It’s been a busy week at the Power House in Baltimore, Maryland.
It started out Sunday with Morning Worship. One new person joined the group for the Thanksgiving message. Bill and Caleb were down from Pennsylvania for the day, too. Afterward, Bill, Caleb, Lennard, and I had lunch together.
About 20 gathered for Kids' Church. After attendance and announcements, I lead the music then Bill and Caleb were responsible for the lesson and craft.
That evening was our monthly Celebration Service and our annual Dessert Potluck. Though we had a small group, the majority there were people who were not at a service earlier in the day. This included some friends from the Gatchelville, Pennsylvania, congregation. We had some open mike time to share what we're thankful for then indulged in all kinds of delicious desserts.
About 112 kids participated in Wednesday's SonRisers activities. It was the first we'd seen Tamara since she got back from training in Nashville, Tennessee, so during the breaks between serving the kids we got to hear a bit about her experiences.
With Thanksgiving approaching, the schedule for the rest of Wednesday was a bit different from usual. Patricia opened and closed for the Narcotics Anonymous group. We canceled our Mid-Week Service we usually have on Wednesday night.
The church building was closed for the day on Thanksgiving. Paul's Place, which is located a few blocks from the church, provided a Thanksgiving dinner to those who wanted to share in that way. Some people active in the church served meals while others received them.
We spent much of the day Friday on paperwork and planning. We put together December's newsletters, printed our Advent readings, prepared a mailing, and redesigned some follow-up materials for youth ministries.
Friday night brought Pizza Church. Usually the Friday after Thanksgiving has limited participation. This was not the case this year. The first two groups were at to slightly above our normal levels of participation. More people came to the third group than usually come in an entire evening. Also, Quentin was back in town from college so he came that evening, too.
We were running low on all kinds of supplies so a chunk of the day Saturday was spent shopping and restocking. Robert and Ebony came by that evening to clean the church as they would not be there in the morning to do so. Later that night was our monthly Sundae Church.
Looking ahead to next week we have our full schedule of activities. In addition, we're planning to take some kids who have been to church 40+ times since July out to Friendly's for ice cream on Sunday night. We'll be getting our December newsletters in the mail. We have four classrooms scheduled to come through the Peace Pavilion this week. We'll also be putting the finishing touches on some of our Christmas activities and preparing the mailing for the Christmas Eve Service.
Along with the individuals and activities mentioned, please keep the following families in the forefront of your prayers:
The Wagner Family
The Kline Family
The Marsh Family
The Howe Family
The Spence Family
The Pringle Family
The Church Family
The Zachary 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, November 27, 2010
Saturday, November 20, 2010
11/21/2010
It’s been a busy week at the Power House in Baltimore, Maryland.
It started out with a good crowd on Sunday morning. It was a nice blend of people from the neighborhood, people who drove in, people who have been in the congregation for many years, and people who have started participating in the last year or so.
At Kids' Church we reviewed the Fruit of the Spirit. The kids then did a fall themed craft incorporating the lesson with colored leaves on trees.
That evening was our monthly Priesthood Meeting. Though we covered a variety of topics, we spent the bulk of the time talking about SonRisers and Camp. We'd been overrun at SonRisers this fall and needed to make some procedural adjustments to make sure we have enough donuts to go around. Our camp discussions revolved around the combination of the increased cost of camp in conjunction with our increased number of kids who are on track to qualify to go. We solved the problems with SonRisers but have a long ways to go in figuring out the camp situation.
Our web site went down on Tuesday. I didn't know that a domain name could expire. We got in touch with Don to find out what to do and he got it taken care of for the next two years.
One of the bakers called in sick on Wednesday so the others were still frantically making our 14 dozen donuts when I arrived. When I got them, the donuts were still so hot that when I got back to the church and opened the trunk of my car steam came out. The heat and moisture also weakened the boxes so many were crushed on the drive. 117 kids participated in the activities that morning.
As SonRisers was starting, Tamara and Sarah stopped by the church to say good-bye. They were heading out that morning to the National Youth Workers Convention in Nashville.
Wednesday was also the last day that the nursing students met at the church for the last time this semester. A new group will start there in January.
I spent some time coordinating the Peace Pavilion schedule with school 34. They'll be bringing the kids over for the "Peace for Me" activities the week after Thanksgiving.
Thursday was dedicated to paperwork. Trying to keep our mailing list up to date with the influx of kids this year has been challenging at best. We got a good portion of things updated but still have a ways to go.
Friday night brought Pizza Church. We had the seating arranged differently to try to keep things under control with a smaller staff. It worked a little bit but we still had some issues. We're going to need to revamp some of our procedures to better reflect the population that is now participating in this activity.
We have four kids who have earned a trip to Friendly's by attending church 40+ times since July 1. We scheduled a trip there for Saturday. Only one of the four was able to go so we had some good ice cream and conversation together.
Looking ahead to next week we have our full schedule of activities. In addition, the Brians are coming down from Pennsylvania on Sunday and will take the lead of the Kids' Church activities. Sunday evening is our monthly Celebration Service and our annual Dessert Only Potluck. We've canceled Wednesday's Mid-Week Service due to Thanksgiving. Saturday is our monthly Sundae Church for high school students.
Along with the individuals and activities mentioned, please keep the following families in the forefront of your prayers:
The Brown Family
The Jones Family
The Smead Family
The Cox Family
The St. Thomas Family
The Pettis Family
The Ceo Family
The Bryson 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/
It started out with a good crowd on Sunday morning. It was a nice blend of people from the neighborhood, people who drove in, people who have been in the congregation for many years, and people who have started participating in the last year or so.
At Kids' Church we reviewed the Fruit of the Spirit. The kids then did a fall themed craft incorporating the lesson with colored leaves on trees.
That evening was our monthly Priesthood Meeting. Though we covered a variety of topics, we spent the bulk of the time talking about SonRisers and Camp. We'd been overrun at SonRisers this fall and needed to make some procedural adjustments to make sure we have enough donuts to go around. Our camp discussions revolved around the combination of the increased cost of camp in conjunction with our increased number of kids who are on track to qualify to go. We solved the problems with SonRisers but have a long ways to go in figuring out the camp situation.
Our web site went down on Tuesday. I didn't know that a domain name could expire. We got in touch with Don to find out what to do and he got it taken care of for the next two years.
One of the bakers called in sick on Wednesday so the others were still frantically making our 14 dozen donuts when I arrived. When I got them, the donuts were still so hot that when I got back to the church and opened the trunk of my car steam came out. The heat and moisture also weakened the boxes so many were crushed on the drive. 117 kids participated in the activities that morning.
As SonRisers was starting, Tamara and Sarah stopped by the church to say good-bye. They were heading out that morning to the National Youth Workers Convention in Nashville.
Wednesday was also the last day that the nursing students met at the church for the last time this semester. A new group will start there in January.
I spent some time coordinating the Peace Pavilion schedule with school 34. They'll be bringing the kids over for the "Peace for Me" activities the week after Thanksgiving.
Thursday was dedicated to paperwork. Trying to keep our mailing list up to date with the influx of kids this year has been challenging at best. We got a good portion of things updated but still have a ways to go.
Friday night brought Pizza Church. We had the seating arranged differently to try to keep things under control with a smaller staff. It worked a little bit but we still had some issues. We're going to need to revamp some of our procedures to better reflect the population that is now participating in this activity.
We have four kids who have earned a trip to Friendly's by attending church 40+ times since July 1. We scheduled a trip there for Saturday. Only one of the four was able to go so we had some good ice cream and conversation together.
Looking ahead to next week we have our full schedule of activities. In addition, the Brians are coming down from Pennsylvania on Sunday and will take the lead of the Kids' Church activities. Sunday evening is our monthly Celebration Service and our annual Dessert Only Potluck. We've canceled Wednesday's Mid-Week Service due to Thanksgiving. Saturday is our monthly Sundae Church for high school students.
Along with the individuals and activities mentioned, please keep the following families in the forefront of your prayers:
The Brown Family
The Jones Family
The Smead Family
The Cox Family
The St. Thomas Family
The Pettis Family
The Ceo Family
The Bryson 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, November 13, 2010
11/14/2010
It’s been a busy week at the Power House in Baltimore, Maryland.
It started out Sunday with our monthly Communion Service during Morning Worship. Even with several people out of town we still had a good sized group of people participate. We also had one first-time visitor among the group.
We've come to the end of the video series we've used at Kids' Church for the past 18 months. We enjoyed a few of our favorite video shorts then designed individual panels that that created a full-sized poster.
123 kids participated in SonRisers on Wednesday morning. Of those kid, over 20 were first time participants at the church. Afterward, we had a woman come by the church hoping we hand one left over that she could have. We didn't have any extras and she ended up in tears.
During the day we designed and ordered the postcard invitations to the Christmas Eve service. Ordering them this week saved us over 50% (nearly $100) because we beat the Christmas rush.
The art teacher from school 34 met us at the church on Wednesday afternoon. She brought over different fabrics that she and her grandmother had collected in their travels around the globe. She hung the fabrics over some of our dividers to provide more color and texture to the Peace Pavilion experience. (see them up close at http://pigtownpeacepavilion.blogspot.com/) She finished just as the Narcotics Anonymous meeting was ready to start.
We spent some time after the Mid-Week Service thinking about funding next year's summer camp. They're making some positive changes in the camping program and those changes will raise the costs quite a bit. At the same time, we're breaking all our participation records and potentially have many, many more kids who will need to spend a week at camp. With the increase in fees and the jump in the number of kids, we're looking at needing nearly ten times the money that we raised last year (excluding the grant).
I've gotten several calls and emails from people in the neighborhood this week who are facing eviction or utilities shut-off. We don't have resources to help with this beyond referrals, and referrals were what had encouraged them to call us. It could be a long winter ahead.
Earl, Tamara, Sarah, Penny, Gloria, Patricia, and I gathered at the church on Thursday morning to staff the Peace Pavilion. The class of third graders arrived a few minutes early so we didn't waste any time getting started. About 1/3 of the class had been to activities at the church in the past so they were both familiar with the people and excited to be able to go to the previously forbidden balcony. The students were engrossed in the activities and the staff did an excellent job. When it was time to leave the kids were wanting to stay and do more. Afterward the staff had a debriefing about things that worked well and things we needed to adjust to make better. We all learned a lot from the kids in how to approach the subjects at hand.
We've had some scheduling confusion and conflicts for the other classes who are to participate in the Peace Pavilion this year. We tried to connect on Thursday and Friday but kept missing each other. Hopefully we'll be able to get things straightened out this coming week.
Friday night brought Pizza Church. We had a normal sized group for the first session, a small group for the second session, and a large group for the third session.
While taking one of our kids home after Pizza Church we noticed that an intersection was blocked off by several police cars, much the same way it looks when there's been a shooting. Once back at the church I walked over to see what was going on. There hadn't been a shooting. Instead, the police were stopping every car and conducting searches for illegal substances. In the few minutes I watched while visiting the neighbors we saw them bring out drug-sniffing dogs and make several arrests.
Our monthly Solid Rock Cafe was held on Saturday night. 40 kids showed up which is the largest Solid Rock we've had in memory. Several kids were first-time attendees who came with friends.
Looking ahead to next week we have our full schedule of activities. In addition, we have our monthly Priesthood Meeting on Sunday evening. We'll be working with school 34 to finalize the schedule for the Peace Pavilion and have some groups tentatively scheduled for Thursday morning. Wednesday is the final time the nursing students will meet at the church this semester. Next weekend Tamara will be attending the Youth Specialties convention. We're also hoping to take care of some of the rewards kids have earned through their attendance this year.
Along with the individuals and activities mentioned, please keep the following families in the forefront of your prayers:
The Oliver Family
The Alexander Family
The Boswell Family
The Rodriguez Family
The Lawson Family
The Smith Family
The Erbe Family
The Squirrel 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/
It started out Sunday with our monthly Communion Service during Morning Worship. Even with several people out of town we still had a good sized group of people participate. We also had one first-time visitor among the group.
We've come to the end of the video series we've used at Kids' Church for the past 18 months. We enjoyed a few of our favorite video shorts then designed individual panels that that created a full-sized poster.
123 kids participated in SonRisers on Wednesday morning. Of those kid, over 20 were first time participants at the church. Afterward, we had a woman come by the church hoping we hand one left over that she could have. We didn't have any extras and she ended up in tears.
During the day we designed and ordered the postcard invitations to the Christmas Eve service. Ordering them this week saved us over 50% (nearly $100) because we beat the Christmas rush.
The art teacher from school 34 met us at the church on Wednesday afternoon. She brought over different fabrics that she and her grandmother had collected in their travels around the globe. She hung the fabrics over some of our dividers to provide more color and texture to the Peace Pavilion experience. (see them up close at http://pigtownpeacepavilion.blogspot.com/) She finished just as the Narcotics Anonymous meeting was ready to start.
We spent some time after the Mid-Week Service thinking about funding next year's summer camp. They're making some positive changes in the camping program and those changes will raise the costs quite a bit. At the same time, we're breaking all our participation records and potentially have many, many more kids who will need to spend a week at camp. With the increase in fees and the jump in the number of kids, we're looking at needing nearly ten times the money that we raised last year (excluding the grant).
I've gotten several calls and emails from people in the neighborhood this week who are facing eviction or utilities shut-off. We don't have resources to help with this beyond referrals, and referrals were what had encouraged them to call us. It could be a long winter ahead.
Earl, Tamara, Sarah, Penny, Gloria, Patricia, and I gathered at the church on Thursday morning to staff the Peace Pavilion. The class of third graders arrived a few minutes early so we didn't waste any time getting started. About 1/3 of the class had been to activities at the church in the past so they were both familiar with the people and excited to be able to go to the previously forbidden balcony. The students were engrossed in the activities and the staff did an excellent job. When it was time to leave the kids were wanting to stay and do more. Afterward the staff had a debriefing about things that worked well and things we needed to adjust to make better. We all learned a lot from the kids in how to approach the subjects at hand.
We've had some scheduling confusion and conflicts for the other classes who are to participate in the Peace Pavilion this year. We tried to connect on Thursday and Friday but kept missing each other. Hopefully we'll be able to get things straightened out this coming week.
Friday night brought Pizza Church. We had a normal sized group for the first session, a small group for the second session, and a large group for the third session.
While taking one of our kids home after Pizza Church we noticed that an intersection was blocked off by several police cars, much the same way it looks when there's been a shooting. Once back at the church I walked over to see what was going on. There hadn't been a shooting. Instead, the police were stopping every car and conducting searches for illegal substances. In the few minutes I watched while visiting the neighbors we saw them bring out drug-sniffing dogs and make several arrests.
Our monthly Solid Rock Cafe was held on Saturday night. 40 kids showed up which is the largest Solid Rock we've had in memory. Several kids were first-time attendees who came with friends.
Looking ahead to next week we have our full schedule of activities. In addition, we have our monthly Priesthood Meeting on Sunday evening. We'll be working with school 34 to finalize the schedule for the Peace Pavilion and have some groups tentatively scheduled for Thursday morning. Wednesday is the final time the nursing students will meet at the church this semester. Next weekend Tamara will be attending the Youth Specialties convention. We're also hoping to take care of some of the rewards kids have earned through their attendance this year.
Along with the individuals and activities mentioned, please keep the following families in the forefront of your prayers:
The Oliver Family
The Alexander Family
The Boswell Family
The Rodriguez Family
The Lawson Family
The Smith Family
The Erbe Family
The Squirrel 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, November 6, 2010
11/7/2010
It’s been a busy week at the Power House in Baltimore, Maryland.
It started out Sunday morning with guest ministry at Morning Worship. Don Compier, head of our denomination's seminary, brought the message. He was in town for last Saturday's healing workshop and Ron Gillilan, director of the workshop, made it possible to Don to share with us. We were also joined by the Gillilans, our friend Pat who was also in town for the workshop, and a first-time visitor to the congregation.
As a part of the announcements during Morning Worship we included a video to promote giving to Outreach International. I highly recommend it. You can link to it at http://www.vimeo.com/16095679.
After the service a couple of people who were planning to serve at the Peace Pavilion stayed to get a feel for the materials they'd be using with the kids. Also during this time Ron, Don, and I made a quick home visit to a woman who had just gotten out of the hospital.
With Sunday being Halloween we anticipated a small crowd for Kids' Church. We were correct as only 5 kids came. We did not anticipate, though, that we would be repeatedly interrupted with trick-or-treaters at the door during the 3 o'clock hour. We weren't ready to accommodate them and suggested they return starting at 4:30.
As soon as Kids' Church was over we finished setting up for trick-or-treating. Bryce, Lennard, Isaiah, Tamara, and I all took part in handing out treats. This included toothbrushes and toothpaste that Marjorie Buchanan had secured for us, pencils, stickers, and (of course) candy. We were pretty well cleaned out by 7:30 so we shut down for the night.
I started seeing "RIP" postings on Facebook on Monday afternoon. I soon learned that there three people had been killed just a few blocks away when the car they were in was hit by someone who had just stolen another vehicle. Those in the stolen vehicle survived the wreck.
That afternoon I met with the teachers at school 34 to talk about the Peace Pavilion. They were very excited about the opportunity. Several on staff had been to the church when the Peacemobile had visited nearly 5 years ago and were thrilled to now have access to the learning centers on a regular basis. In fact, on Tuesday I got a letter from the art teacher asking if she could come by and help get things set up.
111 kids participated in Wednesday's SonRisers activities. Later that morning a few more Peace Pavilion volunteers spent time reviewing the materials and procedures. We made a final shopping list and I headed out to get the remaining supplies.
The art teacher from school 34 came by that afternoon before the Narcotics Anonymous meeting. We talked about several ideas and ways to make the place look more inviting. That evening after a small Mid-Week Service we put the finishing touches on the Peace Pavilion in anticipation of Thursday's opening.
Penny, Earl, Ebony, Robert, Sarah, Tamara, and I gathered at the church on Thursday morning to welcome the first kids to the Peace Pavilion. We had two first grade classes scheduled back to back. The appointed time came and went. After waiting a half an hour, I headed over to the school to see what was going on. I learned that since it was raining they decided not to walk the kids over to the church.
Friday night brought Pizza Church. Despite being a little short on staff, the first two sessions went quite well. The senior high group, however, was quite a different story. We had five new kids over the course of the evening.
Looking ahead to next week we have our full schedule of activities. In addition, I'll be checking again with the schools to make sure that kids will be coming to the Peace Pavilion on Thursday. Saturday evening is our monthly Solid Rock Cafe.
Along with the individuals and activities mentioned, please keep the following families in the forefront of your prayers:
The Jackson Family
The Johnson Family
The Boone Family
The Bryson Family
The Burley Family
The Purcell Family
The Jones Family
The Whitney 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/
It started out Sunday morning with guest ministry at Morning Worship. Don Compier, head of our denomination's seminary, brought the message. He was in town for last Saturday's healing workshop and Ron Gillilan, director of the workshop, made it possible to Don to share with us. We were also joined by the Gillilans, our friend Pat who was also in town for the workshop, and a first-time visitor to the congregation.
As a part of the announcements during Morning Worship we included a video to promote giving to Outreach International. I highly recommend it. You can link to it at http://www.vimeo.com/16095679.
There's an Easier Way To Give a Goat - outreachshop.org from Outreach International on Vimeo.
After the service a couple of people who were planning to serve at the Peace Pavilion stayed to get a feel for the materials they'd be using with the kids. Also during this time Ron, Don, and I made a quick home visit to a woman who had just gotten out of the hospital.
With Sunday being Halloween we anticipated a small crowd for Kids' Church. We were correct as only 5 kids came. We did not anticipate, though, that we would be repeatedly interrupted with trick-or-treaters at the door during the 3 o'clock hour. We weren't ready to accommodate them and suggested they return starting at 4:30.
As soon as Kids' Church was over we finished setting up for trick-or-treating. Bryce, Lennard, Isaiah, Tamara, and I all took part in handing out treats. This included toothbrushes and toothpaste that Marjorie Buchanan had secured for us, pencils, stickers, and (of course) candy. We were pretty well cleaned out by 7:30 so we shut down for the night.
I started seeing "RIP" postings on Facebook on Monday afternoon. I soon learned that there three people had been killed just a few blocks away when the car they were in was hit by someone who had just stolen another vehicle. Those in the stolen vehicle survived the wreck.
That afternoon I met with the teachers at school 34 to talk about the Peace Pavilion. They were very excited about the opportunity. Several on staff had been to the church when the Peacemobile had visited nearly 5 years ago and were thrilled to now have access to the learning centers on a regular basis. In fact, on Tuesday I got a letter from the art teacher asking if she could come by and help get things set up.
111 kids participated in Wednesday's SonRisers activities. Later that morning a few more Peace Pavilion volunteers spent time reviewing the materials and procedures. We made a final shopping list and I headed out to get the remaining supplies.
The art teacher from school 34 came by that afternoon before the Narcotics Anonymous meeting. We talked about several ideas and ways to make the place look more inviting. That evening after a small Mid-Week Service we put the finishing touches on the Peace Pavilion in anticipation of Thursday's opening.
Penny, Earl, Ebony, Robert, Sarah, Tamara, and I gathered at the church on Thursday morning to welcome the first kids to the Peace Pavilion. We had two first grade classes scheduled back to back. The appointed time came and went. After waiting a half an hour, I headed over to the school to see what was going on. I learned that since it was raining they decided not to walk the kids over to the church.
Friday night brought Pizza Church. Despite being a little short on staff, the first two sessions went quite well. The senior high group, however, was quite a different story. We had five new kids over the course of the evening.
Looking ahead to next week we have our full schedule of activities. In addition, I'll be checking again with the schools to make sure that kids will be coming to the Peace Pavilion on Thursday. Saturday evening is our monthly Solid Rock Cafe.
Along with the individuals and activities mentioned, please keep the following families in the forefront of your prayers:
The Jackson Family
The Johnson Family
The Boone Family
The Bryson Family
The Burley Family
The Purcell Family
The Jones Family
The Whitney 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/
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