Where is Bruce?

Christiana just emailed me this report:

I talked to Susan McDowell, who said Bruce arrived safely in Colombia last night at 10pm, although his luggage did not. Pray that it will get to him soon—I believe he had numerous gifts for the children’s home and the churches there.

Jorge Roman Blas and Andrea Daft will fly down tomorrow to join the team. They are the medical arm of the team. Jorge said in an email today: “Please hold us in prayer and praise to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for this opportunity to serve Him and share his love with brothers, sisters and others in Colombia.”

From the 1987 Annual Report

We have started to implement the recommendations of the committee which studied the report prepared by Dr. Timothy Keller on the direction and structure of our church. The purpose of all this is that we and others, not yet saved, may "grow in the grace of knowledge of our Lord and Savior"...

There were two special events of the year. One was the ordiantion of Richard M. Wolfe, our Assistant Minister, at which Dr. Sinclair Ferguson preached. The other, the appointment of our Glenn N. McDowell to the position of Singles Pastor...

In late spring of 1987, the CCA Board of Directors hired Tenth member Thomas F. Thompson as CCA's first full-time principal.

We're Fun

We made the Philly Fun Guide. Check it out here and come to the event being promoted - a presentation of our towers January 27.

Influence

I learned through reformation 21 there is a "50 Most Influential Christians" list. You can check it out here. I'm not interested in joining the discussions about the list. I would like to hear, however, some of the names you wish would be among the most influential.

End of the Spear

"End of the Spear" premiers today. Here are the location and times for today nearest center city. United Artists Riverview Stadium 1400 South Delaware Avenue
End of the Spear (PG-13, 111 min.) 11:40am, 2:15pm, 4:55pm, 7:45pm, 10:25pm

The movie is about the five missionaries martyed in Ecuador in the 50s. For information about the tribe they were making contact with, click here. When you go see it, send me a review. I plan to go next Friday.

Trying to Take Off

Found this email this morning at 11:00 from Christiana:

Bruce just called and is still in the Philadelphia International Airport awaiting a delayed flight to Miami. Pray that he will make his connection in Miami to Bogota this afternoon.

Spanish Help

Are you interested in helping with the Spanish translation of Tenth’s 11:00am service? We are looking for several volunteers to do some basic word processing to prepare a Spanish supplement to the bulletin. You don’t need to be fluent in Spanish to help with this project. Contact Christiana at cfitzpatrick@tenth.org.

Sunday Missions Luncheon

Join us for the January missions luncheon this Sunday at 1:00 pm in Fellowship Hall. Ann Deschler, who works with urban teens at Teen Haven and the Mississippi team will report. Cost is $4/individual and $10/family.

Well?

What do you think of the stewardship brochures mailed to you last week? Where should I go from here?

From the 1986 Annual Report

Phase II is a ministry for single adults older than the average age of Koinonia. This group has been functioning for four years now, and our goal is to provide fellowship through the study of Scriptures, social activities, and service to God, to one another and to the community...

1986 was also the year when our General Assembly met in Phiadelphia. Tenth Church was the host church on this occasion and many of our people gave a great deal of time in service during this week of meetings. The meetings were held at the Academy of Music with Tenth's facilities being made available as needed.

Defective Hymnals

It appears that many of our Trinity hymnals are not inerrant! Some have pages of hymns missing. Next Sunday, do us a favor and flip through your hymnals. Turn them in to an usher in the narthex or place on the window sill in the mailroom.

House for Sale

As many of you already know, the three of us (JD and Alice Atkins, andJason Hsu) own a house in University City about three blocks from thePenn (U of PA) campus. We bought the house about four years ago in order to do college ministry, and it has been a wonderful gift from the Lord to us. In fact, the house has more than lived up to its name -Jireh (which means, "he provides"). Now, as the three of us plan for and consider our respective next stages in life, we have decided that we would like to sell Jireh. We would like to keep this house a “ministry house” if at all possible, so we wanted to try the "word of mouth approach" before going through a realtor. We won't have an asking price until after we get the house appraised (which we plan on doing in mid-January), but if you or if someone you know might be interested, we'd be happy to begin conversations. If the "word of mouth approach" doesn't seem to be working, then we're planning on finding a realtor in early March.

Some selling points: Jireh is a three story row-home at the end of the row. It has 5 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, a deck, a porch, a sunroom, a large living room and a spacious dining room (with recently refinished hardwood floors in both), a large kitchen with breakfast area, and a full basement. It is located within the new Penn Alexander school catchment area (in fact, the house is only 3 blocks from the school). It is also 1 block away from public transportation, a new coffee shop, and Clark Park.

Contact info: Jason Hsu: 267-259-8387 mediumhsu@hotmail.com

Continued Casting Call

MereBreath Drama Ministry has filled two positions from the previous posting! Three positions remain as our rehearsals begin this Sunday:
1. LIGHTING TECH: Someone willing to learn how our lighting operates. During a performance, the lighting tech controls all lighting and related cues.No previous experience necessary as training is provided.

2. MALE ACTOR, MIDDLE-AGED TO SENIOR to portray the role of "Alexander," an aging corporate executive near death, bitterly estranged from his Christian son.

3. MALE ACTOR, ANY AGE STARTING AT 18 to play the role of "Chris," a passionate evangelical who believes his best friend has betrayed him by selling out their ministry to the worldly lure of big money. MUST PLAY GUITAR!Further details on how mereBreath operates and what the volunteer commitment entails can be found in the previous posting below.

Thanks!-Bryan GlassDirector
mereBreath Drama Ministry
mereBreath@aol.com

Talent Show

City Center Academy’s senior class will be having a Talent Show fundraiser on Friday, March 24, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. in Fellowship Hall of Tenth Presbyterian Church. The seniors will be selling tickets to the show, and will sell refreshments during the evening.

If you are interested in joining us, please contact me by March 1st. I can be reached by phone at 215.731.1930, or by email at citycenteracademy@hotmail.com.

Thank you for your support!
Dianne Whitley
Senior Parent Sponsor

Singles Outing

Ben Franklin exhibit, National Constitution Center - Sunday January 22nd

Join a group of singles going to the new exhibit at the National Constitution Center - Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World. It is a blockbuster exhibit created to celebrate the 300th birthday anniversary of Philadelphia’s favorite founding father. Making its world premiere and only East Coast showing, the exhibit immerses visitors into Franklin’s world. Highlights include original copies of five of America’s founding documents including the Declaration of Independence and Franklin’s own copy of the Constitution, more than 250 priceless original artifacts including many owned by Franklin’s family and never before displayed in public, more than 40 interactive devices, and a 25-ft. model ship that visitors can climb aboard to recreate Franklin’s method of charting the Gulf Stream. On a cold winter day, this is the perfect activity!

Cost for adults is $14, seniors $12 (62 and over), BUT if we get 20 people, only $8.50. Make your reservations TODAY by e-mailing Jeanne P. Hancock at jeanne.p.hancock@gsk.com OR by calling Jeanne at 610-787-3109. We will meet at Tenth after the 11:00 AM service in the reception area of the Delancey building. We will walk or drive from Tenth to the Constitution Center (between 5th & 6th and Arch St., Philadelphia). Parking in the Center’s garage. Cost unknown. Please try to join us.

Job Opportunity

Do you know anyone who is good with Excel who could do some bookkeeping work? They can take it home and work on it over the next month, or so. They do not necessarily have to be a bookkeeper, but they do need to be proficient with Excel and need to be meticulous and careful.

Also, I am looking for a steady clerical person.

THANKS

Marlin E. Buckley
Managing Principal
Marlin E. Buckley, P.C.
Engineering & Consulting
360 East Elm Street
Conshohocken, PA 19428
610-567-0869
www.buckleypc.com

From the 1984 Annual Report

1984 saw the completion of the expositions in Genesis by Dr. Boice...He has now started a study on Ephesians in the Sunday morning service. On Sunday evenings Dr. Boice completed a study on 1 Corinthians, and after the summer break, began a most challenging series on Christian Discipleship...

The second annual Fall Leadership Retreat was a stimulating time as all of the church officers and pastoral staff met for two days and were challenged by special speaker Mr. Pat Williams of the 76ers...

There are two parts to the Junior Church. The four and five year old program, where we reinforce the concepts of the Sunday School... The second part is designed for grades one through four. Here the children are being prepared for church. The program is as follows:
Call to Worship, The Doxology, Hymn, Scripture Reading, The Apostles Creed, Announcements & Share time, Offering/Prayer, Bible Story, Hymn, Prayer...

Maranatha is a ministry designed to meet the needs of the youth at Tenth. Having begun in November 1984 with three in attendance, it has now grown to 18-20 students meeting weekly on Sunday evenings from 7:00-8:30 p.m. in Fellowship Hall...

During the spring months, the Food and Clothing Committee, desiring to move beyond this initial ministry of collection and distribution, began work toward acquiring a new name - one that would adquately represent the enlarged scope of ministry - and finally settled on ACTS Ministries, ACTS standing for Active Compassion Through Service...

The most significant item (for the Trustees) during this year was the final settlement of the church property ownership...

There are now Tenth sponsored fellowship groups at Philadelphia College of Art, Curtis Music Institute, Moore College of Art, New School of Music, the Art Institute of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Community College, and the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Sciences...

Harvest has now expanded to five small group meetings per week...The other meetings are "open" meetings...Some parents, spouses, and girlfriends also attend these meetings...John Freeman has come on full-time staff by faith (not fully supported financially as yet). He is taking on responsibility as Senior Director...

Tenth has had a significant role in the formation of a strategic new ministry. It has emerged from the concern of several key evangelical pastors and parachurch leaders to discover new resources for the advancement of the kingdom of God in our city. The Philadelphia Leadership Foundation is a publicly supported non-profit organization

Colombia Team

(I lifted this info from John and Nell Evans' email letter. They are speaking of the trip that includes them, Bruce McDowell, Andrea Daft, Jorge Roman Blas, and Clara Hernandez. They left yesterday and return the 28th.)

Monday we head out on another mission trip, this time to Colombia, South America. We would appreciate your prayers 1) for fluid Spanish 2) health & safety and most importantly 3) that what we do and say might be used for God's glory and to strengthen His kingdom here on earth.

The first week we will be in Bogota. They will be having a Presbytery meeting that week and John and Bruce McDowell, our missions pastor, have been asked to attend and on Saturday to give classes on the book of John to the seminary students. (John has actively been working to support the work of Gospel to Colombia these past two years. GTC sponsors much of the seminary work in Colombia.) Nell has been asked to lead a small group of women Saturday morning on Interpersonal Relations 9am-11am.

Saturday evening we fly to Santa Marta where we will be for a few days, joined by two others from our church, a nurse and a doctor. They will be helping in the children's home and in a small village where the church of Santa Marta has a mission. Then we will go to Barranquilla for another couple of days. I think it is there that John and Bruce will again give their classes on John... and maybe Nell too.

Bogota (7000ft) has temperatures that will be cool, fall like, and Santa Marta and Barranquilla, on the coast, are hot, hot, hot and full of mosquitos. We have friends or friends of friends to look up in Bogota. Clara Hernandez from our church has been there for a couple months taking care of her mother. We want to visit with her. She will join us for the rest of the trip. (We have been on several missions trips with her and traveled with her in Mexico and she is a great person to have around.) In Santa Marta Nell may be leading children's classes in crafts and maybe a Bible story or the like. Susanna Hormann of our church, a home school mother, has helped her a lot with Bible stories and pictures and supplies. She is so thankful.

Apple Donations

David and Kate Apple want to donate--to anyone who wants one--a 48" round solid oak butcher block table with four chairs. Also 33, 45 and 78 rpm records and a VHS video camera. To arrange pick-up, call 215-477-1225.

Elders Retreat

Thank you for your prayers over the weekend for the elders. We spent Friday evening receiving summary information from Brian Esterly and a presentation from Frank Harder on how to think through the issues that would be raised. Before those presentations, we spent an hour in prayer.

On Saturday, we went through a list of "issues." This was a list of subjects which the elder surveys (the same as the congregational surveys) had indicated differing opinions among us. I won't be giving that list now until we've had opportunity to think through how to do our public communications. We want to be as open as possible, but we also do not want to create expectations or worries that may not come to fruition. That is another item to pray about for us - finding the right balance of communication.

What I can report is that we had frank discussions, presenting point/counter-point perspectives followed by questions of the presenters and then comments. We even achieved the more difficult result of building mutual respect in the midst of our discussions. I've never been with such a group that could speak so openly with such respect. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Besides our regularly scheduled Session meetings (4th Tuesdays), we plan to meet again February 18.

1/6 of Resident Members

Can you answer with the right question? Our three contestants for this Final Jeopardy answer could not, thus allowing the Killer B's to win the game. At the elders and spouses social Sunday night, the Rykens led us in a Jeopardy contest using Tenth Church related trivia. We had three teams who then selected representatives to compete over 15 answers. Heather Collins wiped out her competitors in the first stage. The only answer that befuddle her was the easiest: "the reigning ping pong champion on staff." Obviously, she has not been reading my blog!

It looked bleak after the first stage for the Tenth Quorum and the Garibotti Tulips (my team), but they came back to even all with one more stage to go. Then Paul Grant took his seat for the Killer B's and nearly doubled their dollars.

What is the right question for Final Jeopardy? Check Comments. We'll see who gets it.

Blackberry Blog

Elder Brian Esterly has my blog in his "Blackberry." He checks it while riding on the train. Brian, if you can respond, check in with us through the Comments section.