Welcome, Angelina

Jonathan and Rachel Olsen, along with Anna Maria, Gabriel, and Christabella, are pleased to announce the birth of Angelina, born March 14 in the evening. Angelina arrived healthy at 6 lbs,
11 oz.

Chairs Needed

Marion,
I am in need of about 50 to 100 stackable chairs for worship service. I am willing to trade some church pews for them. As I am not able to get the pews I have up the stairs. Would you please put the word out?

Thank you
Chuck

Charles J. Paul
Senior Minister of Preaching and Teaching
Truth Matters Inc.
PO Box 362
Morgantown, Pa 19543
Office 610-994-2313
www.truthmattersinc.org

Late but Coming

The team to Liberia left yesterday, minus Bruce. His visa did not arrive in time. He should be on a plane Saturday, though, and arrive in Monrovia on Sunday evening.

Congregational Meeting

Congregational meeting tonight at 7:30! We will receive the annual reports of the ministries and hear an update on the capital campaign. The meeting will be in the Sanctuary.

For those of you who signed up, supper begins at 6:00 in Fellowship Hall and Reception Hall.

Social Worker Needed

The Philadelphia Access Center, in South Philly, is looking for an experienced, part time Social Worker who is committed to Christ and the City. If you are interested and would like to know more about it, please call or email Joe Welch at 215 389-1985 ext. 25 or jwelch@philaccess.org.

Men's Class

Men, there is a men's Bible school class meeting this quarter. "Men of God" meets at the 11:00 hour in 315 1Rear. The class explores the qualities inherent to a Christ-centered lifestyle. Topics include the practical aspects of such issues as Confidence in God, Sovereignty of God and Decision-Making, Performance, Purpose, Servant Leadership, Faithfulness, Suffering, Marriage, Relationship with Women, Self-Discipline, Prayer, and Friendship. Bryce Bartruff is leading the class.

Helping Someone Who Has Lost a Child

Most of us have never experienced the trauma of losing a child. And while we may not be able to show empathy towards someone who has lost a child, we can express sympathy. Bereaved parents rely on their close friends, family, elders and deacons for compassion and, at times, these same people show insensitivity. What they say and do cause additional pain. To continue reading click here.

A Member's Story

At the Capital Campaign blog is a story shared by Peggy Ann Garver about the influence Tenth has had on her life and what she and her husband have come up with to give to the campaign...more.

Of Factors and Ladders

I asked for a comment on the Keller talk from Tuesday night. Here is a complete review:

Dear Pastor Clark,

I'm sorry you weren't able to get in (a complete travesty!) to see Pastor Keller last night. It was packed. Every last seat was taken, and they hewed very strictly to fire codes that forbade standing room spectators. I would like to give you a thumbnail sketch of what he spoke on.

One of the most useful things for me that Pastor Keller said was right at the beginning of his talk. He talked about how there is a complex confluence of three factors in the way every person comes to his or her set of religious belief or unbelief: the personal, the social, and the intellectual. In any one person's experience, one may take precedence over the others, but all three are always present. So it is no good, as some people do, to say, 'I carefully thought out my position, but you have come to your conclusion simply because you had this experience in your life, or because you were born in this group, or associated with that group.' Pastor Keller repeated verbally the first idea in his book, that America is simultaneously becoming more religiously fervant on the one hand, and more secular on the other. Each group can become insular and demonize the other side, and the way to overcome this is to recognize that everyone comes to their beliefs in a complex fashion and to show respect for one another.

For the main body of his lecture, Pastor Keller gave the image of a ladder with three rungs. The first two rungs are closely related: the bottom rung is "It take at least as much faith not to believe in God as to believe in God," the second rung is, "It actually takes more faith to not believe in God than to believe in God," and the third rung is "The only way to really know that God exists is to believe." To flesh out those points a little bit more, for the first rung, Pastor Keller talked about some of the common objections to belief in God generally and Christianity specifically: for example, the problem of evil, the fact that so much evil has been committed in the name of God, the fact that Christianity claims to be the only truth. For the second rung, he talked about the anthropic principle in the universe and the fact that it makes more sense to live our lives as if there were meaning in the universe, rather than to live as if we were random atoms that happened to come together in the right ways to produce life. For the third rung, he said that probability can only take you so far, but certainty comes only with commitment in hindsight.

Grace and Peace,
Bryan Park

Sunday's Preacher

Lance Lewis is preaching this Sunday, both morning and evening. The morning message is "How Would Jesus Rule?" from Psalm 72, and the evening is "What It Looks Like to Be Wise," from James 3:13-18. Hmmm...I'll be looking forward to what Lance has to say. For those who do not know, Lance is the pastor of Christ Liberation Fellowship, a church plant that we like to claim as a daughter church, seeing as he came out of Tenth Church. Click here for CLF's website.

Lisa in the Nursery

Lisa Ryken is taking on the position of Interim Nursery Director in place of Kristen Harnly who has stepped down after excellent service. Apparently Lisa felt, "what's a few more kids to take care of on Sunday morning?"

Sunday Luncheon Invitation

On February 24 the first of three luncheons hosted by our senior minister occurred following the 11 am service and approximately 30 people attended. Invitations were sent to members and regular attenders who have not been at Tenth for a long period of time. The focus on this group came about as a result of last year’s spiritual health survey. The results of that survey indicated that those who have been at Tenth the shortest period of time felt least connected to the church body and the pastoral staff. These luncheons are a chance for some of the relative newcomers to spend time with Dr. Ryken and some of the elders in a more intimate setting. Dr. Ryken shared about his sense of calling to Tenth and his lifetime ministry commitment to the church, as well as his vision for ministry at Tenth. In addition, there was an opportunity to share about the significant spiritual journey the church is on right now, the capital campaign. The invitation to attend one of the remaining two luncheons on March 16 or March 30 is now open to all, but seating is limited. If you would like to come, RSVP to Diana Frazier (215.237.2619 or dsfrazier@msn.com).

Good Friday Concert

We would love to have you join us for our Good Friday Choral Concert, March 21 at 7:30 pm.
There is no admission charge. A free-will offering will be collected.

Tenth Presbyterian Church, 17th & Spruce Streets, Philadelphia

Program:
Duruflé - Requiem (Erin Holland, mezzo soprano/Todd Thomas, baritone)
Albinoni - Adagio in G minor (Celeste Golden, violin/Christopher Garve, organ)
Bach - Piano Concerto No. 5 in F minor (Bethany Brooks, piano)
Mahler - Adagietto (from Symphony V)

Tenth Church Choir & Chamber Players

If you would like to receive an email that includes an insert for the concert, email me at mclark@tenth.org, and I will forward it to you.

Keller Sermons

Click here to listen to Keller sermons based on his book The Reason for God.

Reaching Out to Those with Special Needs

Monday night I met with a small group of Tenth members who have caught a vision for caring for children with special needs in our church. Kristen Harnly and Jodi Clark have provided the impetus for this work. Jodi was instrumental in getting the Deaf Ministry started. Kristen has helped start the recent "Buddy" ministry in which Tenth members are paired with children with special needs that allows for the children to receive attention and teaching suitable for them and to allow parents to attend worship knowing that their children are provided for. They have recruited David Apple to provide oversight under the ACTS umbrella. Elder Nasrat Ghattas also attended and is supportive.

I look with interest to see how the ministry is developed, as we hope it will expand to reach out to all persons with some form of disability. An important first step has been to contract with Stephanie Hubach as consultant. Stephanie is the Mission to North America's Director of Special Needs Ministries, who happens to live in Lancaster. (Lois Denier, who formed Grace Ministry at Tenth, also serves on the same MNA committee). She will be the speaker of Tenth's conference on disability - The Body of Christ and Disability - April 12. She has also written a book on the subject, Same Lake, Different Boat, published by P&R.

Parking garage update

Effective immediately, the parking garage we use on South Street can accept only exact change after 8:00 pm.

Wiggins Jewelry

Tenth member Hershal Wiggins is a jeweler. He is making creative jewelry in Argentium sterling silver (a very slow tarnishing sterling silver) and 24 karat pure gold. His work had just been accepted by the James A Michener Art Museum for both locations: Doylestown and New Hope.

The addresses are:
138 South Pine Street Union Square on Bridge Street
Doylestown, Pa. 18901 New Hope, Pa.
215-340-9800 215-862-7633

To purchase his jewelry you can go to www.argentium1.etsy.com. His website, that will contain all of his work is still under construction, but he does have samples of things to come at www.hershalwigginsdesigns.com.

To Liberia

Bruce McDowell leads a group to Liberia tomorrow to visit the orphanages we are supporting. They return on the 24th. Those going with him are Jonathan Brandenburg, David Kent, and Elaine Pennell.

Tripp to Iowa

Paul Tripp will be away this weekend speaking at a conference in Iowa. Check out the church where he will be speaking.

How It Started

Do you know this person? This is taken from a chapter in a book entitled, Chains of Grace, by Stan Vander Klay.

At the first New year's Eve Watch Night Service in our new church, the night that '63 became '64, Jim Thompson brought a friend to church, ________. _____ was Jewish, living at home and attending his first year at a nearby college. He and Jim had become acquainted because Jim worked after school and on Saturdays in ____'s father's print shop. Harry, ____'s father, deeply believed the rightness of the Civil Rights struggle, and wanted to do something to help. Jim began telling ____ about his church and the wonderful interracial fellowship there, and _____ got curious enought to come that night. Because he loved the fellowship among the young people, he kept coming to church with Jim. After about a month he told me that he just didn't see the point of what I was teaching about Jesus. It wasn't that it antagonized him, but his response was rather, "so what?" Still, sitting through a hour of weekly irrelevance was a trade-off he was willing to make, so he continued to attend.

It was some time later, a month or two maybe, that I heard that ____ had come to put his faith in Christ. At an early point in every Sunday evening service, we would stand and recite the Apostles' Creed in unison. _____ would arise with the rest of the congregation, but stand silently. He told me that on a particular Sunday evening, standing silently with his friend Jim, somewhere in the middle of the creed he began saying it with all the rest, for he had come to realize in his heart that he now believed...

After a few years he went to Calvin College, graduated and came back to Paterson. When we organized in '73 he became a deacon at Northside, and later an elder. He worked for some years for a city social agency, and for a time as well as Director of the Eastern Deaconate of the Christian Reformed Church. For more than a decade now, David Apple has led an outreach ministry to the poor and homeless for the Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia where the late James Montgomery Boice was pastor.

It all took place because an African-American teenaged Christian brought a socially conscious Jewish boy to a church where people were learning to live out the racial and social implications of the Gospel.

Keller Packed Out

So, I walk from the church to the Penn museum to hear Tim Keller speak on his book, The Reason for God (#11 on the New York Times bestseller list for hardback nonfiction books). I follow the entrance signs around left of the building. I walk in only to be instructed by the desk person to walk around to the other side of the building. As I turn the corner, I see a long line stretching out to the street. The 700+ seating auditorium is already packed. There is this big bouncer dude named Chun holding people back and periodically calling out names of "special" guests. Sadly, I walked away home.

If any of you "special" people got in, send me comments to post. You know, in my church in Florida I was the pastor of Tim's parents. I think I'll contact them and complain that I did not get special treatment.

Discerning Polen

This coming Sunday, you are invited to the Bridge Builders luncheon in Fellowship Hall East at 1:00. Intern Robert Polen will be speaking on the subject of "Discernment."

Air Force Tenth

Saturday, the Tenth Church Air Force will be inaugurated. After years of the exemplary Sparrows gatherings that have fostered bonds among girls and women in the church, the guys want a go at it. This Saturday morning, from 8:45-11:00, they will meet for breakfast, hear the reminiscences of Paul Jones about his times with his father hunting and fishing, and then create and launch an Air Force.

To join in, contact Jim or Dori Baggs at baggsend@juno.com or 215.844.3912.

The Best

What is the best sermon Phil Ryken has ever heard? In this interview conducted last year, he gives the answer.

Rykens at Taylor

Phil and Lisa are at Taylor University in Indiana today, returning Friday in time for the congregational dinner and meeting. They are speaking on marriage and relationships. Taylor, I believe, is our Clerk of Session, George McFarland's alma mater. To get an idea of the school, go to their website at www.taylor.edu.

Administrator Sought

Position Description: A successful Administrator for liberti church would envision his/her role at liberti as a ministry position rather than simply a support position—seeing the dissemination of information and the organization of ministry as vital to the health and growth of the congregation in maturity. Both helping harness the gifts of the body and developing good systems and communication are vital to the health of our community. This is not busy work, it is essential work.

Desired Experience: Administrative Experience, preferably in a church or entrepreneurial setting

Position qualifications:
o Facility with computers, uploading content on website,
o Good communication skills verbally and in writing
o Self-starter and self-motivated worker
o Ability to manage volunteers
o Multi-tasking, creative thinking and problem solving

Hours: 15 hours per week.

Compensation: based on experience. Starts at $16/hr.

Sparrow Faces

Here is a picture of the 75 girls and women who attended the Sparrows' breakfast. Okay, guys, can you produce a similar picture this Saturday of energetic smiling faces?

Old Furniture Needed

The students at CCA are holding a special event in March to raise money for schools in Uganda. Part of the evening will include an auction of student made art work. CCA needs donations of old wooden furniture that will be hand painted by students. If you have any furniture you’d like to donate please contact call me (Joe Sinagra) at CCA (215-731-1930) or email (josephsinagra@gmail.com) me to let me know. Thank you for your support.

Peter Yun

Welcome to a new intern serving under David Apple. Peter Yun is a pastor from Seoul, Korea for one month with his wife Sellie and children ages 1 and 3.

Back in Control (sort of...)

Chaos...Pandemonium...The typical stuff when I go away. It will take me a few days to get control back in the church staff.

I did have a productive study leave, preparing materials for support and training of elders. (That's another tough group to get control of.)

Advertising

City Center Academy is looking for advertisers for its yearbook. There are three quarters of a page still needing to be filled at only $25 a quarter. You cannot beat that deal! Call Joe Sinagra or leave a message at the school: 215.731.1930. The deadline is this Thursday.

Lunch Tomorrow

City Center Academy’s Junior class is holding an Easter luncheon on Wednesday, March 12. The meal is a fundraiser for the school’s Junior-Senior prom in May. Meals are $6 each and will include ham or fried chicken, baked macaroni and cheese, two vegetables, cranberry sauce, bread, and a drink. Meals may be picked up in the church Fellowship Hall from 11:30am until 12:30pm. Better yet, stay and eat with us. Anyone interested in purchasing a meal, please call the school at 215-731-1930.

Car for Sale

Liberti church member, Danielle Guevara, is selling a 2000 Oldsmobile Alero, 2-door, 100,000 miles, very good condition, very clean, tape deck, automatic, 4 cylinder 2.4 liter, driver and passenger side airbags, power locks. The car has had two owners and has been well maintained. Asking price is $3100. Contact Danielle at danielleguevara@hotmail.com.

Hammann's Remarks

On February 17 we were visited by Professor Frédéric Hammann of the Reformed Seminary in Aix-en-Provence. Click here to read his remarks during the Living Church.

Adam Brice to Indiana

Adam Brice announced to his congregation yesterday that he is accepting a call to plant a new PCA church in Lafayette, Indiana. He and his family will move in the summer. As the pastor of this new church, he will also help start a Reformed University Fellowship at Purdue University. We thank the Lord for using Adam to plant Christ the King Church in Conshocken, and pray for the Lord's blessings on him and his family in this new endeavor.

Keller and The Reason for God

Don't forget that Tim Keller will be in town tomorrow speaking at Penn about his new book The Reason for God. I am reading it now and vouch for it being an excellent, level-headed presentation of the Christian faith in response to the common objections we hear from our circle of friends and family. I especially recommend inviting a questioning friend to the Penn meeting. Here are the particulars:

Time: 7:30 pm
Location: Penn Museum
U of Pennsylvania
3260 South Street
Philadelphia, PA

Parenting Seminar

New Life Dresher is sponsoring a parenting seminar featuring our own Paul Tripp - "Aiming for the Heart - Reaching the Whole Child!"

Dates: March 28-30
Location: New Life Dresher, 2015 S. Limekiln Pike, Dresher, PA 19025
Website: http://newlifedresher.org/

Schedule:
Friday - 7:00-9:30, Keynote Speaker - Paul Tripp
Saturday - 8:30AM-12:00, Keynote Speaker - Paul Tripp
Saturday 12:00-5:00PM, Seminars w/ Various Speakers

Due to greater interest in this conference than originally anticipated, they are able to reduce the conference fees as follows… (see links for updated brochure and insert)

Early Registration (by March 21)
w/o Seminars
Single………….$35
Couples……….$60

Full Conference
Single………….$45
Couples……….$80

Late Registration (after March 21)
w/o Seminars
Single………….$40
Couples……….$70

Full Conference
Single………….$50
Couples……….$90

Check the above website for a brochure and to register.

Congregational Dinner and Meeting - March 14

Wednesday, March 12, is the deadline for registering for the congregational dinner and for childcare during the meeting. Please call the church office, 215-735-7688 or email Nancy Hala, nhala@tenth.org

David Kim and Friends

You are cordially invited to the Delaware County Christian School Benefit Gala, A Night to Remember, on Friday evening, March 28th at 7:30.

A Night to Remember features David Kim, the concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra and a DCCS father, along with several DCCS alumni and students. David will be joined by violinist Richard Amoroso, also of the Philadelphia Orchestra; soprano Charlotte Daw Paulsen; and pianists Martha Mingle and Jeffrey DeVault. The exciting, family-oriented program features music by a variety of composers from at least three continents. Children will surely be delighted when David and Richard perform Alan Ridout's musical version of Ferdinand the Bull.

Tickets are available for a $25 tax-deductible donation. The concert will be held at DCCS, 462 Malin Road in Newtown Square.

For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit the website: http://www.snipurl.com/KimAndFriends

Can you volunteer Wednesday?

A few volunteers are needed Wednesday to help with a couple small mailings. Contact us if you can help.