April 27, 2007
Dear Resurrection Family,
I'm writing this from the Southcreek office building at 12900 Metcalf where a number of our staff now have their offices. Feel free to stop by and greet them and see the new office space - they are on the second floor. The adult discipleship team, including the missions department, and most of our executive staff are here at Southcreek. It is a great space. My office, the pastors, our children's and student ministries staff, music and SGP staff, our finance and facilities and hospitality staff are all still at the central campus.
I have some wonderful things to share with you in today's e-mail. Here's the overview:
1. This Weekend: Meet the Disciple John as He Shares His Gospel
2. Karen Lampe Promoted to Executive Pastor of Congregational Care
3. 18,000 Pounds of Food Collected in Neighborhood Food Drive!
4. High School Students, And Parents, READ THIS PLEASE!
5. Interested in Joining the Church? Join Me for Coffee this Sunday
6. Amazing Response to Bless Your Neighbor Weather Radios!
1. This Weekend: Meet the Disciple John as He Shares His Gospel
This weekend we continue in our series of messages - Journey Through the New Testament. I would encourage you to bring a friend this weekend - the sermon will be engaging for all of us, but particularly for non-religious and nominally religious people. I will join you as the Apostle John for the next four sermons, aging each week, taking you back to the time when the New Testament was written. You will learn about the background to the New Testament books (this week you'll learn about why Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote their respective gospels) but you'll also hear the gospel stories told, first person, in a way that makes them come alive for you.
2. Karen Lampe Promoted to Executive Pastor of Congregational Care
As you know, Pastor Yolanda Villa, who has served as our Executive Pastor of Congregational Care for the last three years, is leaving us to become a District Superintendent in the Missouri Annual Conference - where she will oversee 50+ churches. We conducted a nationwide search yielding 15 potential candidates for the position, including one internal candidate. In the end our interview teams felt the best candidate was already a part of our team. Karen Lampe was officially offered the position this week, and she has accepted. Karen brings passion, compassion, drive, a love for this church and its mission, a wealth of experience from the last five years as a part of our team, and a vision for helping the Congregational Care Ministry be all that you as a congregation need it to be. Karen will officially move into her role May 16. We are now in the process of searching for a new Pastor of Congregational Care to join our care team.
3. 18,000 Pounds of Food Collected in Neighborhood Food Drive!
Several weeks ago we conducted our second food drive of the year - the first involved inviting you to contribute food for the Souper Bowl Food Drive. In that drive you contributed more than 75,000 pounds of food. In the most recent food drive we invited you to invite your neighbors to help care for hungry people in Kansas City. We had 260 neighborhoods that were canvassed by our members, who collected another 18,000 pounds of food to share with people here in Kansas City. Great job! In the process of inviting others to fight hunger, you also bore witness to your faith and let your neighbors know that Church of the Resurrection is a congregation that cares about those in need. In addition those who collect the food take the time to pray for each house as they approach. This is such a wonderful ministry. Thank you to each of you who collected food so that others might not go hungry. I am proud of you!
4. High School Students (and Parents) this is for You:
I'm excited that our student ministry has invited a number of United Methodist colleges to set up information booths this Sunday, April 29 after all of our worship services. Here are the colleges that will be represented: Baker University, Central Methodist University, Iowa Wesleyan College, Kansas Wesleyan University, Oklahoma City University, and Simpson College. These are terrific schools. Many offer outstanding scholarship programs making them as inexpensive as our state schools. The campuses are typically beautiful, the faculty excellent, and, in varying degrees, have emphasized their United Methodist heritage and the Christian faith. Stop by and check them out this weekend! The booths will be set-up just outside the Student Center.
5. Interested in Joining the Church? Join Me for Coffee this Sunday
If you or someone you know is interested in joining the church, this weekend is our next Coffee with the Pastors. We'll meet in the Narthex at 2:00 pm for coffee, lemonade and cookies, and for a chance to meet other visitors and find out more about the church and what is involved in joining. If you decide you are ready to join you can do so at this time. The coffee is from 2:00 to 4:00 pm.
6. Amazing Response to Bless Your Neighbor Weather Radios!
Finally, I want to say what a great response we had to the Bless Your Neighbor program this last weekend. We ran out of radios and had to order 600 more! I love this idea of offering a small gift to our neighbors that would be helpful to them, and in the process to let them know that you care. By mentioning the fact that this is a part of your church's effort to bless our neighbors you are bearing witness to your faith. As I mentioned Sunday, I am reminded of Mother Teresa's famous dictum, "Small things done with great love will change the world."
That's a bit of what's up this weekend at Resurrection. I hope to see you in worship!
Adam