Central United Methodist Church 5144 Oak Street | Kansas City, MO 64112 (816)753-1844 | centralcares.com
IN THIS ISSUE:
Central United Methodist Church celebrates Christ’s unconditional love that changes lives every day, as together we reach up to God, reach within ourselves, and reach out to the world.
A Note from Jim | 2 Couples Ministry | 3 Mather Class Schedule | 4 Finance Report | 5 Campus Ministries Update | 6 CECC School Year Begins | 7
a note from jim Dear Friends at Central: September is going to be amazing. We are going to make a positive difference with our outreach projects on September 10th with Serve2011. Five area UMCs are cooperating. Come and share the fun of Christian service. Serve2011 is our Missouri UMC response to the 10th anniversary of the terror attacks of 9/11/01. On Sunday morning, September 11, I have invited Rev. Emanuel Cleaver II to preach. I’ve asked him to share reflections on ten years later and to bring us the Gospel. He is a great preacher! As a Congressman, he’ll have an interesting perspective. Let’s fill the church that morning to worship God and to honor the memory and sacrifice of so many! I’m sure you have noticed that construction is going strong on the new addition. Although internal renovations will not occur for several months, the connections between new and old will begin to be obvious this month. Some patience and adjustments will be needed along the way. I trust the benefits of this project will also become more clearly apparent. Thanks to all who continue to generously support the Capital Campaign for the new addition. I am excited by our new Greeter and Hospitality Teams. I hope you realize that visitors make a decision about whether to return to a church based on their impressions during the first two minutes of arriving. The way we greet, welcome and include is vital to people being willing to return. Thank you to our Greeter and Hospitality Teams for their service. We have a new staff person for Children & Family ministries. Lee Jackson is a student at Saint Paul School of Theology. She will be working with children, youth and families to coordinate our Sunday School and family events. It is vital that we offer a full program of children and youth ministries as we grow our church. Your support is cherished as Lee begins her ministry with us. The choir is back and students are returning to area universities. Open your hearts as we reach up to God; reach within ourselves; and reach out to serve the world. Live, laugh, and love! :) Jim Simpson | Pastor
CENTRAL MESSENGER | SEPTEMBER 2011
VISITORS MAKE A DECISION ABOUT WHETHER TO RETURN TO A CHURCH BASED ON THEIR IMPRESSIONS DURING THE FIRST TWO MINUTES OF ARRIVING. THE WAY WE GREET, WELCOME, AND INCLUDE IS VITAL TO PEOPLE BEING WILLING TO RETURN.
September Worship Highlights September 4
Jim’s message: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs: Making Bricks Without Straw. Jim will have a guest at Sunday School and will interview during worship the former leader of the building and trade unions in KC, Garry Kemp. Garry is a United Methodist who is deeply involved in “jobs” in the KC area. He will also talk about how his church connects with the community. It will be fun! Also: Holy Communion.
September 11
September 11: Ten Years Later. Jim Simpson preaching at 8:30. Rev. Dr. Emanuel Cleaver, II will preach at 10:50.
September 18 & 25
Christian Simplicity; a two-part message series on the Christian practice of simplicity.
couples ministry
Relationships are Ever Changing, but Also Stay the Same We have been working on a jigsaw puzzle that we picked up on a trip we made to the Grand Canyon. It got us to thinking about that trip and what we observed about this great National Park when were there. Spending several days walking and touring the sites, we discovered that while the Grand Canyon stays pretty much the same, it is also ever changing. Depending on what time of year, what season, or even what time of day, you can stand in the same place on the rim and look out across the expanse you saw before and not recognize it as any place you have been before.
AS OUR LIFE SPACE CHANGES, OUR RESPONSES TO LIFE EVENTS CHANGE. HOW DO WE ADJUST TO THOSE CHANGES IN POSITIVE, SUPPORTIVE WAYS THAT HELP OUR RELATIONSHIP CONTINUE TO GROW AND MATURE? Our relationships can be that way, too. Especially for those of us in long term relationships, we may think we know our partner very well and how s/he will respond to different things that happen in our lives, but then we are often surprised when we do not get the expected response. As our life space changes, as different things impact us, individually and as a couple, our responses to life events change. The question then becomes, how do we adjust to those changes in positive, supportive ways that help our relationship continue to grow and mature. We have found over the years that the basic coping system is still the answer to how we stay connected through the daily,
weekly, monthly and yearly changes that happen as we live life together. Good communication is the key to all this. We have to continually be reminded that our partner cannot “read our mind� and just know that something has changed for us. By being able to talk about what is going on with us, we can include our partner in those changes. Sometimes those changes can bring conflict or confusion. That is when we need to remember to use another part of our primary coping system: positive conflict resolution. Often the changes that go on for us as individuals are confusing even to us. Being able to discuss those changes without blaming our partner takes some thoughtful consideration and skill in requesting that our needs be met. Sometimes all we need is a listening ear, not a problem solved. When that is the case our partner needs to be told what our need is, otherwise we will feel unsupported or frustrated. As we think of our relationship in terms of the Grand Canyon, we can marvel at the depth, breadth and beauty that we see and experience in what has been created. At the same time, we can give ourselves room to change and grow over the days, months, and years that we spend building this enduring thing of beauty we call our couple relationship. Remembering that God is with us through the creating and changing process in our relationship can give us the courage to keep at it as we continue co-creating with God this lasting relationship we so desire. Keep growing together!
Clark & Ruth Achelpohl
GREAT DATES
Great Dates at Central will be held on Saturday, September 16 at 5PM. The cost is $15 per couple. Please contact Betty in the CUMC office to let her know whether you will be attending so that we may plan for childcare. You may reach her at 816-7531844 or office@centralcares.com. We look forward to seeing you!
Providing flowers for the altar on Sunday morning is a nice way to remember or honor a person or to acknowledge an occasion. There are still several Sundays available in October! Please contact Sally Firestone at 816-942-9424 or sfire@kcnet.com if you would like to schedule a date!
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central culture
A Letter from Mozambique
September Youth Meals September 4: no meeting September 11: Stewart-Jones September 18: Meredith and Megan September 25: Rosemary Adams
Mather Class September Schedule September 4
Dr. Warren Carter | Professor of New Testament
The Dead Sea Scrolls: What are they? Where do they come from?
September 11
Dr. Dorsey and Mary Moore
The U S Navy Commissioning of SSN MISSOURI, the new nuclear attack submarine in Groton, Connecticut: a tour and pictures of this special event.
September 18 Bill Buckner
“My Grandfather, Lt. General Simon Boliver Buckner, CSA.” Civil War stories about one of the top wartime leaders. Did any of your relatives fight in the Civil War? Be ready to talk about them.
September 25
Kyle Linson & Justin McCoy
Central’s music men talk about the present and future of music at Central.
Sunday Morning Christian Education at Central United Methodist All classes meet at 9:30am on Sundays.
Age 3 - Kindergarten
The Pastor’s Class
1st - 5th Grade
Kenwood Hall Adult Bible Study Class
The Mather Class
Wesley Hall “A class for all ages studying the Bible, our community, and the world.”
Room 105
Room 206
6th - 12th Grade Youth Room
“The Nest” (Nursery) Room 107
CENTRAL MESSENGER | SEPTEMBER 2011
August 18, 2011 Dear Friends in Christ of Central UMC in Kansas City, Missouri, please acknowledge greetings from the Mukhambe-Feha UMC congregation, your brothers and sisters that are in covenant with you. Recently we submitted a budget proposal to our representative in a bid to meet the plan to have an improved permanent parsonage here in our church. You may have known of the desperate conditions in which our pastor lives in our precious communication. We are also continuing in the encouragement of our congregation in making contributions towards this plan. The other planned activity is to purchase benches for the semipermanent chapel that we have. God is great for us by allowing our pastor and church leaders to be welcomed in the communities in the dissemination of the word of God. We are proud of the work we are doing and we are reporting that this year we have been able to bring to the church about 7 families. What makes us be even happier is the fact that 2 people from these families are already assuming leadership position at their respective local churches- may the Lord be praised!!! We have Sunday school going on prior to the main worship service. This is an opportunity for our members to explore issues related to faith through discussions held while interpreting the Bible. We are hoping to have more people involved in these programs would there be Christian education materials to support our work. We would like to thank you much for your work, for thinking of us and for supporting our plans. We have been in discussions with our representative for the Initiative on issues related to small project for our own selfsustainability. We are working in identifying a project that will see it go to our project committee. You will continue have blessed time in your efforts to make disciples of Christ and in your mission programs. We are looking forwards to hearing from you. Rev Belmiro Antonio Jotamo, and the people of my congregation, Mukhambe-Feha UMC
central culture
Practice Presence A traveling contemplative prayer group led by Cara Megan Lewis. Wednesday mornings starting September 7, 7:45-8:30am, locations listed at right. Practice Presence is a weekly invitation to be in contemplative prayer–“prayer in which we experience God’s presence within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than consciousness itself.” The focus of the 45 minutes together will be on developing the practice of centering prayer and other meditative exercises. Every 1-2 weeks the location of the prayer group will change providing the opportunity to experience the benefits of travel (rejuvenation, perspective, peace) in the convenience of our own greater Kansas City backyard. In other words, Practice Presence is a weekly mini-retreat. The weekly schedule will more or less take the following shape: we will begin with 10 minutes of settling in (drinking tea, absorbing the surroundings). Following a short reading and introduction, there will be 20 minutes of silent meditation–seated and/or walking. We will end the time promptly at 8:30 am with an opportunity to share discoveries and recent news, allowing time for everyone to travel to work in a timely and relaxed manner. Contact Cara Megan Lewis with any questions, carameganlewis@gmail.com or 415.531.6339.
FINANCE REPORT
September 7 & 14: Kauffman Gardens 4800 Rockhill Road, KCMO, 64110 September 21 & 28:18Broadway DST Community Garden 18th and Broadway, KCMO, 64108 October 5: Nelson-Atkins Sculpture Garden Roxy Paine Dendroid Sculpture, Ferment, enter off of Rockhill Road October 12: Local Vineyard TBA (meet at Central at 7:30 to travel to site together) October 19: Town of Kansas Observation Deck on Missouri River entry on 2nd and Main, KCMO, 64105 October 26: Labyrinth TBA (meet at Central at 7:30 am to travel to site together) November 2: Nelson-Atkins Sculpture Garden Roxy Paine Dendroid Sculpture, Ferment, enter off of Rockhill Road November 9: Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral 415 West 13th Street, KCMO, 64105 November 16: Falling Down Cathedral 21st and Benton Blvd, Historic Northeast KCMO November 23: Pilgrim Chapel 3801 Gillham Road Kansas City, Missouri 64111
budget of the church. The revenues to the church have been stagnant for nearly a decade, while the expenses have continued to steadily increase due to the expenses associated with an old church (i.e. repairs, high electrical/gas bills). For years the church has borrowed from its savings account to fund this shortfall. That savings amount is running low. We know there is strong support for the church as seen by the nearly $900,000 raised for the building addition in only 16 months. So we believe an education of our day to day financial situThe finance committee would also like to make you ation may help you reevaluate how you can support aware that we will be conducting a stewardship edu- the church. Look for more details on the campaign in cation campaign this fall to support the operational next month’s Messenger. We recently received the midyear financial report for the church. We currently have a $17,000 shortfall from our budget. Expenses are on track, but revenues are down, mostly because pledges and donations are slow to come in versus budget. So we really need your assistance paying your tithes throughout the year and not holding off to pay your pledged amount in December. On a positive note, July and August revenues have been stronger than expected.
9/1: Angel Lemons, Jarrett Simpson 9/3: Greg Hunt, Megan McCurdy, Barbara Thornton, Brandon Wesche 9/4: Chris Brush, Mickey Perkins, Carter Smalling 9/5: Tammy James 9/7: Richard Leonard, Lesli Pitman 9/9: Jan Leonard, Christie Spies-Glenn 9/10: Curtis Okafor 9/11: Ruth Jacobs, Kelly Miller 9/13: Bill Vandenberg 9/14: Rebecca Cleary, Chad Leabo, Kyle Linson, Shirley Stallard 9/16: Jeff Karr 9/17: Megan Pitman 9/19: D’An Cockrell, Teresa Stewart 9/20: Catherine Smalling 9/21: Robert Hickam, Samuel Hurley 9/23: Kelly McDonald 9/24: Cara Megan Lewis, Martha Risser 9/25: Lee Martin SEPTEMBER 9/26: James Dugan, Katya Woolard 9/27: Jill Gonzagowski 9/29: Julia Brush 9/30: Glenn Fox
BIRTHDAYS
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outreach College-Age Ministries Update Hello Again! Summer has officially ended and we are off to a GREAT school year! We had lots of help (thanks to all of you!) handing out water bottles to inform students of all the great things Central has to offer! We had an Open House on August 20th where we had about twelve students visit us to check out the sanctuary, cookies and snacks, but most importantly, to play a few rounds of “round robin” ping pong. Lori Beth Hamline generously donated a wonderful ping pong table to cozy up Oak Hall. It is sure to be well-used this semester! There are still ways you can help with college ministry! On Sunday, August 21st, we had at least 15 new students visit us at the 10:50 service. Please continue to welcome these new faces; I am positive we will see more and more new students in the next few weeks! It’s scary beginning life in a new community and many students are looking for a spiritual home. Let’s show them hospitality like they’ve never seen before! I would also like to thank the Mather Class. We had a wonderful time together on August 14th when we talked about the importance of story-telling. As I had suspected, many attending the Mather class have great stories to share! I encourage you to continue sharing your story with the new faces you encounter this semester, especially the students! Young people are at a formative age where they are in the midst of writing and rewriting their stories. Let’s be welcoming sounding boards and a safe place for students to develop their stories this school year!
IT’S SCARY BEGINNING LIFE IN A NEW COMMUNITY AND MANY STUDENTS ARE LOOKING FOR A SPIRITUAL HOME. LET’S SHOW THEM HOSPITALITY LIKE THEY’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE! Finally, I would like to update the community on where we stand with the Healthy College-Age Ministry Assessment. We have compiled our “Congregational Study” which was an investigative analysis of who we are and where we are located in relation to the surrounding Kansas City community (especially the colleges!). Gary Loar, Barb Shelly, Lori-Beth Hamline, Jan Richards, and Meredith Moser have become the College-Age Ministry Lay Support Team and have carefully given their time and talents to help us in our endeavors so that we may open our community to college-age people—thanks team! Findings of the study will be shared with the Ad Council. Another assessment will take place in Sunday school with our college student leaders–Julia Janda and Matt McDowell. Please lift us up in prayer during this time as we seek to best serve the college community. Peace,
Caitlin Dally Mason | College-Age Minister
Hello Central! The Music Ministry is beginning yet another fantastic season of worship for the fall! The Central Choir and Sounding Joy (our bell choir) began rehearsing on August 24. We are all very excited and have many new faces joining us! If you missed our first rehearsals, there’s MUSIC MINISTRY still time to join! Please know all are welcome in the Central Choir as well as Sounding Joy, our bell choir. No audition required! We want as many to come and sing or ring (or both!) in God’s praise! Please contact me if you are interested in either or both ensembles! Come and join the fun and excitement as we start a new season of worship together! You don’t want to miss out! You might be the next star of Central Cabaret! God Bless!
Kyle Linson | Music and Worship Arts Director CENTRAL MESSENGER | SEPTEMBER 2011
outreach
The 2011-2012 School Year Begins Central Early Childhood Center had a successful start to the school year. We welcomed new and returning parents at an orientation evening on August 15. Families met with their children’s teachers and in a general session with the administrative staff. Pastor Jim opened the meeting with prayer and updated families on the construction. Ruth Achelpohl introduced the other members of the Child and Family Advisory Board and invited parents to participate. The next morning children had special orientation sessions designed to help them transition to new classrooms. The children spent time getting to know their teachers and new friends and had a variety of opportunities to explore their classrooms. Classes began on August 17th. The program directors are pleased to announce that your early childhood program is almost full, with some classrooms already having lengthy wait lists.
Central Classrooms Get a Facelift
YOUR EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAM IS ALMOST FULL, WITH SOME CLASSROOMS ALREADY HAVING LENGTHY WAIT LISTS.
Play at your own risk. Adult supervision required. Up the stairs, down the slide, feet first. Big kids = big climbing structures. Little kids = little climbing structures. Replace sandbox cover after every use. Put toys away in appropriate bins and replace lids. Dispose of your own trash. Wood chips stay on the ground. Tops of tunnels and roofs are off limits.
Many of the classrooms in the Education Building have received complete or partial makeovers. CECC teachers, parents, and volunteers spent part of the summer and the two week break painting, redecorating, and organizing. CECC teachers procured paint donations and recruited friends and family to help spruce up their classrooms. We invite you to stop by and see what a difference a little paint and elbow grease can make. Thanks to everyone who pitched in to create a more inviting space for the children and adults at Central.
Playground Rules Families are welcome to play on the playground at any time outside of school hours. We ask that you help enforce the standard rules the teachers follow during the school day. It is much more safe and consistent for the children.
INTRODUCING
Lee Jackson
Connect with us!
Director of Children and Family Ministries
facebook.com/centralcares
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The Staff-Parish Relations Committee is pleased to announce the hiring of Lee Jackson as the Director of our Children and Family Ministries. Lee will be studying at Saint Paul School of Theology. She comes from Oklahoma where she has been serving a small church as a lay pastor the past two years. Lee brings an enthusiastic spirit and experience with children and youth which she will use to develop our Sunday School, youth and family activities. We will be welcoming her on September 4th.
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UPCOMING: The Rev. Dr. Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II will join us on September 11 for a reflection on the events of 9/11/01.
Central United Methodist Staff
Central UMC Staff Jim Simpson | Senior Pastor jim@centralcares.com
Kyle Linson | Dir. of Music & Worship Arts kyle@centralcares.com
Justin McCoy | Organist/Pianist justin@centralcares.com
Donna Brown | Dir. of Central Early Childhood Center
central_ecc@yahoo.com
Caitlin Mason | Campus Ministry caitlin@centralcares.com
Abby Carr | Publications Assistant abby@centralcares.com
Steve & Greg Cutelli | Evening Receptionists Lisa Wynn | Sunday Receptionist
We are in need of packaged cookies for hospitality on Sunday mornings. Please bring a package (or more) to share. You may leave them at the reception desk or in the church office.