June 1, 2007
Dear Resurrection Family,
As we approach Memorial Day weekend, when many of you are traveling, I would like to make sure you read the announcement below about our new mid-week service specifically designed for those who are on vacation or traveling on the weekend. We have some exciting things coming up this summer here at the church.
We’re calling this Summer: Destination Resurrection. We’re offering the coolest and most exciting line-up of events here at the church this summer aimed at helping you grow in your faith, and your love for God and others. We have fun fellowship events, a great summer sermon series, opportunities for you to serve Christ in the community in meaningful ways from painting an inner city school and building Habitat houses to helping with the rebuilding efforts in Greensburg, Kansas. We’ll offer weekly seminars aimed at helping you love God with your mind – with seminary professors and our own people teaching you about everything from how to read the Bible to prayer.
I would like to encourage you to set four goals for your spiritual life this summer:
• Attend worship, either on the weekend, or Tuesday nights, when you are in town
• Attend at least one of our special Tuesday Night Seminars to grow in your understanding of God.
• Give five hours of your time in service to the poor and others in need through our various FaithWork and Service Projects.
• Be a part of at least one of our fellowship activities to build friendships and enjoy connecting with others in the church.
To get all the details on what’s happening this summer log on to our Destination Resurrection website at www.cor.org/summer and click on the four categories of Worship, Learn, Fellowship and Serve.
1. Out of Town this Weekend? Join Me on Tuesday Night for Worship!
2. Vacation Bible Camp – Registration up 20% – Still Time to Invite Friends!
3. Help! We Need YOU! You’ll Want to Read this Announcement.
4. Sneak Peak at Worship This Summer: Inspiring, Casual…and Shorter!
1. Out of Town this Weekend? Join Me on Tuesday Night for Worship!
We’re starting a Tuesday night worship service this summer just for those of you who are at the lake or out of town on the weekends. The service will meet in the Wesley Chapel at 6:00 pm. This coming week I look forward to being there to assist in leading worship. Molly Simpson will bring the message. If you’re out of town this weekend, or any weekend during the summer, join us on Tuesday nights for worship!
2. Vacation Bible Camp – Registration up 20% – Still Time to Invite Friends!
As you know this year we’ve made an intentional decision to expand our Vacation Bible Camp so that you can invite other children whose families may not have a church home. VBC is a blessing for the kids, and for parents, it is a quality activity where they know their children will be safe and well loved. Our registration is up 20% over last year, to a new record, but we will continue to accept registrations through this coming Wednesday. The theme of VBC is Lord of the Kings and plays off of the Lord of the Rings books and films, as our children will learn about the kings of the Bible. We’ve designed VBC to coincide with the summer sermon themes so that children and adults will study the kings and queens of the Bible and learn life lessons from them. You can go online at www.kidscor.org for more information and to download a registration form. To register, mail in your registration form or drop it off at the Children’s Ministry office in the West Building. The registration Deadline is Wednesday, May 30th at 12:00 Noon. We do still need helpers in several of our classrooms. Please let us know if you are available for this incredible week. Contact Lori Trupp, KiDS COR Director of Special Events, with questions or for additional information at lori.trupp@cor.org or 913-544-0725.
3. Help! We Need YOU! You’ll Want to Read this Announcement
Sometimes addressing issues of poverty, and racism and justice seem so overwhelming we want to throw up our hands and say, “What difference can I really make?” I am reminded of something Compassion International, a ministry to sponsor children in poverty, once noted. They said, “You can’t change the world, but you can change the world for one person.”
As a church we will not eradicate poverty and racism in all of Kansas City – but one of the things we can do is to support low-income children as they seek to get an education and their teachers as they seek to prepare them for life. You do that each year through support for the kids at Wendell Phillips Elementary School in the urban core. Last year you provided backpacks and school supplies for all 350 of the children at this school. This year, in addition to our school supply project, we are painting the classrooms in this building – a way of demonstrating the love of Christ while creating a bright and clean learning setting for the children. There are 72 classrooms and this is a huge job!
Can you help us change the world, for at least one classroom of children, by volunteering to give a day, an evening, an afternoon, rolling up your sleeves, and painting alongside other Resurrection members?
Beginning June 16 and going through June 30 we will offer three shifts each day, every day, (morning, afternoon and evening) for Resurrection members, families and small groups to come and paint. There are 72 classrooms, and this is a HUGE job. We’re still in need of hundreds of people to sign up to paint. My small group is going down on a Monday night to paint. I’d like to encourage you to schedule a day for your employees to join you as a team building event, or your small group or Sunday School or Disciple Bible Study group. Can you imagine the joy, when we have finished this building and know that we provided a gift to these kids and their teachers? Even if you can’t paint, we have need for hospitality teams, set-up and clean-up, or even baking cookies. Volunteers can sign up in the Narthex on the weekends of May 26/27 AND June 2/3, or they can register online anytime at www.cor.org/servekc.
4. Sneak Peak at Worship This Summer: Inspiring, Casual…and Shorter!
This summer we’re inviting you to come dressed a bit more casually to worship (we’ll skip the robes on Sunday mornings). You’ll enjoy great music. We’re launching a new sermon series on the Royal Families of the Bible, during which I’ll draw important life lessons from the stories of the kings and queens of the Bible. The sermons will have less teaching than normal, focusing on life application – and they’ll be about ten minutes shorter than normal – a bit lighter, but packing a punch. I’m really excited about this summer in worship!
I’ll share a bit more with you next week about our summer fellowship plans, and plans that are being formulated to send relief teams to Greensburg, Kansas to help in recovery and clean-up efforts there. Don’t miss the chance to grow in your faith this summer!
In Christ’s Love,
Adam Hamilton