Sunday, March 5, 2017

Special eNote from Senior Pastor Adam Hamilton for Sunday, 5 March 2017 of The United Methodist Church in Leawood, Kansas, United States

Special eNote from Senior Pastor Adam Hamilton for Sunday, 5 March 2017 of The United Methodist Church in Leawood, Kansas, United States

Sunday, March 5, 2017
Dear Resurrection Family,
This weekend we’ll conclude each service by going in the new sanctuary, where we will sing and pray and see the now completed stained glass window.
I suggest that you park in one of the parking lots outside the new Sanctuary (enter off Nall or 137th Street), so that you’ll be close to your car at the end of the service.
It’s going to be an amazing weekend of worship. I look forward to seeing you!
In Christ’s Love,
Adam
P.S. If you are a regular visitor and you are interested in officially joining the church, today is your last opportunity to do so before we move into the new sanctuary. Plan to join me from 2 to 4 pm for Coffee with the Pastors in the Student Center.
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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Weekly eNote from Senior Pastor Adam Hamilton for Friday, 3 March 2017 of The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States

Friday, March 3, 2017
Dear Resurrection Family,
This weekend we’ll conclude each service by going in the new sanctuary, giving you a chance to sing and pray and to see the now completed stained glass window. Here’s a picture taken just before the last panel of the window was installed. I’m standing in the opening with artist Tim Carey and Judson Studios owner David Judson. The final panel installed was the only panel of the window featuring a Resurrection member – Matthew Joyner, the founder of our Matthew’s Ministry for persons with special needs. You can see a close-up of that panel here.


I’ll conclude our series of sermons from Acts by looking at how the early church was defined by the sacrifices she made. The church was founded on the sacrifice of Jesus, and built on the sacrifices of her apostles as they faced persecution, imprisonment and even death. Yet, the apostles found joy and meaning in their sacrifices. The same is true for us today – we find joy and meaning in the people or causes for which we sacrifice – including our family, others and God.
This is also commitment weekend in our campaign to renovate the current sanctuary, and to transform it into ministry spaces and classrooms for young adults and senior adults, families and singles, support groups and care night, and dedicated space for the 250 children and adults with special needs in our congregation as well as paying for a portion of the outstanding cost of the sanctuary. 10% of our households made advance commitments, and this group has already committed $13 million towards our $25 million goal!We’re over halfway there, but the rest is up to us. What struck me as I read the stories of those who had turned in their commitment cards in advance was the joy and meaning they found in their commitment to this effort.
Your commitments to this effort, given over the next three years, will have a huge impact upon our ministry together and the lives of thousands of people who will find hope, healing and love within these spaces. I recorded a short (five minute) video about this effort that you can watch by clicking here. [Making Our Dreams a Reality video] If you missed last weekend in worship, we also showed video highlighting the kinds of ministry that will happen in these new spaces and why it matters (3 minutes). [Caring for our Community video] This video focuses on our Matthew’s Ministry. [Building a Special Home for Matthew's Ministry video].
Have you been thinking about joining the church? At Leawood this Sunday is our last Coffee with the Pastors – the last chance to join the church before we move into the new sanctuary. If you would like to know more about the church and becoming a member, or if you are ready to join, plan to attend Coffee with the Pastors with me this Sunday, March 5 from 2 to 4 pm in the Student Center. It is an inspiring gathering. Childcare is available. There are typically 100 or more people in attendance. At the end those who are ready to join take the membership vows in a brief joining service and become official members of the church as they commit their lives to Christ. Click here to register and to register for childcare.
Each year hundreds of Resurrection members participate on a serve team traveling to other parts of the US or around the world. Many took vacation and dedicated their time and resources to make dreams a reality for others through education, medical service, construction and relationship building. Those that have been a part of a mission team always report receiving much more than they gave. Their experiences are life changing as they experience life in another part of the world, build new friendships and see God through the eyes of those they serve. Have you thought about being a part of a serve team? Below is a list of individuals who have shared their gifts, talents and time on these teams in the last year. Thank you to each of you who have served. Take a look to see if there is someone on the list you know and ask them about their experience, or go to our blog to see pictures and read stories about these amazing experiences by clicking here.
Finally, I wanted to give you a final update on the location of the speakers in the Leawood sanctuary. Recently we contracted with K2 Acoustical Consultants out of Colorado to conduct what’s called a “peer review” of the design of the system. We asked them to see if there was an alternative to the current placement of the speakers that would move the speakers from the stained glass window plane, or which could reduce the impact on the stained glass window.
Here’s the summary of their report, “Moving the speaker clusters…would significantly degrade the performance of the system in the center of the room. The degradation would be to a point where it would then require an additional center cluster to return system performance and coverage to acceptable levels. This center cluster would again block the stained glass, and in our opinion, in a much more troubling manner since an image of Christ with outstretched arms is the central image.” This is essentially the same conclusion IDIBRI, the architects and the building committee reached two years ago.
Here’s what we can do: We can move the subwoofer section of each speaker array to the floor. This will improve by as much as 20% the visual impact of the speakers (depending upon where you are sitting), without much of a degradation of sound quality. This will also remove the cables that suspend the subwoofers. In addition, designs are being completed to add hoists above the ceiling allowing us to raise or lower the main speakers. We anticipate lowering the speakers to the lowest point possible without obscuring the view of the video screens from the balcony – we think this is another 7 feet. With the hoists we can also raise the speakers to the ceiling during the week, giving largely unobstructed views of the window from the main floor of the sanctuary when services are not being held (possibly before and after worship as well). We’ll plan to do all of this in late May or June (designs must be approved, cables fabricated and some reinforcement in the roof truss will need to be completed before this can happen).
I took a group of 35 pastors into the room this week. As we stepped in I just stood to the side to listen. The response was, “amazing,” “awesome,” “beautiful,” “inspiring,” and “wow.” I believe that most people will feel this way as they step into the room even with the speakers in their current location. By June we’ll have some improvements that will reduce their impact a bit more.
Join me in worship this weekend as we reflect upon the meaning of sacrifice, and as we worship together for a few minutes in the new sanctuary! It’s going to be an exciting weekend!
In Christ’s Love,
Adam
Honduras Serve Team - January 15-21
  • Susan Bamford
  • Anita Clark
  • George Coulter
  • Phyllis Coulter
  • Bruce Hoover
  • Caroline Kupchin
  • Patricia Seager
  • Dennis Seager
  • Anne Strempke
  • Dan Strempke
Haiti Serve Team - February 18-25
  • Bob Cattanach
  • Lisa Cattanach
  • Jill Cipra
  • Carole Davis
  • Renee DeGrand
  • Julie Downey
  • Elizabeth Fleming
  • Bryan Harbison
  • Dave Knorr
  • Judy Knorr
  • David Vinson
Learn more about international serve trips and global impact ministries on the cor.org/globalimpact.
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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