Bruce Hook

With sadness we report the death of Rev. Bruce Hook, husband of Stephanie Hook, who is principal of Spruce Hill Christian School. Rev. Hook was pastor of Liberty Baptist Church. A viewing will be held Sunday, December 27, at Liberty Baptist Church, 5934 Larchwood Ave, from noon to 6:00 p.m. There will also be a viewing Monday from 9-11 a.m. and funeral service beginning at 11:00 a.m. at Beulah Baptist Church, 5001 Spruce St.

Helplessness and Prayer

Hhmmm...how did Bob Lang know the lesson for Sunday's sermon would be about trust? Check this testimony he sent to friends this week at Tenth Messages.

Christmas Eve Webcasts

The Christmas Eve services are being webcast. Go to www.tenth.org and click Sermons/Webcast under Quick Links.

Parking for Wednesday and Thursday Services

Okay, we've heard from all of our sources, including the Parking Authority. Here is the scoop for parking for the Christmas Eve services tonight and Thursday. I am deleting all previous postings to avoid confusion.

Onstreet Parking
Snow emergency restrictions have been lifted. That means that onstreet parking is available one hour before and after each Christmas Eve service. For permitted parking locations onstreet, click here.

Garage and lot parking:

Tonight and tomorrow night (23rd and 24th), church attenders may use the South St garage (between 17th and 18th) for a reduced rate of $5 if they arrive after 5pm for the 7:15pm service. All tickets must bear the Tenth stamp to qualify for the reduced rate.


For the Dec 24 4:30 Family Service and 7:15 service, church attenders may use the 17th & Pine lot for a reduced rate of $7 between 4pm and 9pm. For this lot, just show your Tenth placard in your dashboard to qualify for the reduced rate. (I presume the same holds true for tonight, but check when you park).


Note: If you park in the South St garage before 5pm, you will be charged regular rates. Please do not stamp your ticket with the Tenth stamp if you arrive before 5pm.

Then there is the parking lot at 15th and South. You can park there anytime for $7 tonight and tomorrow (up to 12 hours). It is $4 after 5pm.

Snow in Philadelphia

This info was sent from a town watch group regarding snow in the city:

The Philadelphia Fire Department asks that residents help clear snow and ice from fire hydrants, so they can be accessed in the event of fire.

The Philadelphia Water Department requests that citizens help clear ice and snow from storm drains in order to keep runoff flowing freely.

The Philadelphia Police Department reminds residents that it is illegal to shovel snow onto City streets after they have been plowed. 

In order to focus on snow removal, the Streets Department will not collect trash or recycling on Monday, December 21. There will be a one-day delay in collections for the rest of the week. Due to the Christmas holiday, Friday's collections will be made on Saturday.

Residents must refrain from parking their vehicles on snow emergency routes, so snow plows can clear the road.

Snow Emergency Routes Text

Snow Emergency Routes Map

Holiday Work

I walked down into the Catacombs yesterday only to find a mess. Workers were down there strengthening joists under the sanctuary flooring in preparation for the work to be done on the Sanctuary floor.

Sunday evening worship will be the last service held on our threadbare carpet. Monday morning we start tearing it up. If you want to get in on the fun, contact Greg Berzinsky who is managing the project and us volunteers. Work is scheduled for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday both day and evening. Works includes moving pews, cutting carpet, rolling and tying, disposing of goods.

Testing God

Just completed writing what has become my annual sermon on Psalm 78. This will be the fifth sermon. If you want an idea of the message, it will focus on the three times the psalm speaks of testing God. I'll make you look it up. Be thinking about the three different ways in which God is tested by the people.

Of Worship and Superman

You may be wondering about the turnout yesterday for worship. We had 66 at the 9:00, 256 at the 11:00, and 241 at the 6:30. I don't know about the evening service but I am told we "maxed out the servers for both services - 181 connections for the 9:00 and 196 for the 11:00."

Special thanks goes to our head sexton Carl Staico, who led his team to have all systems running and clean sidewalks. (He even brought Pat Canavan in at 5:00 a.m.) This guy is Superman! By that time he usually has already done his morning jog preparing for marathons.

Snow Removal Team

Snow team volunteers are needed to keep the church walks and steps snow and ice-free this winter. We need helpers, especially from Parish 1 (because you are the strongest!), to assist our sextons. Please contact sexton supervisor Carl Staico at cstaico@tenth.org to sign up.

Trustees Report

Trustees Report:

The Trustees report the encouraging news that as of Novemeber 30, our YTD expenses were about $95,000 less than what was budgeted for the same period. (Amazing how much you can save when you don't let staff take home office supplies!) However, December is a high expense month due to Christmas and other year-end activities. So we look to the Lord, as always to provide the resources for his work at Tenth.

Contributions must be received or postmarked by December 31 to be credited in 2009. Those wishing to give to Tenth may do so through regular church offerings, the oak boxes available at each exit door of the sanctuary, online giving via the Tenth website, mailing in checks, and personally delivering their offerings to the church office during business hours on Deember 28-30.

New Year Flooring

Pat Canavan sent me this notice about the Sanctuary flooring:

Our sanctuary will have a different look January 3. The main floor sanctuary carpet, along with the Narthex and Narthex stairwell carpet, will be removed down to the bare floor. The actual flooring project begins on Monday, January 4, and you will see progress being made with each succeeding week. The project should be 4-6 weeks in length. The Amen pews on either side of the pulpit will be removed during that time to provide interior storage space for the floor tiles, which will minimize project costs. Each week, you will see a diminishing supply of boxes as the tiles are aligned, cut, and installed in their proper sections. As always in projects like this, we appreciate your patience during this work and will do our best to minimize the effects as much as possible.

I learned also that the two front pews will also be removed to store the rolls of new carpet. Ahhh...reminds me of the good old days when we installed the air conditioning and filled the sanctuary with scaffolding.

This, by the way, is one of the major Capital Campaign projects. We still need more contributions to the campaign. If you have yet to give or pledge, you can still do so. To learn how to do, click here.

Sunday Parking

There is no street parking available tonight. Your options are the garage on South Street between 17th & 18th streets and the parking lot on 17th & Pine. Both give discounts when you stamp your ticket.

New Members Class Canceled

The New Members Class is canceled for tonight.

Schola Canceled

Dear Schola Cantorum Parents,


We have decide to go ahead & cancel Schola Cantorum for tonight, December 20th. If it is possible, we would like to have a few extra minutes to rehearse before the service on Christmas Eve. If you could have the kids there by 3:15pm in Reception Hall, that would really help us out. Also, just as a reminder, the kids can either wear black & white or they may wear festive Christmas clothes. If you could make sure they know all the verses to "O Little Town of Bethlehem" that would help too.

Stay warm & safe!
Missy Strong

Marantha Cancelled Tonight

Hi Parents,
So we have made a decision to cancel Maranatha for tonight.
I think it is too much for parents to come in again in potentially dangerous weather and there really is no parking at the church.

So we will reschedule our party to be a new years party on Jan 3rd!
Then all the leaders will be back and kids will have returned from travels and it will be a fun way to start our year.
Thanks
Jonny

PS- We look forward to seeing teens on Dec 27th for our Christmas Worship Celebration!

Sunday Activities

We had a nice worship service at the 9:00 hour and will have the 11:00 and 6:30 services as scheduled. Maranatha has been canceled, as has the Communicants Class and the New Members Class.

Keep posted for any updates. Don't forget that you can watch the services live on the webcast. Go to http://www.tenth.org/. Click "Sermons/Webcast" and follow directions.