When you think about your church family, who do you think of? When I answer this question my thoughts drift to our pastors, the people sitting beside me (six feet away) in the pews, those serving alongside me in the nursery, my small group, and my Sunday school class. My mind quickly goes to those I see and talk to regularly. Rarely do I grasp the reality of just how big my Church family is. Every Sunday at Tenth, we […]

The outreach to immigrants, South Philadelphia English at Kirkbride (SPEAK), serves its adults utilizing ESL strategies to teach digital English lessons, verses, and stories from the Bible. Over the past year, we have experienced quite a journey. Since the original ESL program for adults at the Kirkbride School (February 2019-March 2020) was taking place during school hours, we were not permitted to share our Christian faith. We couldn’t pray with our adults or include Bible stories in the curriculum. March […]

For those who are familiar with the layout of Philadelphia, you likely know that the Schuylkill river delineates a sort of cultural divide. East of the Schuylkill is Center City, west of the Schuylkill is University City and West Philadelphia, all of which have distinct identities as neighborhoods in Philadelphia, but whose primary need is the same. Each person in those neighborhoods needs to know Jesus Christ. Over the past several months, the Lord has been working in the hearts […]

“When will things go back to normal?” We have heard or perhaps thought this question many times over the course of this year. What is it about normalcy that is so appealing? Normality occurs when something changeable conforms to a type of standard or pattern. That standard might be a natural law, or another kind of regulation. The “normal” boiling point of water is 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Public transportation systems have “normal” schedules. These regular patterns form the building blocks […]

One of the most heart-wrenching and yet encouraging privileges of serving with the Global Outreach Commission is hearing from our partners around the world. Month in and month out we receive reports which move us to prayer and thanksgiving. Even in a year of great change, these reports kept coming. As this global pandemic struck the far corners of the earth, including Philadelphia, it was a great encouragement to read testimonies to God’s unchanging faithfulness and love. These stories are […]

The Tenth Session recently approved a revised policy on giving, and Tenth is currently rolling out a new membership database and donations processing software called TouchPoint.  Using TouchPoint for online giving greatly increases the efficiency of donation processing and year-end statements. Donors who, in the past, signed up for recurring online giving will need to re-register in TouchPoint.  TouchPoint enables members to choose from a list of Session-approved funds to indicate how their giving will be used to support the ministry of Tenth. Givers may notice that the online giving no longer provides a memo line. This is by design as processing a designation that is written on a memo line can sometimes be difficult and […]

Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. Psalm 90:1-2 As we are rapidly approaching the beginning of the semester, Tenth College Fellowship (TCF) is preparing for an unusual semester, but one that we believe will still offer many opportunities for students to connect with one another, grow in their faith, and grow in their witness […]

Dear Brother, I hope this letter finds you well. It’s been awhile since we’ve been able to get together for a bible study, but I kept you in my thoughts and prayers. I truly hope that you have been able to stay healthy during this time! Things in here have been exceedingly boring. For our safety, they keep us locked up in our cells 22.5 hours out of the day. Unfortunately, that means we haven’t been allowed to meet for […]

Although the sanctuary has been quiet, the administrative staff at Tenth has been working hard to implement new software systems that will help us stay better connected as a congregation and achieve greater efficiencies in our administrative processes. Most members are familiar with the Church Life App, also known as Access Tenth, which provides a church directory and is used to process giving. Access Tenth lacks many capabilities we need to stay connected, provide pastoral care, and efficiently process donations. […]