By Dr. Mike Graves, Scholar in Residence and Minister of Spiritual Formation It’s not uncommon in her sermons to hear Carla reference a book she’s been reading or a podcast she’s listened to recently, maybe an episode of “The Moth.” It only recently occurred to me that not only are there people Read More...
By Lara Schopp, Director of Communications Each Sunday during worship, I have a moment when I think “I’m probably not supposed to be doing this.” That moment comes during The Lord’s Prayer, when—while everyone else in the room is doing what they’re supposed to be doing, which is reciting those sacred and Read More...
By Rev. Catherine Stark-Corn, Minister to Children and Families Recently a friend told me of a book she said I must read. It is not a new book – just one she happened upon in the library, and after reading she could not believe she had not heard of the story. Life Read More...
College students singing classic spirituals, concert pianists performing Bach and toddlers dancing to the sounds of a flute. These were our visions when we crafted the October concert series at the church. It would be a way to celebrate the classical music that graces our weekly 11:00 a.m. worship as well as Read More...
By Corey Meyer, Director of Mission Partnerships I was in my first 100 days at Country Club Christian when I first started hearing the words “affordable housing in Kansas City.” Invitations to public forums, Facebook posts, interviews on KCUR, and news articles were swirling around. At the same time as I was Read More...
By Rev. Tyler Heston, Minister to Youth We should really start a book club for the church staff. Soon after Catherine shared an article that mentioned The Overstory by Richard Powers, six of us were reading (or had already read) the book. The novel weaves the story of various people from across Read More...
For the last eight months, the church leadership has been listening to its members through a series of events: Centennial Conversations, First Impression Gatherings and a Feasibility Study. (See related article on results of that study on page 2.) But what I want to muse about is the theological or spiritual enterprise Read More...
Years ago, I was a part of Lenten Study Group that was scheduled to meet for three weeks. But the group continued to meet for more than 10 years. We read books, went on retreats, dined in one another’s homes, shared secrets, shed tears and plotted together on big projects to make Read More...
A few weeks ago in the parlor after worship, one of the little girls in church came up to me with a very quizzical look on her face. “I know that Easter is when Jesus rose and I know that Christmas is when he was born but what is Halloween?” I loved Read More...
By Dr. Mike Graves, Scholar in Residence/Minister of Spiritual Formation There is a story in the early church of a man named Philip coming across someone reading from the prophet Isaiah in the Bible. Philip asks the man if he understands what he’s reading, and I love his response, “How can I, Read More...
Seated in their “regular pew,” this couple had sandwiched in between them a woman whose face I did not recognize. After the service, we shook hands in the narthex and they introduced me to their good friend. As we exchanged pleasantries I could feel something “more” was unfolding but wasn’t sure what. Read More...
By Rev. Joe Walker, Minister of Congregational Care I re-learned an important lesson over the summer. As is almost always the case, I learned it more by happy accident than by design. The lesson, simply stated, is that we humans are naturally curious creatures. Recently I have had a lot of conversations here Read More...
On the evening of Sept. 10 I shared the Annual Report of the church at a lovely dinner gathering of church leaders. If you would like a peek, you can find it here. I’m tickled that we produce an annual report because it’s good to pause and look back and see how Read More...
Away. There is something really great about getting away. It isn’t just taking a break, but also finding some perspective, or finding a way to do life with more vigor, more grace. The away time not only refreshes but provides perspective on what is working, what isn’t and what way might bring Read More...
By Barbara George, Director of Membership Development How do you build Community? One neighborhood at a time. My 8th grade class consisted of 53 students; classmates I had grown up with and known my whole, long life. Together we entered our high school of 4,000…1,000 in our freshman class. This could have Read More...
