For church leadership, there are resources to engage folks in your congregation to get plugged in. It’s not about filling up gaps in the work with “warm bodies,” but its all about facilitating spiritual growth and renewal as we come together to serve God and serve others as a community.

A great place to start is Church Volunteer Central, a clearinghouse of ideas and strategies with a healthy dose of encouragement and training for leaders of volunteers at church. The site is run by Group Publishing and includes features and tools for recruiting, equipping, retaining, leading, and protecting volunteers.

The cost is $119.99 per year and includes everyone at your church. Find out more at churchvolunteercentral.com.

1. We Cry Out: The Worship Project by Jeremy Camp
   Multi-Dove-award winning worship leader Jeremy Camp combined with producing legend Brown Bannister for this very live sounding studio worship project. The well received first single is “Jesus Saves.”
   Buy it at MyChristianOldies.com
2. Love Revolution by Natalie Grant
   A powerhouse vocalist, heart-gripping songwriter and charismatic performer, Grant returns to the music marketplace with an unshakable determination to remind us of the simple significance of love and the revolutionary power that it carries. “The Greatness of Our God” is getting significant airplay on WCTL.
   Buy it at MyChristianOldies.com
3. Until The Whole World Hears LIVE DVD/CD by Casting Crowns
   The band’s unforgettable 2009/2010 “Until the Whole World Hears” national concert tour is captured on this live 2-disc set, sharing the heart and story of such songs as “If We’ve Ever Needed You,” “Glorious Day” and the No. 1 hit single “Until the Whole World Hears.”
   Buy it at MyChristianOldies.com
4. Love God, Love People by Israel Houghton and New Breed
   The worship leader for Pastor Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church releases his latest recording. The new effort delivers the musical versatility, profound lyrics and galvanizing displays of vocal and instrumental virtuosity fans have come to expect from the multiple Grammy and Stellar Award winner.
   Buy it at MyChristianOldies.com

Typically on Mondays here on TheChristianBanner.com we will feature our own conversation with a church leader about what God is doing in their local church. But given the highly unusual and excellent feature this weekend on McLane Church’s Erie site, named “Church-in-a-Bar” by the Erie Times-News, we thought we’d just point you over toward that direction.

Reporter Valerie Myers and Photographer/Videographer Rob Engelhardt captured the vision and passion of this most unique church, which Site Pastor Andy Kerr leads, meeting at the Cell Block bar at 1213 State Street, Erie on Sunday evenings at 5:00 PM. A great quote from the story:

College students and families worship with addicts and the homeless from downtown shelters. The congregation is young and old; white, black and Hispanic; in designer jeans with stylized holes and in jeans with holes from hard wear. “It’s about as diverse as you can get,” Kerr said.

Here are links to the story, photo gallery and video on GoErie.com:

• Story: Church in a bar has large downtown Erie congregation
• Photo Gallery: Faithful Worship In Erie Bar
• Video: Church in a Bar

You can find out more about McLane Church-Erie “Church-in-a-Bar” at their website: www.mclanechurch.org or call (814) 734-1907.

The church takes seriously Christ’s command to “feed my sheep.” That’s why it is so disturbing to hear of the severe vandalism unleashed on the church by an individual. As reported in the Erie Times-News,

The damage was extensive: A U-shaped kneeling rail at the white-oak altar was snapped off and thrown into the pews. The baptismal fount was chipped, and the organ had been tipped over. It no longer works, the church secretary, J.J. Lee, said.

“It looked horrible in here,” Lee said.

Church members spent several hours Monday repairing the damage. They found candles, vases, hymnals and crosses that had been thrown across the room. Several of the pews had been torn from the floor.

Here’s an explanation of Ash Wednesday from Catholic.org:

Following the example of the Nine vites, who did penance in sackcloth and ashes, our foreheads are marked with ashes to humble our hearts and reminds us that life passes away on Earth. We remember this when we are told”Remember, Man is dust, and unto dust you shall return.”

Ashes are a symbol of penance made sacramental by the blessing of the Church, and they help us develop a spirit of humility and sacrifice.

Roman Catholics are joined by churches of many different denominations such as United Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Episcopalians,  who mark the day with special services.

It’s been an idea for a long time.

Creating a place online where Christians from throughout Erie and Northwestern Pennsylvania could find out what’s happening in our community and come together to pray for each other and celebrate what God is doing in our lives and in this region.

That’s what TheChristianBanner.com is all about. News and features, photos and videos of our faith community. Inspiring stories of life change. Details on legislation and devleopments that may affect your family. Opinion pieces from national Christian leaders. Book reviews, the latest music releases, and perspectives on media and culture.

We want to serve the churches of Erie and the area with a forum to get the word out on their special events and services. We’ll feature blogs from area pastors and ministry leaders. And what we are most excited about: we will give a free one-page website to every Christian church in Erie County who wants one. If your church is interested, make sure keep watching the Church Directory page for when we open that up.

Right now, we are in beta development, which means that much of the site will be under-construction and kind of, for lack of a better word, ugly. But over the next few weeks we hope to get all our departments in good order.

So pray for us and please tell us that you found us! E-mail info@thechristianbanner.com or tweet @christianbanner on Twitter. We would love your input as we go fully online.