Weekly eNote from Senior Pastor Adam Hamilton from The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States for Friday, 26 August 2016

Friday,August 26, 2016 Weekly eNote from Senior Pastor Adam Hamilton from The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States for Friday, 26 August 2016
Dear Resurrection Family,
Today, I’m finishing this weekend’s sermon on Moses. Last week we shared Moses’ very human reaction of trying to avoid what God was calling him to do, but God never gives up in his pursuit of us, and in the end Moses said, “Here I am, send me.” The stage is set as we continue the story this weekend with an epic battle between Pharaoh and the unlikely leader Moses, but really the battle is between Pharaoh’s gods and Israel’s God. Once more as a part of the message I’ll take you to Egypt, to see the places where this story unfolds and we’ll ask, What does the story of God liberating the Israelite slaves have to do with God’s work in our lives today?
This weekend we’ll also recognize and pray for the Saint Paul School of Theology faculty, staff and students as they begin a new school year. This year, there are 115 students enrolled at Saint Paul. In 2013 we began a collaboration with Saint Paul in which the central campus of the seminary relocated to our Leawood campus. This unique approach could provide the next generation of pastors and church leaders with a great seminary education from excellent Saint Paul faculty and staff members, and in addition to their classroom experience, they learn from observing ministry here and from our team of Resurrection pastors and staff.
For Church of the Resurrection, this collaboration means that those of you who are answering God’s call to ministry can do so by attending seminary here, and as a congregation we have the rich opportunity to learn more about the Bible or theology by auditing seminary classes. If you’ve thought about going to seminary, or just taking a class or two, there will be representatives from Saint Paul on all our campuses this weekend to answer your questions or you can go to their website.
Are you interested in becoming a member of the Church of the Resurrection? Your next opportunity to join is this Sunday, August 28, at 2 pm in the Student Center. You’ll have a chance to meet our pastors, to find out more about the church and its ministry, and I’ll share with you what it means to be a member of the church. This is an inspiring gathering that concludes at 3:45 pm with a brief joining service. Click here to sign up and also to request childcare.
This is an exciting time at Resurrection as we approach the opening of our new sanctuary in the spring. We know that this will be a unique opportunity to invite our community to join us on our journey of knowing, loving and serving Christ. This next stage in the life of our church will require unique and creative communication strategies. We are looking for a few strategic communication and/or marketing professionals who would be interested in working with our staff team by participating in strategic brainstorming and planning sessions. If you have experience and expertise in this area and are interested in participating, send an email to Cathy Bien, Resurrection Director of Communications at cathy.bien@cor.org.
I received a note of thanks from the medical director of Heart to Heart this week, expressing their appreciation for the volunteers and the health kits we’ve sent through them to Louisiana to help with the flood relief – over 2,100 kits have been sent including the 1,700 we prepared earlier this year for use in natural disasters. Teams will be forming soon and I’ll keep you updated. Thanks to all of you who volunteered this last Saturday and all who contributed to the relief efforts this weekend.
I also want to thank all of you who participated in the school supply and school uniform drive for our partner schools in Olathe, Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri. You provided school supplies to 1,346 children, and 2,129 shirts and pants for children. THANK YOU! In addition 179 of you sorted, packed and delivered the items to the schools. A new uniform and the necessary school supplies is a very tangible way of encouraging these students and helping them get a good start to the school year. In addition you painted a school and built playgrounds this summer, and throughout the school year you’ll provide books, winter coats and gloves, beds, as well as tutoring and a host of other things to support the efforts of the schools to educate and care for these kids. If you are interested in learning how you can be more involved in Resurrection’s Education Ministry, there is an info session on Thursday, Sept. 8, at 10 am in Room C144 on the Leawood campus. You can also learn more online.
Are you in your 20s/30s? Do you have family members or friends in their 20s/30s? We have some great opportunities coming up this fall for young adults. There’s a kick-off gathering on Monday, Aug. 29, at 6 pm with our new Young Adult Ministry Pastor, Chris Abel. We’ll have, games, food, worship, and hang out around a fire pit. Check out the details at cor.org/leawood/youngadults and share this with the young adults in your life.
Monday and Tuesday is our blood drive on the Leawood campus from 8 am – 8 pm. This is an important drive as we head into the Labor Day weekend when supplies are traditionally in greater demand. You can make an appointment in the Narthex after worship this weekend, sign up online, or just walk in and donate.
We have 275 Resurrection members signed up - and I’m hoping you’ll consider joining them – for our Forum on the Racial Divide in Kansas City. The event is co-sponsored and hosted by St. James UMC, and will be held next Tuesday from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. Parking is limited, which is why we’re providing buses that will leave from the East side of Building C at 5:45 pm. We’ll have a presentation on the history of Kansas City as it relates to race, then Rev. Emmanuel Cleaver III and I will engage in a conversation about race in the Kansas City area, then invite you and the members of St. James to be a part of the conversation, sharing your experiences and talking together about how we tear down walls and build bridges related to race in our city. We’ll conclude with Sheridan’s custard. This is a very important conversation and I’d like to ask as many of you to join me as possible. Click here to sign up.
Finally, for any of you night owls, I recently recorded an interview with Joel Nichols for his program, “Nichols at Night” which will air immediately following Saturday Night Live this Saturday on Channel 41 KSHB (midnight). Joel is a great guy and I really enjoyed talking with him about what’s going on at Resurrection.
See you in worship this weekend!
Adam Hamilton 

One additional note... We have an amazing staff at Resurrection who are in ministry every day behind the scenes. Clif Guy, our Director of Information Technology, was recently featured in Church Executive magazine. Clif and his team not only support our church's technology needs, they also share their expertise to help renew other churches.
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue

Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
913.897.0120

www.cor.org
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