Request

This request comes from Matt White:

I'm sending out this request on behalf of my cousin Letitia Blumer. "Tish" is currently in Deaconess Hospital in Boston Mass., where she is awaiting to undergo a kidney transplant. Unfortunately, we have not found the perfect match needed to begin, and it has turned into an emergency situation, as she must have the transplant within 4 weeks for it to be at the most ideal time. We're appealing to anyone that may be interested in being a kidney donor for Tish. She's only 44 years old and still has a son at home. Without the transplant her life expectancy lowers significantly.

If anyone is, or even thinks they may be willing to be a possible donor for Tish, the first requirement is that they CANNOT BE TYPE A BLOOD. Any type but A. From there a person can call 1-617-632-9815 and ask for Gail @ Transplant, or ask for Noel (Social worker), for benefit of Letitia (Tish) Blumer. My understanding is that most of the initial tests to see if a person is a possible match, are done locally.

Tying the Knot

Tomorrow Tenth members Matt Sepielli and Krista Dedrick are getting married at Tenth. Please be in prayer for their ceremony which will be at 3:00.

Room Needed

This is from TIF Assistant Eunice Wong:

I have a request from an International (Sri Langkan-Indian) who is undergoing a transition between the US and her assignment to another country for her research. She needs a temporary place to live anytime from now to December. Since she is not working right now, she is not be able to afford rent. Can anyone give me some suggestions about this? This is an urgent need. I appreciate any input from you all.

Bombaro Live

Tenth Member Danny Bombaro will be performing his music Friday, November 4, 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm, at Cool Beans Café, 615 Station Ave., Haddon Heights, NJ.

Desk Needed

The Bremerman household is requesting for a second hand desk. Currently, our computer is on
the dining room table. But we would greatly appreciate any desk that is not being used or someone wants to dispose of.
Ave Bremerman, arbremerman@juno.com

PRCRT

The Princeton Regional Conference on Reformed Theology is next weekend, 28-29. The theme is "God's Will Our Joy." Messages and speakers:
"Called by God's Sovereign Power": Charles Drew
"Protected by God's Sovereign Power": Skip Ryan
"Redeemed by.....": Phil Ryken
"Perfected by.....": Rick Phillips

To register, go to www.alliancenet.org.

Prayer Request

This email just came in from Rick Phillips:
Please pray for God's protection on us in light of the approach of Hurricane Wilma...
Richard D. Phillips Senior Pastor First Presbyterian Church of Coral Springs/Margate, FL

Merit Scholar

For the first time ever CCA has a national merit scholarship recognition: Samuel Riggs, senior. Samuel is a member of Tenth Church. Way to go!

Sad Day

Poor Phil. As a Cardinals fan, he's getting to know what it's like to be a Braves fan - always a playoff team, never the champion.

SPC at Work

Tonight the Strategic Planning Committee holds its second meeting to receive informational reports. Tobias Klauder and I are responsible for a report on the "environment" around Tenth - kind of a state of the city, region, presbytery, and world report. For more information about the process, go to the church website and scroll down the home page for a link.

Last Night's Concert

We had another wonderful concert last night featuring David Kim, Rachel Ku, Richard Harlow, and Paul Jones. The sanctuary was nearly full. At one point, David shared his testimony of becoming a more ardent Christian. He was inspired by Curt Schilling, who after defeating the Yankees last year with an injured ankle, spoke of feeling the presence of the Lord in a way he hadn't since becoming a Christian seven years earlier. Before the trio of Kim, Ku, and Harlow began, Richard read from Matthew 18 - "where two or three are gathered in my name" - applying it to their gathering in the name of Christ to honor him in their music.

Here was the music:
Sonata in D Major for Violin and Cembalo, HWV 371 by Handel. Played by Kim and Jones.
Jerusalem the Golden, for Solo Violin, based on {Ewing} Alexander Ewing by Paul Jones. A premier performance played by Kim.
Sonata for Piano & Violin in C Minor, Op. 45 by Edvard Grieg. Played by Kim and Jones.

The trio then played:
Trio on Nun Danket/Suo Gan, based on {Nun Danket} Johann Cruger and {Suo Gan} Traditional Welsh, arranged by Paul Jones.
String Trio in G major, Opus 9, No. 1 by Beethoven.

Giving Patterns

At the Trustees' Meeting last night, Clive Stockdale showed a curious graph about giving habits. It shows about 1,600 givers giving about $500. Then the line plummets so that less about 100 givers give various amounts under $10,000. At that amount, the line shoots back up to more than 400 givers, then immediately drops back down. I would have thought a steady descent from the $500, and certainly more $5,000 givers than $10,000. Does that indicate we have more people in a higher income bracket than mid-range? Are they more likely to tithe? This has been the same giving pattern for three years. (By the way, we could use more committed givers. All three budgets are behind in meeting their budgeted goals.)

The Christian Funeral

I attended McKendree Langley's memorial service Monday. My thought during the service was how refreshing to be at a Christian funeral/memorial service. It's not only that we can rejoice where the decease has gone, but that we can freely glorify God. How joyful to listen to Mick's son proclaim the gospel that his father believed in and even challenge us to know that gospel. How wonderful to sing "For All the Saints" and "Rock of Ages" and "Be Thou My Vision." What a joy to worship God!

Working Music

Some receptionists like to listen to the radio or bring a cd to play. Nancy Hala brings in a musician from the Philadelphia Orchestra (Richard Harlow practicing for tonight) for background music.

Scaffolding Descending

Mr. Canavan, tear that scaffolding down! Pat announced that scaffolding removal should begin at the end of the week and will take most of next week to be completed. The church tower will soon be free!

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and the Rykens

Phil talked his father, Leland Ryken, into giving a talk on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when he is in town for the Evangelical Theological Society meetings in November. Mark November 17 on your calendar, most likely for 7:00 p.m. Dr. Ryken, Sr. co-authored with Marjorie Lamp Mead the book, A READER'S GUIDE THROUGH THE WARDROBE: Exploring C. S. Lewis's Classic Story. The plan is to intersperse his talk with dramatic readings from LWW. It will be a great evening for families and anyone interested in the story, which is scheduled to appear in movie theatres in December.

Where's Phil?

Today Phil is at Westminster Seminary taking part in the school's annual preaching conference. Mark Dever is the keynote speaker. Phil will be giving a couple of talks this afternoon.

Young Soldiers

The articles were impressive. They described the sophisticated military tactics created by young soldiers, tactics which took months to prepare and hours upon hours to execute. There was strategy development, recruiting highly specialized and motivated teams. Yes, the articles in the PC Video Games magazines reported the impressive work of teens and young adults who spend hours, days, and months in these games. Scary.

Going to the Doctor

Went to the doctor yesterday, a gastrointestinal specialist. I've turned 50 and must face the inevitable colonoscopy. One observation is that the poster of the g.i. system with its description of "problems" is not nearly as nice as the posters at the eye doctor's office. I left with my stomach hurting.

Sheryl Woods Olson

Be sure to get a copy of byFaith magazine in the lobbies of the church (and subscribe) and check out the article on our own Sheryl Woods Olson. Hey, you get to see her in costume! Sheryl notes the importance of Christian community she receives from the church and from her small group (attending 15 years). Here is one quote from the article: "I want artists to approach art with a two-pronged attack: telling the truth and honing their craft. Get involved in the arts and...maintain who [you] are as a follower of Jesus."

Sunday Counts

Here is a selection of the weekly info I get on Sunday's attendance. For this past Sunday:

9:00 Worship - 435
11:00 Worship - 808
6:30 Worship - 329

Children & Youth Schools and Nurseries (morning & evening) - 479
Adult Bible Schools (9 & 11:00) - 275

The big adult class numbers were:
New Members - 42
TIF - 40
Marriage - 38
Missions - 36
Backsliding & Apostacy - 28
In the World - 28

Bringing a Neighbor

I just invited my neighbor to Wednesday night's concert and she accepted. Just as intended, the concert allowed Ginger and me to invite a nonchurch neighbor to a nonthreatening church event. It also gives us opportunity to become better acquainted. Have you invited your neighbor or colleague yet?

GodBlogCon

It's too much for me, but for you serious bloggers out there, you may want to check out the site of a Christian blogging conference that just ended. It's promo reads: "The Torrey Honors Institute of Biola University is proud to announce that the first ever GodBlog Convention will be held at Biola University on October 13th through October 15th, 2005. GodBlogCon is designed to establish and cultivate relationships within the Christian blogging community and to provide opportunities for Christian bloggers to think about their role within the broader blogging world."

Apple in the News

Check out David Apple's article in the Daily News which had also been a Tenth Press article. It is good to see this kind of editorial getting into our local news.