As Spring is here, (even though it’s been cold at times!), the Session and I are excited about our upcoming Spring Parish meetings. You might have heard or seen the announcements about it through other communication avenues. This will be a great opportunity to be reminded of our vision as a church, to fellowship with one another, and to hear from pastors and ministry leaders about the work we are doing. You will have an opportunity to ask questions, make […]

Requiem aeternam, dona eis Domine, “Rest eternal grant them, O Lord.” These words are probably familiar, especially if you have attended a funeral at a Roman Catholic or Episcopal church. As Reformed Christians, quotations from the Requiem Mass can raise our spiritual hackles a bit, and rightly so. We do not believe that praying for the dead is something we should do. But taken on its own as a prayer, “Rest eternal grant them, O Lord” is quite appropriate. It […]

Reza (not his real name) arrived in Athens, Greece in 2016 from the Middle East. He was a young teenager and refugee without his family, and he had a great need for community and answers. He began visiting a local Greek evangelical church where for the first time in his life he saw the love of Christ in practice. While exploring the Christian faith, he began attending an intercultural church plant and has been steadily growing in his faith as […]

The acronym SPIO has taken on enhanced meaning for the Mercy Commission’s outreach to the South Philadelphia community. SPIO, standing for South Philadelphia Immigrant Outreach, now umbrellas: SPEAK (South Philadelphia English at Kirkbride), our English language program for adults. the tutoring and vacation Bible school programs for children, sustained by Maranatha. the up-and-coming Hispanic service at Tenth Church.  One of SPIO’s immediate goals has been the compilation of a roster of all the households we have been reaching out to […]

As of December 31, 2021 the Outreach fund had a restricted balance of $788,263. This means that the funds available at the beginning of 2022 exceeded the 2022 Outreach budget of $633,396.  While it is important to begin a year with a healthy balance to ensure there is no interruption in support payments to our partners, the current balance is larger than is needed for that purpose. Following is an explanation of how the surplus got so large and plans […]

O God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come: Be Thou our guard while life shall last, And our eternal home. Hymn by Isaac Watts, based on Psalm 90 Decades of ministry have only given Medical Campus Outreach Philadelphia (MCO) and its Summer Medical Institute (SMI) innumerable opportunities to prove God’s faithfulness: over a thousand students discipled and mentored; many healthcare practitioners challenged and equipped to bring their faith to bear on both their daily work […]

A dramatic headline or stirring soundbite on the evening news can never do justice to the arduous path that a refugee family must travel enroute to a safe, new home. After spending what can sometimes be a decade or more in a refugee camp, a family must be vetted and approved for resettlement by the UN High Commission for Refugees; travel to an unfamiliar country under the auspices of that nation’s government; and be matched with a local agency that […]

The 2020 Annual Report will be posted as a series of Tenth Press articles over the coming weeks. This is one of those articles. Consisting of both Teaching and Ruling Elders, the Session of Tenth rejoices in the Lord for his continued faithfulness to the congregation throughout 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The elders continue to seek to fulfill their responsibility to provide for the spiritual and administrative concerns of the congregation, and they praise the Lord for the ways […]

I’d like to introduce you to four significant international women. They came from Asia, Europe, and South America and have lived here for thirteen to 30 years. Three were married when they arrived. Two have raised high-needs children. One was not yet a believer when she came. In these past years, they have become vital members of Tenth, ministering with Internationals Outreach. These women have served us with the diaconate, youth group, outreach activities, and as prayer warriors for all […]