Saturday, September 25, 2010

9/26/2010

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

It started out Sunday with Morning Worship. With so many women in Pennsylvania at the retreat we had a small gathering. That was really good because it was one of those days when I could hardly form a sentence much less a sermon. Though the notes were good, it completely fell apart. I'm hoping this goes down as the worst sermon I've ever given as I certainly don't want to imagine anything worse than that one.

With most of our Kids' Church staff away we scheduled an old Veggie Tales video for Kids' Church. It had been years since we'd shown that one so most of the kids had never seen it before.

Not long after Kids' Church ended the woman arrived back from the retreat. They all appeared quite tired but seemed to have had a good experience there.

That evening was our monthly Celebration Service. We heard reports from the women's retreat and from the Unity Walk. We then shared in a pizza supper together. The high school kids who came were thrilled that, unlike Pizza Church, they were not limited to only one slice of pizza.

We were delighted when nearly 80 kids participated in Wednesday's SonRisers activities. Of them, 30 were new to the church this year. With all the changes in school attendance patterns, each week this fall is a surprise.

After closing up after the nursing class Gloria took me to the airport. I needed to catch a flight to Chicago for a couple days of training in sharing the sacred story. After last Sunday's fiasco, it was quite timely.

Patricia opened and closed for the NA meeting Wednesday night. We had some last minute things come up so we had to call off our Mid-Week service Wednesday night.

The training I was at in Chicago was outstanding. It was probably the best training conference I've ever attended. It was pretty heady stuff, though, and will take me a while to unpack and implement.

Tamara and Robert lead Pizza Church on Friday. Kids were asking good and thoughtful questions throughout the evening, though in the end one of our 2-liter bottles of pop walked out the door with one of the kids.

With no warning Saturday afternoon, the motherboard on Vonceil's computer fritzed. Though she had her data backed up, the songs and videos for Sunday's service needed to be processed on that computer's software in order to be ready for morning. We dropped everything and spent a chunk of the afternoon at Staples finding a replacement for it. She was able to get things set up and ready for morning on the new machine.

Saturday night was our monthly Sundae Church. I don't usually take requests for particular flavors of ice cream, but several kids have been wanting a favorite flavor that we can only get at Safeway. We haven't had it since our Safeway closed this winter. Since we were out at Staples anyway, we found a Safeway in that area and brought in the treat for the group.

Looking ahead to next week we have our full schedule of activities. In addition, we'll be focusing on making some significant headway in transforming the balcony into the Peace Pavilion.

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

The Brown Family
The Fleming Family
The Howe Family
The Spence Family
The Ghaffar Family
The Jackson Family
The Covington Family
The Barrett 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/

Saturday, September 18, 2010

9/19/2010

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

It started out Sunday with very hot water in the font. Robert went to the store and bought a bag of ice. We dumped it in and then left the lid off. It was at a much more appropriate temperature by the time the service started.

Family and friends of the four baptism candidates came to join in the celebration. We ended up with over 50 people at the service. Though a bit chaotic at times, the Spirit provided powerful blessings both to those in the water and those gathered to witness and celebrate.

As a part of the celebration, some folks brought cake and snack food to eat together after the service. Earl also brought a cake to mark is 79th birthday so we had plenty of sweets to eat. Most people stayed for quite a while to enjoy the food and fellowship.

A few people, though, needed to leave right away. Tamara took a some of our high school kids straight from the service to Washington, DC, to join in the unity walk. At this event, people from a variety of faith traditions walk Massachusetts Avenue showing understanding and respect for people of all faiths.

Since it was raining we gave a couple people rides home once people had cleared the building. The Paulsons were down from Pennsylvania for the day so we got lunch together then set up for Kids' Church.

The kids seemed to really get into the singing time at Kids' Church so we added a couple of songs to what we had originally planned. I took care of the lesson and the Paulsons lead the craft time.

Sunday evening brought our monthly Priesthood Meeting. We filled in much of the calendar through Christmas, did some planning for the October 10 Homecoming Celebration, and discussed some of the temporal concerns we're having as a congregation.

Last week at the Pigtown Festival, Tamara was invited to come over to Paul's Place, a local not-for-profit that provides services in the community, to visit with Shirley, the director of their after school program. Shirley had heard of Tamara's training in counseling and experience in working with kids in the neighborhood and was interested in seeing if it would help in their programming. As a result of the meeting, Tamara will be working with their program two afternoons each week.

About 45 kids participated in Wednesday's SonRisers activities. We've had a bit of a slow start to SonRisers this fall compared to recent years. Several factors are in play, including schools being closed on Tuesday for the primary election. However, with the charter school's replacing the middle school, we're expecting a significant drop-off in participation this year. We'd love to be proven wrong.

Gloria stayed after SonRisers to talk with the nursing students. They moved their start time to 8:30 so we now have a smoother transition from one activity to the next. We took some of the leftover donuts to the elementary school for their staff.

That afternoon the people who had borrowed a few chairs for a birthday party last week returned them to the church. After the NA meeting we had our Mid-Week Service.

For once, we spent time on Thursday getting a jump-start on some paperwork rather than using that time to play catch-up. We got the October newsletters outlined and took care of some arrangements for an upcoming training. We also worked on fliers for Homecoming and updated the "upcoming events" section of the web site.

Marjorie and I met for breakfast on Friday morning. We've both had a lot going on the last few months so it was a good chance to review what's been happening and look to future coordination between the School of Nursing and the church.

Women started gathering at the church in the late afternoon on Friday. Gloria, Sue, and Vonceil were the drivers of the caravan up to Deer Park Campgrounds for a women's retreat. This year 11 women went from our congregation. This included three women in their early 20s who went through our youth ministries programs a few years back.

Friday night brought Pizza Church. We had good numbers of kids throughout the evening. Since Vonceil was out of town, I had to leave right after the Senior High lesson to pick up Bryce after his first experience marching in the band at his high school's football game. Tamara and a few of the kids stayed at the church late so I was able to visit with them for a few minutes once I was back in the neighborhood.

We have a couple people trying to earn some court ordered community service hours. I met with one of them on Saturday morning to do some prep work for painting. This needs to get done in order to have the room ready for the Peace Pavilion. We (and hopefully some others) will be meeting next Wednesday to get some more of the work done.

Looking ahead to next week we have our full schedule of activities. In addition, we're expecting the women to get back in the neighborhood late in the afternoon on Sunday. We have our monthly Celebration Service (which this month includes a pizza supper) on Sunday evening. We've scheduled some painting time for Wednesday morning after SonRisers. I'll be out of town for training for a couple of days this week so Tamara and Robert will be in charge of Pizza Church on Friday. Next Saturday is our monthly Sundae Church.

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

The Leslie Family
The Ruby Family
The Taylor Family
The Threet Family
The Burrs Family
The Jones Family
The Alexander Family
The Fisher 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/

Saturday, September 11, 2010

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/

Saturday, September 4, 2010

9/5/2010

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

It started out with relief that our van was in the church parking lot in the morning. Since there had been several attempts at stealing it already that weekend and with our car already gone, it was nice to see it in the morning.

During Morning Worship we reviewed how God's Spirit had been moving among us over the summer. Hannah and Sam then shared about their time working with the congregation. This was followed by a congregational blessing for them and then a reception with cake.

Right after church we began setting up for the school supply distribution. A few of our high school kids joined Tamara, Sam, Hannah, and me in hauling everything out of the closet, organizing things, and setting up displays for the kids to make their choices. For all their help, the high school students were able to select from some backpacks that we'd received.

We had more supplies donated to us this year than ever before. People in the congregation continued to bring in bags of supplies right up through Morning Worship that day. Individuals and congregations around Maryland, Virginia, Missouri, and Michigan all gave generously to the cause. One woman decorated a box and set it out at work to collect donations from coworkers. This took a full and broad effort to make this all happen.

Vonceil, Patricia, and two of our neighbors got to the church shortly before opening to help staff the event. Kid and parents filled the space outside from the church doors to the street and then around the corner on the sidewalk in front of the church.

I stepped outside at 3:00 to assure people that we had plenty of supplies and that there was no need to rush. We then let people in to go to the registration table and choose their supplies. People moved quickly and in an orderly manner. While they waited in line they could watch a series of photos and announcements of youth ministries at the church that Vonceil had playing on the big screen.

In the first 45 minutes over 150 kids received school supplies. By the time we closed up a couple hours later 218 kids had bags of supplies. We went from six tables heaped with supplies and boxes of supplies stacked on the floor near them to one table about half full of leftover items.

Five years ago we helped 66 kids. It was gratifying to be able to help that many people and troublesome to recognize how much the need has grown.

By the time we got everything cleaned up and all the statistics run for the day it was 8:45 p.m. Though completely out of some supplies, we had some leftovers, too. The few boxes of "non perishable" items like notebooks and crayons will be saved for next year. Things that won't last (like glue sticks or markers) will be given to the teachers at our local schools.

Sam and Hannah's time in Baltimore came to an end on Monday. Tamara and I had lunch with them at Tamara's house then Tamara took them to the airport for their overnight flight back to the UK.

With the locks at the church changed last Saturday (due to my keys being gone) Tamara and I were the only key holders. We got copies made and distributed them to most people who needed them early in the week.

Our fall schedule resumed on Wednesday. It started with about 25 kids participating in SonRisers that morning. We anticipated a small group because the new charter school wasn't opening until next week. Also, the new 6th graders who would have traditionally gone to that building are taking busses out of the neighborhood now that the local middle school has closed. As we were setting up in the morning we realized that we were opening too late for those kids who now have to catch busses by 7:00 a.m. Next week we'll start opening at 6:45 in order to let them be a part of SonRisers each week.

Once SonRisers ended the nursing students began to arrive. They'll be using the church as a launch site for their work in the neighborhood again this year.

We put the September newsletters in the mail. You can see Kids' Church News at http://kidschurchnews.blogspot.com/ and Pizza Church Press at http://pizzachurchpress.blogspot.com/.

I stopped by a family's home to discuss baptism with them. Some have decided to get baptized on Sunday, September 12, and others are considering it.

That evening after the NA meeting we resumed Mid-Week service. Afterward we hung the new banner on the front of the church and changed out our sign to reflect the fall's schedule.

Part of the job on Thursday included finding the surface of my desk. All the remnants of the summer's projects were cleared off to make room for fall. We also prepared some fliers needed for next Saturday's Pigtown Festival.

Friday night brought Pizza Church. The kids looked good as many of them arrived in new school uniform shirts. A couple of the boys asked for help to change high schools because their school didn't have as many girls as some of the other schools. The first two groups learned about Solomon while the third group continued its study of the Gospel of Luke. Don was in town working on his house so he joined us for the third session.

The weather on Saturday was exceptionally beautiful all day. We were able to visit many people who were out enjoying the weather.

That afternoon an abandoned house on my street caught on fire. Some junkies had broken into the house and had caused the fire while they were in there. This is not an unusual occurrence.

Sometimes when the fire hoses are being used we get some brown water from our spigots for a little while. This happened today. Unfortunately, we running the washing machine and didn't notice it. All our white clothes came out covered with large, blotchy, brown stains. This includes the kids' and Vonceil's school uniform shirts. We'll see if Oxy Clean is as good as it claims to be. Fortunately, we had prepared the communion cloths earlier so they're unstained.

And just as I was getting ready to send this letter out at about 1:00 a.m. I had a loud knock on the door. It was the police. They had found our car several blocks away and wanted me to pick it up immediately. The car was missing its radio and hubcap, had some bumps and scrapes, and featured some graffiti inside. Though the steering was very much out of alignment it was still drivable. The van keys were not inside. The officers scolded me for letting my car get stolen then sent me on my way.

Looking ahead to next week we have our full schedule of activities. In addition, I'll be teaching the nursing students about the neighborhood during their class on Wednesday. I'm having lunch with Bill, our Mission Center President, on Wednesday as well. Next Saturday is the Pigtown Festival. Meanwhile, Violet will be attending the Mission Center meeting in Springfield, Virginia, that same day. Saturday evening is our monthly Solid Rock Cafe. After that we'll be setting up and filling the font for next Sunday's baptisms.

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

The Lydick Family
The Handy Family
The Sykes Family
The Barrett Family
The Battle Family
The Brown Family
The Stintchcomb Family
The Burley 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/