More than 30 years ago our church formed a partnership with a sister African American congregation named Swope Parkway United Christian Church. We enjoyed pulpit and choir exchanges and dinner groups. During that time I made a lifelong friend named Mary Lou Kepler. She had a civic job at the time but Read More...
In response to the tragic shootings in recent weeks some in the congregation have asked for action steps they might take to accompany our prayers. In the days after the shooting, local Kansas City clergy gathered to call for increased gun safety and better mental health as well as a host of other options. Read More...
Roots provides opportunities for adults in their 20s and 30s to connect as community, to learn and grow spiritually, and to make a change in our city through service-learning projects.
Today at 11:32 a.m., precisely 48 hours after an 18-year old high school graduate murdered children and teachers in their 4th grade classroom, I gathered with area clergy to lament the violence and fear, to share our grief and to seek change. Rev. Adam Hamilton, Rev. Tom Are, Rev. Shanna Steitz, Rev. Read More...
May and June are filled with activities where families seem to be woven and re-woven together: graduations, weddings, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Memorial Day, end-of-the-year recitals, and in our family we celebrate five birthdays and three wedding anniversaries. But we know that families are also fragile and everything does not always fall into Read More...
When Leonardo DaVinci was turning 30, he needed a job so he wrote a letter to the ruler of Milan. In the first 10 paragraphs he touted his own success and skill as an engineer who could build bridges, cannons and buildings. And then in the eleventh paragraph, he mentioned that he Read More...
A lady brought me a silver teapot. Her friend, a member of our church, died decades ago but wanted the church to have this silver teapot for our future tea parties. Should I keep it or give it away? A member of the choir asks, “Should the choir sing weekly or once Read More...
“What is essential? And what is non-essential?” Krista Tippett raised these two questions in her talk on “Remaking the World” last week. It reminded me of the things I let go of during the pandemic: frenetic activity, relationships that were not life giving, eating out, meetings that could have been emails, shopping, Read More...
My eyes were closed. I took a breath. A unison chorus of voices reverberated off of the walls and inside the caverns of my heart. “Our father…Our daily bread…Our debts.” The moment that startled me and gripped me was not the Hallelujah Chorus or the trumpet fanfare or the organ shaking the rafters, though Read More...
Remaking the World is the theme of our annual generosity campaign in financial support of the church. We are grateful to so many of you for your generous financial gifts to the church.
Good Friday turns our attention to the holy mystery of a crucified God. We ponder why God would send love to earth in human form only to let him die as a common criminal. The big theological questions loom on Good Friday as we remember the passion of Jesus and the pain Read More...
“You are drinking chocolate milk even though you gave up sweets for Lent. You are just forming another bad habit,” my 9 year old granddaughter accused her 11 year old sister. It was clearly a taunt. Isn’t it funny how kids can bicker, even over spiritual practices? I tried to intervene and Read More...
Apr. 6, 6:00 p.m., Sanctuary Local needs, local interests, local issues—state control. This has long been the framework for the Kansas City Police Department. Yet heightened civil unrest, escalating crime rates and the national police reform movement has generated increased interest in returning control of the police department to the Kansas City Read More...
I don’t remember how I became acquainted with the work of Krista Tippet. For years I listened to her spiritually reflective interviews with various cutting edge thinkers in science, religion and literature. Her voice was a healing balm to me on long walks as I would plug in her podcast On Being. Read More...
Celebrate the miracle of Easter at Country Club Christian Church.
