Weekly Update from Pastor Adam - January 30, 2026
THIS WEEKEND: FEARS OF THE SECOND HALF OF LIFE
This weekend, we’ll conclude our four-week series of sermons, Fearless: Overcoming Fear with Courage and Faith. Last weekend, we looked at the fears of the first half of life, the top personal fears of Millennials and Gen Z. This weekend, we’ll look at the top fears of those in the second half of life (though one of these is also a top fear of Millennials and Gen Z as well). We’ll look at survey results from Gen X (45-60), then Baby Boomers (61-80), and then the Silent Generation (81+). The most basic existential fears related to suffering (of someone you love, or your own), aging and death.
Sound depressing? Think again! The sermon includes scripture and data from two surveys (one in the UK, one in the US) of over 300,000 participants each, correlating age with self-reported stress, joy, happiness and more. We’ll hear from a couple battling cancer and how they find joy, and from a couple who are 86, recounting life in their 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. And ultimately, we’ll look at the words of Jesus that help us overcome fear with courage and hope. It’s a touching sermon full of hope. Join us!
RESURRECTION PROVIDES $25K GRANT FOR EMERGENCY HOUSING
A week ago, I learned that funds were needed to provide emergency housing for unhoused persons in Johnson County – there were more people needing assistance than could be housed in shelters. Vouchers for hotels are provided in those cases. Johnson County provided a $25,000 grant, and Resurrection matched it with another $25,000. Thank you, Resurrection members, for your faithfulness and generosity. Because of you, there will be individuals and families who have a warm place to stay in these bitterly cold months.
CONSIDERING JOINING? EXPLORE RESURRECTION THIS SUNDAY, FEB. 1
Are you ready to become a member of Resurrection? Or do you want to learn more about who we are? Join us for Explore Resurrection on Sunday, Feb. 1. (at 2 pm at Leawood, Online, and Brookside; 12:30 pm at Spring Hill, Liberty, Lee’s Summit, Blue Springs, West, and Downtown; and 12:45 pm at Overland Park.) This casual gathering is an opportunity to learn more about Resurrection. We’ll share our church’s story and purpose, what it means to be United Methodist, and walk you through the different ways you can get more involved here. This is an opportunity to ask questions, meet other people, and figure out what your next steps might look like. At the conclusion, there will be a short break, and for those who are ready to join, there will be a brief but meaningful joining ceremony. Here’s the link to find the Explore Resurrection time at your location and to register.
RESURRECTION COUNSELING SERVICES
As I shared in my message last weekend, one in five people are going to struggle with anxiety disorders at some time in their life. Tools like medical help, therapy, a support system and your faith can all play a role in helping you overcome your anxiety and fear. Resurrection Counseling provides confidential, compassionate care for children, teens, adults, and couples through both virtual and in-person sessions. We’ve recently expanded our services with seven new counseling interns – people who have earned their educational degrees and are in the process of completing the supervised clinical work required for them to become fully licensed. You can learn more about counseling services here.
CHURCH CONFERENCE RECOMMENDS CANDIDATES FOR MINISTRY
At our Church Conference on Tuesday evening, we voted unanimously to recommend three congregants to move forward with the ordination process in the United Methodist Church. Ryan Bliss, Lauren Cook, and Annie Liljegren will take the next step to become declared candidates by the District Committee on Ordained Ministry. Every United Methodist Pastor begins this process by being recommended by a local church. Ryan, Lauren and Annie join twenty other previously declared candidates from Resurrection in the ordination process. If you are interested in exploring a call to vocational ministry and learning more about the process, we have resources to help you on the journey. Check our Pathways to Ministry on our website here.
The Church Conference also elected leaders to our governance committees and heard important annual reports on membership, the foundation, and finances. You can learn more about our governance committees and see the slate of elected committee members here.
Here’s a bit more information I shared at our Church Conference:
We received 1,460 new adults and children into the membership of the church in 2025. In-person worship attendance was up by 409 per weekend to 6,076 per weekend, excluding Christmas and Easter (6,800 with them). Across online and TV, excluding Easter and Christmas, we averaged 23,968 per weekend in worship attendance (with Easter and Christmas, the average rises to just under 30,000). We had 397 baptisms, up 50 from 2024. Global mission trip participation was up about 15% (451 people went on global serve trips). Kids Sunday school and midweek youth attendance was up 10%.
Our giving came in 3% over budget – a huge help at year’s end. Pledges were up for 2026 by 6%. The Christmas Eve offering benefitting children and families was up 9%. And last year you served 33,272 shoppers at our Food Mobile, provided 16,000 hot meals to the homeless, and gave 54,803 books to children here in Kansas City. And among my favorite stats, community service at Serve Saturdays was up 97% last year! It was a great year as we celebrated our 35th anniversary as a church!
HIGH WORSHIP ATTENDANCE
We had a few people let us know that we had inadvertently missed them on our list of those with high attendance in 2025. You can see the updated list here. Don’t forget to register your attendance at cor.org/next so we know you are here!
SACK HUNGER FOOD DRIVE KICKS OFF THIS WEEK
We’re kicking off our annual Sack Hunger food drive this week at all our locations. This year, we’re focused on providing hot meals for our community partners and neighbors experiencing homelessness. Here’s how it works—you can pick up a bag at your location that includes a specific casserole recipe and all the ingredients needed to make it, and then just return the items by February 8. If you’d rather give financially, every dollar you give goes five times farther than a food donation because it allows us to provide fresh meat, dairy, eggs, and produce through all our hunger ministries and helps our pantry partners shop for specific needs in their communities. And if you want to be more hands-on, we’d love to have you volunteer at our Food Pantry, Food Mobile, or with our Pantry Partners—you can find all the details about donations and volunteering here. Do you have friends or co-workers who would also like to help sack hunger in our community? Invite them to join you in participating.
GRANDKIDS NIGHT OUT COMING UP
If you have grandchildren in the area, you don’t want to miss this opportunity to share an evening with dinner, games and a heartwarming movie at Grandkids Night Out. You can spend some quality time together and give their parents a night off. This fun event is Saturday, Feb. 13 from 6-8 pm at Resurrection Leawood, Blue Springs, Brookside and Lee’s Summit, and March 6 at Resurrection West. Register here today.
BELOVED CONFERENCE FOR WOMEN NEXT WEEKEND
This is the last week to register for the Beloved Women’s Conference, coming up next weekend, on February 6-7, at our Leawood location or Online. This is always such a powerful space for women of all ages to connect and build real community, and this year, we have two incredible speakers: Cole Arthur Riley and Emily P. Freeman, alongside eight inspiring breakouts, shared meals, and time for fun. Whether you’re looking to make new friends, go deeper in your faith, or just need some timely encouragement, this will be a wonderful couple of days. Register now here.
CAROL CARTMILL’S RETIRING AT THE END OF THE YEAR AND TWO LEAD DIRECTOR POSITIONS AVAILABLE
I have some news to share that’s both exciting and a little bittersweet. Carol Cartmill, our Lead Director of Missions Ministry, has decided to retire at the end of this year after nearly 27 years of faithful service at Resurrection.
Over nearly three decades, Carol has been a driving force in helping us live out our calling to transform the world. Her leadership has touched countless lives here in Kansas City through our local missions partnerships and around the globe in places like Honduras, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Haiti, Uganda, South Africa, Malawi, Lebanon, Poland, Ukraine, and so many more. When Carol shared her retirement plans with me, I felt grateful for both her years of service and the advance notice, which gives us time to prayerfully seek our next missions leader.
Please join me in congratulating Carol and thanking her for her remarkable service. She’ll be with us and continuing in her role through the end of the year, so you’ll have plenty of opportunity to express your appreciation.
This transition also opens an important door. We’re currently searching for two Lead Director positions: Lead Director of Kids and Families, and Lead Director of Missions Ministry. If you or someone you know might be called to this kind of strategic, churchwide ministry leadership, I encourage you to learn more at resurrection.church/employment. Perhaps God has been preparing you for exactly this opportunity or for you to share this with someone you think might be a great fit!
LIVE NEAR MYRTLE BEACH, PHOENIX, OKC, TULSA, DALLAS?
- Embassy Suites by Hilton Myrtle Beach Oceanfront Resort, Myrtle Beach, SC (South Carolina UM Bishop’s School) at 7:30 pm on Wednesday, February 4 (open to the public).
- Paradise Valley UMC, Paradise Valley, AZ (Phoenix area) at 7 pm on Thursday, February 5. Click here to register.
- Acts 2 UMC, Edmond/Oklahoma City, OK, at 7 pm on Tuesday, February 24.
- Faith UMC, Tulsa, 6:30 pm on Wednesday, February 25.
- First UMC, Richardson, Texas, 7 pm on Monday, March 2.
PEACE AND COMFORT THROUGH PRAYER AND CARE
LAST SUNDAY’S SERMON AND MINNEAPOLIS
This means that if there are events that happen on Saturday, like the shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, I will not mention them in the sermon because they had not happened when I filmed the sermon. Last Sunday at Leawood, just before the sermon, I spoke about the shooting death of Alex Pretti. We recorded these and posted them – you can view my comments here.
When it comes to immigration, I am reminded that in Leviticus 19:10, as God was preparing the Israelites to enter the Promised Land, he told them, once they settled, not to harvest their fields and vineyards to the very edge, but to leave food for “the poor and the immigrant.” In Leviticus 19:33-34, God told the Israelites that, “When immigrants live in your land with you, you must not cheat them. Any immigrant who lives with you must be treated as if they were one of your citizens. You must love them as yourself, because you were immigrants in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.” I am reminded of Jesus’ words about his criteria for who is welcomed to heaven and who is sent away at the Last Judgment. Among these were, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” The Greek word stranger is xenos which means foreigner, alien or immigrant.
These words of Jesus and Moses must inform how Christians think about both immigration law and its enforcement. I don’t think they require an open border policy, though that was the world that both Moses and Jesus lived in. But I do think their words tell us, at the very least, that both laws and their enforcement must be just and reflect our values of compassion and empathy and that we must see in the immigrant a child of God and the image of Christ. The protests in Minneapolis have been led, in part, by people of faith who are saying, “This enforcement, the thousands of ICE agents, the shooting of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, the taking of our neighbors from their homes and teachers and students from their schools, is inconsistent with the heart of God reflected in the words of Moses and Jesus. We have to find a better way.” As I noted in last week’s podcast, which you can watch here, our religion must shape our politics.
Adam Hamilton
Resurrection Senior Pastor
Reverend Adam Hamilton is the senior pastor of Church of the Resurrection and the author of 22 books. He has been married to LaVon since 1982, and she has been a critical partner in every dimension of Adam’s work. They have two daughters and one granddaughter.
Adam’s writings are known for helping readers make sense of challenging theological questions, exploring the significance of the biblical stories, and equipping Christian leaders to be more effective in their work. He earned his MDiv from Perkins School of Theology and graduated with honors from Oral Roberts University with a degree in Pastoral Ministry.
