10/10/2010

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

It started out Sunday with Morning Worship. We had scheduled baptisms, confirmations, and communion as a part of the worship experience. After Terry and Icee were baptized, their older sister asked to be baptized, too. She immediately got into the font.

Usually during the serving of communion we usually have some music playing. This week instead of just playing music, we included a professional video of the song being sung in another church. It was not distracting and actually helped people gain a more collective experience. Though the song was new and no lyrics were on screen, most people joined in singing with it by the end.

We also had a couple of neighbors come to church for the first time. They were especially interested in the Peace Pavilion and volunteered to help get it going.

At Kids' Church we learned about the Israelites rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem. We then broke up in groups and had "who can build the tallest" contest between a Tinker Toys team and a Legos team. Once they finished the groups switched blocks and worked to make the buildings even taller.

Afterward Bryce and I spent some time resetting the church. We drained the font, set up tables and chairs for SonRisers, recorded the day's attendance, and moved painting materials from the balcony back to the closet. That evening we spent some time putting together a mailing for next Sunday's Homecoming Celebration.

We were happy to see 98 kids at SonRisers on Wednesday morning. The nursing students were in and out of the building much of the rest of the day. While they were doing their work I spent some time working on installing the flooring for the Peace Pavilion. After the NA meeting and the Mid-Week Service, Josh came by to help carry some heavy and bulky things out of the balcony to their new homes on the main level.

Thursday included several errands and shopping. We needed to restock some Pizza Church supplies and also bought the non-perishable items for the breakfast and lunch at Homecoming. We were short of a couple of things for the floor so a Home Depot stop was required. That evening I thought I would finish the floor but had to quit with only about 4 pieces left to install.

Friday night brought Pizza Church. The first two groups reviewed the Ten Commandments. Then the third group arrived. It was the highest number of kids we've had in a senior high group. And we do mean high. Once they were seated we recognized that several of them were high. We made it through the lesson OK but as we started serving pizza one kid vomited all over the floor. He said that he felt much better and was now ready to eat his pizza.

Afterward I took a few minutes to install the last few floorboards in the balcony. We have a little trim work and clean-up to do, but it is otherwise done.

On Saturday, Tim, Earl, Tamara, and I all participated in our Mission Center Conference in Springfield, Virginia. While there we received a gift of 6 large beautiful baskets filled with gifts for mothers of newborns. These items were assembled as a part of the outreach of our mission center's women's retreat. Sally also brought a box of school supplies to start our collection for next August's distribution.

Meanwhile, Vonceil went shopping to get the hot dogs, buns, bagels, milk, and the like for Homecoming. Tamara will get the coffee and donuts in the morning.

That evening was our monthly Solid Rock Cafe. We had a good crowd that played well together.

The first week in October is also a time when we check on how we're doing in youth participation. So far since July 1 we've had over 450 different kids come to at least one of our regular activities at the church. Last year (which had the best participation levels of kids in our history) we were just short of 400 kids total by the first week of October.

Looking ahead to next week we have our full schedule of activities. In addition, we'll have breakfast before and lunch after Morning Worship as a part of our Homecoming Celebration. Some folks will probably stay and watch the Ravens game on the plasma TV afterward. Sunday night is our monthly Priesthood Meeting. On Monday our Apostle, our President of Seventy, and our Mission Center President are all scheduled to visit Pigtown. We're planning on installing the trim in the balcony then organizing our first round of Peace Pavilion materials throughout the week. I'm scheduled to meet with the public schools about the Peace Pavilion this week as well.

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

The Ceo Family
The Pettis Family
The Houston Family
The Johnson Family
The Nelson Family
The Sanchez Family
The Bookhultz Family
The Moore 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/