Friday, February 17, 2017
Dear Resurrection Family,
As I’m writing this I’m finalizing the memorial service for Eric Driskell, head coach at Blue Valley High School. He and his family have been a part of the church for the last 20 years, since he was just out of college. He died suddenly of a brain aneurysm last Sunday night at the age of 43. He was a remarkable man and coach. In the last seven years as head coach of Blue Valley High School the Tigers had been to the 6A State Championship game five times, and won twice. We’re celebrate his life in the sanctuary tomorrow morning at 11.
This weekend I kick-off a new sermon series at Leewood focused on what it means to be The Church. We’ll look at what the Bible teaches us about God’s purposes for the church, we’ll look at how we can be that kind of church, and I’ll also share with you the architects plans for what becomes of our existing sanctuary and narthex (fellowship hall, Vibe worship, classrooms, Matthew’s Ministry spaces and kitchen) once we move into the new sanctuary. My blog this week was on the church and God’s intention for it. You can read my blog post here. I’m also sending you a special video in a separate email that highlights some of what you’ll hear about in worship this weekend. Please take a look, and share it with a friend.
Congratulations to Chris Larios who was just named to the President’s Own Marine Band in Washington D.C. this week. This is a tremendous honor. Chris began playing in our adult orchestra when he was in 8th grade! He’ll play again in our orchestra this weekend. He has a masters degree in trumpet performance from Northwestern and is currently 2nd trumpet in the Charleston Symphony. We’ll recognize Chris at the 10:45 am service this Sunday.
Thank you to the over 1,000 people who attended last Sunday night’s forum on race and education. It was a tremendous evening. Both Church of the Resurrection and St. James UMC have formed leadership teams that are working together to find ways our two churches can break down the walls of racism and work towards helping our city look more like the Kingdom of God. More on this in the months ahead.
Our Men’s Spiritual Retreat is Friday and Saturday, March 3 & 4, and I’d like to invite the men in the church to join us in understanding Trinity and how this Christian doctrine relates to our lives today. The Christian faith celebrates the belief that God is revealed in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We have a great triumvirate of amazing staff who will be leading the retreat: Jeff Kirby, Glen Shoup and Chris Folmsbee! Make new friends and grow in your faith by being a part of this amazing retreat. Register online for the great time of fellowship and faith. The retreat will be held in the Student Center from 6:30 to 9:00 pm on Friday and 8:30 am to Noon on Saturday.
I’d love for you to know a bit about our upcoming mission trips and how you can support our work in some of these countries. We have a team that is leaving for Haiti on February 18. Please remember them in your prayers. They will be working with the Methodist Church in Haiti to serve those most directly affected by the devastation of Hurricane Matthew. You can follow the team's progress and the work that is happening on the trip by clicking on this link to view the trip blog.
We have several serve trips scheduled this year for Honduras working on the construction of a Mission House and a medical and dental trip. You do not need any special skills for the construction trips as you will work alongside Honduran construction workers who will guide and direct our team. For information on the 2017 Honduras Trips and all of our International serve trips please click on this link. I’m heading to Honduras this summer to see the work we’ve been doing and to teach there. Honduras is just a short plane trip from the US. The people are wonderful and the trip is a great way to experience your first international mission trip.
One way for you to help with the Mission efforts in Honduras is to stop by the Spring Café at the Leawood Campus and purchase Honduran coffee. When you buy a bag of Honduran Coffee at The Spring, you transform communities by: helping Hondurans gain economic stability, supporting the first Methodist School in Honduras and raising awareness for our partnership activities in Honduras. All purchases provide school supplies and materials for students at Juan Wesley, our partner school in Honduras.
What do you believe about the death penalty? I’d like to invite you to join me at the Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Library next Tuesday night,February 21st for a panel discussion on the Death Penalty co-sponsored by the Kansas City Lyric Opera, the Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Library and the American Public Square. At this event you’ll hear from people of various perspectives on the death penalty from a prosecuting attorney, to the head of the Midwest Innocence Project, and a Washington D.C. based political strategist all talking about different dimensions of the arguments around the death penalty. I’ll be on the panel speaking from a pastor’s perspective. A reception will be held at 6, and the discussion begins at 6:30 pm. The event is free and moderated by former US ambassador Allan Katz and KCPT’s Nick Haines. Click here to register. This discussion is part of the Lyric Opera’s series of events surrounding their upcoming performances of Dead Man Walking. Click here to find out more about the Lyric Opera’s performances of this contemporary opera.
Here’s the latest update on the new sanctuary: The last third of the stained glass panels will arrive late this coming week. The sound, lighting and video systems are being tuned this coming week. The seats are nearly all in. Crews were in cleaning the room. We’ve hired an independent audio firm to take a look at the speaker locations and will have their report in a couple of weeks. The circular slide from the second floor of the children’s wing to the first floor at the KidsCOR entrance has been installed and yes, it is big enough for a 52-year-old 190-pound man to slide down it at a pretty good speed! We’re still on track to hold our first worship services in the new building on March 25/26 weekend. We’ve trained 1,500 volunteers in the last two weeks in what have been exciting training events with far more people in attendance than we expected. I also just learned this week that one of the two living people in the stained glass window – Bishop Sundo Kim of South Korea – is planning to fly to the US for the dedication of the stained glass window on the weekend after Easter.
As you know, what I include in my e-notes are just a small fraction of the many amazing things happening around Resurrection each week. Don’t miss worship this weekend!
Adam Hamilton
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The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
913.897.0120
913.897.0120
www.cor.org
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Video Message from Pastor Adam Hamilton of The United Methodist Church in Leawood, Kansas, United States for Friday, 17 February 2017
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe AvenueLeawood, Kansas 66224, United States
913.897.0120
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Video Message from Pastor Adam Hamilton of The United Methodist Church in Leawood, Kansas, United States for Friday, 17 February 2017
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe AvenueLeawood, Kansas 66224, United States
913.897.0120
www.cor.org
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