9/12/2010

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

It started with a small group gathered for Morning Worship. By the time we got a few songs into it a larger crowd had gathered. Since the weather was great and we had the doors open, this included a cat that we had to chase out of the building. We also had one young adult at church who hadn't been to a service since he was in high school 5+ years ago. Two families needed bags of food to take home with them after the service.

At Kids' Church we talked about remembering how God had blessed us and how people had responded to the Spirit to help provide for all the summer activities. We then made items to be included in some thank you packets.

Pastor Bob called on Tuesday to offer us some food for distribution in the neighborhood. We weren't as successful in getting things into people's hands as we were the last time he had a delivery for us.

About 50 kids participated in SonRisers on Wednesday morning. The kids who are at the new charter school gave good reviews of their experiences there thus far.

After SonRisers I spent some time in class with the nursing students sharing my perspective on the community. They'll have a series of guests doing likewise throughout the semester.

Bill, our Mission Center President, came down a little later that morning. He looked over what we've started doing with the Pigtown Peace Pavilion. We then had lunch together and discussed issues in the neighborhood, the mission center, and the denomination.

After the NA meeting we had our Mid-Week Service. The bulk of our time was spent in prayer.

On Thursday evening I was able to visit the households of our baptism candidates. In doing so I got the statistical information needed to record their baptisms. If all goes as planned, we'll have four baptisms during Morning Worship on Sunday.

We spent some time on Thursday and Friday preparing materials for our booth at Saturday's Pigtown Festival. We printed out banners and signs, prepared fliers, and determined which interactive centers we'd have at our booth.

I got a call this week from Tom, the manager of The Arundel Singers. They wanted to have a Christmas concert again at the church. We were able to schedule it for December 12 at 6:00 p.m.

When Onalee and I got in the van on Friday morning we noticed that it had been broken into the previous night. Nothing significant was missing but they had made quite a mess. The keys to the van were not recovered with my car so they are still out there.

Friday night brought Pizza Church. In learning about Solomon's wisdom, the first two groups both read the story in which he threatens to cut a baby in half in order to determine the baby's real mother. The kids had strong reactions throughout the story and ended up thinking Solomon was sneaky as well as wise. The senior high group continued its study of the Gospel of Luke. Before leaving they helped set up the church for Saturday's Solid Rock Cafe and got the font out of the closet in preparation for Sunday.

Tamara, Vonceil, and I set up our booth at the Pigtown Festival Saturday morning. Tamara and I staffed it throughout the day. We included two activities from the Peace Pavilion in it. You can see pictures and read more about it at http://pigtownpeacepavilion.blogspot.com/.

While there we were able to visit with the director of the after school program at Paul's Place. She was very interested in the Peace Pavilion until she saw the display. Once she did she got very excited and is anxious to bring the kids to it.

We had a small group of kids at our Solid Rock Cafe on Saturday evening. We were a little lean on staffing so it worked out just fine. I got the font filled when the kids weren't there.
Looking ahead to next week we have our full schedule of activities. In addition, we have baptisms scheduled for Morning Worship. After the service we're having cake in celebration of Earl's 79th birthday. Some young adults from the Mid-Atlantic Mission Center will be down on Sunday and will be leading the crafts at Kids' Church. Sunday night is our monthly Priesthood Meeting. I have a breakfast meeting on Friday with Marjorie from the University of Maryland School of Nursing. We have about a dozen women who are planning on going to the Women's Retreat next weekend at Deer Park campgrounds in Pennsylvania.

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

The Simmons Family
The Bonnett Family
The King Family
The Magallanez Family
The Whitley Family
The Jeffers Family
The Johnson Family
The Alascio 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
http://thisweekatthepowerhouse.blogspot.com/