forefront of your prayers:

Christie
Greg
Danny
Jimmy
Violet
Joshua
Decarlo
Markia

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