THE GREAT TRANSFORMATION

Dear Resurrection Family,

For those of you who live in Kansas City, what a winter blast this week! But by Sunday we’ll be back to 61 degrees! LaVon and I got away for vacation last Friday and enjoyed this week away. In addition to playing and praying I’ve been continuing to work on completing a manuscript for an Advent book I’m writing called, Prepare the Way of the Lord: The Advent Message of John the Baptist. I’m off this coming week to complete the manuscript.

THIS WEEKEND IN WORSHIP: THE GREAT TRANSFORMATION

This weekend Pastor Scott Chrostek will begin a two-week series called The Great Transformation: Finding Purpose, Meaning and Abundance in our Daily Living. We are in the midst of a cultural phenomenon many are calling “The Great Resignation.” It’s been reported that people are leaving their jobs at unprecedented rates – retiring, staying home with kids or seeking something better.

While the world around us continues to talk about the Great Resignation, we are going to ponder a Great Transformation. As so many are yearning for a more abundant life, we’ll remember that this is exactly what Jesus said he came to offer us. For the next two weeks, we are going to explore how we find purpose, meaning and abundance in our daily living, whether you have a job, are looking for a new one, or are beyond the daily grind. I’m really excited about this series!

Invite a friend to join you for worship!

IN PERSON at one of our five locations:
—Leawood location at 7:30, 9, 11 am (traditional at 11 in the sanctuary, modern at 11 in the Foundry) or 5 pm
—Downtown location Saturday at 5 pm or Sunday at 9 or 11 am
—Blue Springs, Olathe (West) and Overland Park locations Sunday at 9 or 11 am.
ONLINE at cor.org on Saturday at 5 pm or Sunday at 7:30, 9 and 11 am or 5 pm
TELEVISION on KMCI Channel 38 at 8 am or 11 am
ON DEMAND on YouTube throughout the week

VIRTUAL “INSPIRED WEEK” FOR WOMEN STARTS MONDAY

Who doesn’t need some inspiration in the middle of winter with its grey skies and cold temps? Our Women’s Ministry is offering a daily dose of inspiration next week, February 21-25, with a unique digital experience. Each day they will share a video with real women engaging in an uplifting conversation about what women are currently experiencing, and offering some wise (and fun) ways to navigate them. There are two ways to view the videos: You can “like” Church of the Resurrection’s Facebook page or “subscribe” to Church of the Resurrection Women’s Ministry YouTube channel. Share with your friends and get ready to be inspired!

HELP BUILD BRIDGES AND LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR MARCH 9

Resurrection will be hosting the “Unlikely Conference” on March 9 at 7 pm in our Leawood Sanctuary. Sponsored by the Global Faith Forum, this event brings together leaders from different faiths for conversations, with the goal of fostering greater understanding and building bridges so that we can better love our neighbors. This multi-faith event will include participants and speakers from a variety of faith traditions. I will be speaking, joining leaders from the Muslim, Jewish and Christian faiths. We will be inviting our community to join us and I hope you will plan to attend and bring a friend or neighbor with you. You can go to the website: unlikelykc.com to learn more and register.

COVID UPDATE: TO MASK, OR NOT TO MASK?

Like many of you, our leadership team has been closely following the COVID trends and data. We’re grateful and excited to see the cases, hospitalizations and deaths rapidly declining. Here’s a chart from the Kansas City Metro Area with yesterday’s numbers:

As quickly as cases rose in early January, they are now rapidly decreasing, and the numbers (locally) appear to be moving in a good direction on all fronts. In response, we have seen local school districts shifting to optional masking for students and teachers and local governments deciding to let mask orders expire.

We’ll be following the lead of area school districts, but taking one week to implement the change in our programs so that we can ensure we have enough volunteers in our children and youth programs. So, beginning with the weekend of February 26/27, we will follow the schools by moving to a “masks encouraged” stance across all age levels, including our KiDSCOR and Rezlife programs. Again, notice that this change has been delayed by one weekend to ensure smooth communication and coordination with volunteers and parents.

In some areas of ministry, we will continue to implement program-specific measures that are appropriate to the needs of the population we’re serving. And where those limitations exist, we are grateful for your continued patience and support. Going forward, we will continue to monitor the progression of local COVID trends with a commitment to doing our part to help create safe and healthy community.

RESURRECTION PASTORS APPROVED BY BOARD OF ORDAINED MINISTRY

Congratulations to three of our Resurrection pastors who recently went through interviews with the Board of Ordained Ministry. Nick Kaufmann Mamisashvili, Connection and Care pastor at our Downtown location, was approved to become an Ordained Deacon. Jen Schultz, a pastoral care resident at the Leawood location, and Ally Drummond, a pastoral care intern, also at Leawood, were both approved to be commissioned as Provisional Deacons. In addition, Resurrection member Poese Vatikani, who serves as senior pastor at Archie UMC in Archie, Missouri, will be ordained this year as well. The ordination and commissioning of Nick, Ally and Jen will take place at the Great Plains Annual Conference in June in Omaha. Poese will be ordained in the Missouri Annual Conference in Branson. Here are photos of Nick, Ally, Jen and Poese.

I am so proud of these four pastors. This step in their ordinational process represents their hard work and commitment to serving God. I wanted to share one additional photo with you. Below is a photo of Ally with her parents Kris and Ken and her three older siblings at her baptism at Resurrection. How cool it that! Each time we baptize a baby or confirm an 8th grader, we realize that God may be calling them into ministry.

THURSDAY BLOOD DRIVES RESCHEDULED

Our Blood Drives at Blue Springs and Overland Park yesterday, had to be rescheduled because of the weather. The new date is March 17 at Overland Park and March 24 at Blue Springs. The cancelation of these drives impacts the already reduced blood supplies. If you can donate, I encourage you to do so at one of these drives. Appointments are encouraged and walk-ins will be worked in as space allows. Masks are required by The Community Blood Center. Just click on the location for details and a registration link.

SERVE SATURDAY AND FOOD DRIVE DROP OFF TOMORROW

Don’t forget to drop off your food for the Sack Hunger Food Drive at any of our locations tomorrow between 9 and 11 am. This is also our monthly Serve Saturday, and you can still sign up to serve!

TUESDAY NIGHT’S VESPERS RETURNS THIS WEEK

Join me at 7:30 pm CT on Facebook Live, at my Facebook page: Pastor Adam Hamilton on Facebook. You’ll also be able to view it on my Facebook page or the church’s YouTube page after Tuesday night.

I’m really looking forward to worshipping with you this weekend!

Adam