Prayer Report

We just had a good, room-filled prayer meeting in Phil's study. 13 persons gathered to pray for the lost and evangelistic efforts. We start at 12:15 and end at 12:45. Come join us next Friday.

Did You Know?

John Voorhis alerted me to this article on 20 Financial Facts Churches Should Know. Click here to read.

McKeevers Open House

From Frank and Barbara Harder:

We'd like to invite you to an Open House for Kathy and Mike McKeever, who have recently returned from a missions assignment in Africa and are nowsetting up their house. They have very little. The need is immediatefor household items and things for their children, especially warmwinter clothing. Also, we thought it would be great to provide Kathyand Mike some gifts that they could give their children for Christmas. The McKeevers have put a list together at our encouraging at Penney'sonline. They would be delighted if you could give one of these items.Click here to go to the web address of the Penney's gift register. Put in Kathy McKeever's name for "Find a Registry."

Ideas for the children :
o Winter parkas
o Sweaters, sweat suits
o Christmas gifts for Mike and Kathy to give to the children
§ Seth 13 is into anything Star Wars, computers, digital photography (clothing size men’s small)
§ Hope 11 likes horses (clothing size girls 12-14)
§ Nate 9 is into bugs and nature (clothing size boys 12-14)

Stop by on Sunday, November 20, between 1:00 and 3:30, at the Harders, 1740 Addison Street (2 blocks from 10th – between 17th and 18th and Pine and Lombard Streets) with a gift and say hello to the McKeevers. If you cannot come to the Open House, please get in touch with Barbara to work out how to get a gift to Kathy and Mike.

Of Bathrooms and Scaffolding

The Catacombs bathrooms are flushing freely again! The culprit for clogged drainage was roof materials from the roofing project that had somehow gotten into the drainage system.

Why has the scaffolding not come down as I reported it would? The snowguards on the tower and roof did not pass inspection. The reinforcement work has been done, and now we are waiting for inspection again.

Presbytery Finale

Tomorrow, the present Philadelphia Presbytery will hold its last planned meeting. In January, three new presbyteries will be born out of the present presbytery. Our presbytery will retain the name Philadelphia Presbytery and will cover the city, plus Glenside and UpperDarby.

Ladies Teas

2:30 pm - That's the time tomorrow (Saturday) that the Ladies Teas begin. If you want to attend and have not notified anyone, call today and see if there is still room. See below for who to call.

Western Suburbs at the home of Holly Canavan
231 Congress Avenue, Lansdowne
Speaker: Annette Murray
RSVP: Holly Canavan, 610.622.7079

Northern Suburbs at the home of Irene Delong
1335 Jericho Road, Abington
Speaker: Shelagh Wynne
RSVP: Irene DeLong, 215.885.0520

South Philadelphia at the home of Linda Curry
2535 South 18th Street, Philadelphia
Speaker: Rebecca Chao
RSVP: Jessie Bible, 215-551-5558
or jjbtea@yahoo.com

New Jersey at the home of Julie Humenik
29 South Woodland Avenue, Woodbury
Speaker: Susan L
RSVP: Julie Humenick, 856.845.5076

Men at Prayer

9:00 am - That's the time the Men's Prayer Breakfast begins at the church tomorrow morning. Ken Ziegler will give a report on his work discipling men in France, and Mike McKeever will lead our time in prayer. Men, let's have a good showing for this.

A Mouse!

There is at least one little furry mouse running about in our condo. We could hear him this morning under the sink, but I couldn't find him. I plugged up holes and then left. Ginger just called. She saw him running about along the walls. Will keep you posted on The Great Mouse Adventure!

The Sounds of France

7:30 p.m. - That is the time of the Music of France Concert tonight. I suggest coming early for seating. These concerts are gaining in popularity.

I'm looking at the program now. Bill Edgar, professor of apologetics at Westminster will play a selection of French jazz on the piano. Sam Hsu and Hye-Jin Kim will do three pieces together. Sam and Paul Jones will play a couple of piano duets. Margaret Claudin (flute), Paul (harpsichord) and Nathan Shannon (cello) open the evening. And there is more (like the choir singing Dr. Boice's "Come to the Waters" in French). Invite your friends and neighbors.

Invitation to Prayer

12:15-12:45 - We are gathering for evangelistic prayer in Phil Ryken's study today. If you are in Center City, come join us.

Silencing Chaplains

MNA Chaplain Ministries: Recent Challenges to Evangelicals in the Military

Recently the Air Force issued "Interim Guidance for the Free Exercise of Religion" resulting from recent findings at the Air Force Academy by Yale Divinity School. A lawsuit has been filed against the Air Force to stop alleged proselytizing and evangelizing. In response to the lawsuit, the Air Force has withdrawn the Covenant and Code of Ethics for Air Force Chaplains that states: "I will not proselytize from other religious bodies, but I retain the right to evangelize those who are non-affiliated." The Presbyterian and Reformed Joint Commission on Chaplains and Military Personnel (PRJC), which includes the PCA, responded to this matter on Oct. 27 with a document that includes a historical precedent and principle, theological principles, conclusions, and three recommendations. It also includes specific responses to the Air Force document by both our Air Force chaplains and the PRJC Commission members. The PRJC believes that the "Guidelines" could seriously restrict, even suppress, the historic freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion within the military services. Read Dave Peterson's cover letter and response to the "Guidelines" by clicking here. For updates on this issue, click here:
(The American Center for Law & Justice). Pray for this matter since it has the potential to significantly impact the future of the military chaplaincy.

Books for Ministers

Replacing Books for Ministers Who Lost Their Libraries in Hurricanes
Reformed University Ministries (RUM) is collecting books to rebuild libraries to replace those lost in Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Mo Leverett (Desire Street Ministries in New Orleans), for instance, lost everything, including his library and study materials. Rod Mays, coordinator of RUM, realizes that this is not an urgent need, but it is a long-term need that will be of great assistance to churches, ministries and pastors. Some major book publishers have contributed, and the plan is to create mini-libraries of good theological books and commentaries. To contribute either books or funds, send your gift before the end of the year to RUM, 1700 N. Brown Road, Suite 104, Lawrenceville, GA 30043. For more information, contact RUM at 678-825-1070. http://www.ruf.org/.

Help CCA

Linda Boice and Janice Roberts visited me this afternoon. They are both on the Development Committee for City Center Academy. One of the school's needs is to get more people involved in helping support this ministry to urban teens. If you would like to get on the school's mailing list, email the school at citycenteracademy@hotmail.com. And check out their website at www.citycenteracademy.org. They are having an Open House November 18, 4:30 - 7:30 p.m.

Seeking Apartment

This was emailed to us:

Female Christian college student seeking apartment to share or room to rent, preferably near U.Penn campus. Must be non-smoking. Will move here in early January. Email yaina1@umbc.edu.

Thanks,
Yemisi Aina

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday, the staff sang Happy Birthday (on key) to Pat Russell whose birthday was that day, and to Paul Jones whose birthday was last Saturday.

1976 Annual Report

The Branch

The college group at Tenth has been growing in vitality. With an average of more than fifty students in attendance for the Sunday afternoon programs, our young people are receiving a great variety of ministries for their edification and spiritual growth...

For the Branch,
Dr. Stuart D. Sacks

Diners Club Report

Diners Club bagan meeting in Fellowship Hall in 1970 as a result of a need for Christian fellowship and outreach maong young married couples and their friends. The idea originated with the pastor, assistant pastor, and the Hughes family, who ate their noon day meal together at local restaurants on Sundays. This arrangement has been curtailed because of the expense. On Communion Sundays, Diners Club does go out to eat.

As presently organized, Diners Club has the main meat dish supplied by Philadelphia College of Bible. Participating families then supplement this.... The Lord has always blessed the group with enough food for an average of forty people each Sunday...

For the Diners Club,
Dr. David Allen, Coordinator

Apse Lapse

Work on the apse has lapsed, but only for this week due to the many activities. It should resume next week. Have you noticed the progress?

Ministering to Men in France

That is the title of Ken Ziegler's message he will be giving at the Men's Prayer Breakfast. Ken is not only a Tenth missionary, but an elder of the church as well. Come here our church elder share about his ministry to men in France.

And, yes, there will be prayer. Mike McKeever, Tenth member and missionary, who has just taken a new position with Wycliffe as regional Prayer Coordinator will lead our time in prayer.

The breakfast is at 9:00 am in Fellowship Hall. I hope I will see many men there.

French Concert

Friday night features another Tenth concert, this time featuring French music - LeClair, Debussy, Faure, Ravel, Poulenc, Durufle, Vierne & others. Why French music? you ask. It is a benefit concert for the Reformed Seminary in Aix-en-Provence, one of the schools our Missions Budget supports. More specifically, the money raised is to go to the Boice Chair of Practical Theology as sponsored by The Huguenot Fellowship. Click here for information. An offering will be taken at the concert.

By the way, to get in the mood, check out La Creperie on Sansom Street between 17th and 18th Streets. Reasonable prices and good food.

Prayer

This afternoon, around 2:00, the prayer requests sent in through the pew cards, email, and whatever other form, will be raised in prayer by the pastoral staff. Every Tuesday afternoon we meet for prayer and lift up all concerns sent in to us throughout the past week. You can use the church's email address welcome@tenth.org to send in requests.

Friday, 12:15-12:45

That is the day and time for the Evangelistic Prayer meeting to be held this Friday. If you are living or working in Center City, make an effort to come this particular Friday. To everyone, if you have someone who's salvation you want prayed for, send it to Cora Hogue at chogue@tenth.org. She makes up a prayer list for us to use each Friday. We will meet in Phil Ryken's study.

Flags

Want to know the countries represented by the church flags? Here they are. Now matching them may be another challenge.

Flags, indoor:
Europe: 1. Spain 2. France
South America: 3. Colombia 4. Mexico
Africa: 5. South Africa 6. Egypt 7. Morocco (1999) 8. Cameroon (1999)
Middle East: 9. Turkey 10. United Arab Emirates (2000)
Asia: 11. Nepal 12. Japan 13. Philippines 14. Vietnam (1999) 15. China (1999) 16. Mongolia (2001) 17. Cambodia (2000) 18. Indonesia 19. India 20. Thailand

Flags, outdoor:
1. France 2. Nepal 3. India* (1999) 4. Cameroon (1999) 5. Kyrgyzstan 6. Romania 7. Turkey* 8. Colombia 9. USA 10. South Africa (2001) 11. Liberia (2001)

November 20 Marathon

Josh Ryken sent me this email:

Dear Rev. Clark,
I was just on the internet and the Philly marathon is scheduled for Nov. 20. There was no announcement in the bulletin last week so I thought you might like to know. The official site for the marathon is www.philadelphiamarathon.com. It has race info, times, course etc. It might help. I don’t know how much it will effect people directly but it definitely ties up traffic.

Josh Ryken

Note: Click here to see the map of the race.

Philly News

For those of you outside of Philadelphia, the Septa strike has ended and buses and subways are running again. The Center City streets are finally paved. But the biggest news is that T.O. has been suspended and is not returning to the Eagles.

Ladies' Teas

Here is the information for Saturday's missions teas. You must respond by tomorrow, Tuesday!

Western Suburbs at the home of Holly Canavan
231 Congress Avenue, Lansdowne
Speaker: Annette Murray
RSVP: Holly Canavan, 610.622.7079

Northern Suburbs at the home of Irene Delong
1335 Jericho Road, Abington
Speaker: Shelagh Wynne
RSVP: Irene DeLong, 215.885.0520

South Philadelphia at the home of Linda Curry
2535 South 18th Street, Philadelphia
Speaker: Rebecca Chao
RSVP: Jessie Bible, 215-551-5558
or jjbtea@yahoo.com

New Jersey at the home of Julie Humenik
29 South Woodland Avenue, Woodbury
Speaker: Susan Lucasse
RSVP: Julie Humenick, 856.845.5076

Spam Email

If I had a nickle for every email alerting me to a billionaire from Africa and the Middle East dying and the widow wanting me to benefit...

Numbers

Counting our KUC guests, we had a little over 200 people present from the Missions Rally. I would have liked to have seen 500. Even so, it is an improvement from the missions banquet which capped attendance at 180 and then still saw people leaving when the program began.
The prayer groups had 50+ in attendance, a bit better than the five who normally attend.

Now then, how successful the conference is lies not in participation at the conference, but afterwards. The goal is to get 20 people on average to attend the Sunday 5:30 missions prayer meeting and 15 people on average to attend the Friday 12:15-12:45 prayer meeting.

I urge you to sign up for one of these meetings. You will be saying that you will attend at least monthly. This is not a vow that commits you to sin if you miss a month. Signing up serves two purposes:
1) Encourages you to commit to corporate prayer for the sake of God's kingdom;
2) Encourages others to commit when they see your names.

When you get to the church, go to Reception Hall and sign up on the Missions Conference Poster hanging on the south side wall. If you have a small group, sign up your group to adopt a missionary, which commits you to praying for that missionary when you meet.

Comments, Please

We had a good start for the Missions Conference. I would be interested to read comments from those who attended the Missions Rally. What did you think of the call-ins from Michael Oh and Michael Cassidy? What about the KUC choir? Clive Calver? Interviewing the missionaries? Hit the "Comments" title at the end of this post. Type your comment in the space given. You can then check "Anonymous" or "Other." "Other" allows you to type your name if you wish. You will then be asked to type characters given to you. This assures that a real person is on the other end.