Weekly Update from Pastor Adam - March 31, 2023

March 31, 2023

March 31, 2023

Dear Resurrection Family,

This weekend we kick off Holy Week with our annual Easter Egg-Venture on Saturday and celebration of Palm Sunday in worship. Make sure you take note of the special opportunities this week as well as some exciting staffing news!

THIS WEEKEND IN WORSHIP: JESUS’ FINAL WORDS

This weekend, I’ll continue in our series, Words that Changed the World: The Message of Jesus by focusing on some of the most influential words Jesus ever spoke; words he spoke during the final 24 hours of his life from the Last Supper to his death on the cross.

Our Palm Sunday/Passion Sunday service is one of the most moving of the year. It opens with the Kids’ Palm Sunday Parade where our pre-K – 5th graders leave Sunday School to carry in the palm branches as we sing the Hosannas. This is always a favorite moment in the life of our church, so be sure to check in early to Kids Sunday School. We want every child to experience this beautiful and celebrated tradition at Resurrection.

During the service we journey through Holy Week, including Holy Communion and end with Christ’s death as we extinguish the Christ Candle we lit on Christmas Eve, place a shroud over it, and leave in silence. At our Leawood location this includes a dramatic closing of the curtains on the stained glass window.

EASTER WORSHIP SERVICES

MAKE YOUR WORSHIP PLANS AND INVITE YOUR FRIENDS: If you missed it last week in my eNote, you can find a complete list of all our Easter service times and locations at resurrection.church/Easter. This year we’ll have special children and family services on Easter Saturday, April 8, Saturday evening worship services, and both traditional and modern worship services on Sunday. If you’d like to attend a less crowded service and make room for our visitors at the times that will have the largest number of worshipers on Sunday morning, I would recommend a Saturday night service or a 7 am service (West and Leawood), or our Downtown services Sunday at the Kauffman Center.

WE NEED YOU! VOLUNTEER TO SERVE ON EASTER: We still have openings for volunteers at all our locations. Sign up and experience the joy of welcoming someone to Easter services this year. Here’s the link.

EASTER EGG-VENTURE APRIL 1!

Don’t miss this annual event Saturday, April 1, from 10 to noon on site at all of our six Kansas City area locations or Downtown on the grounds of the National World War I Museum/Liberty Memorial. Fun for kids will include egg hunts, snacks, crafts, the Easter Bunny, and, at the Leawood location, the children’s choir’s musical, Danny and the Shacks will be in the Leawood Sanctuary at 11:30 am. I’m particularly excited about the musical as our nine-year-old granddaughter Stella is singing. The Egg-Venture is a great event to bring your friends, neighbors and family members to! For more information click here.

MAUNDY THURSDAY AND GOOD FRIDAY

Christ’s Passion: His Final Hours: Worship in remembrance of the events of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday on Thursday, April 6, or Friday, April 7, at 7 pm CDT, in the Leawood Foundry (Building B) and online. The same service will be held both nights.
Good Friday Service: Worship in person and reflect on the events of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, April 7, 7 pm at West, Downtown, Blue Springs, Overland Park and Brookside.
Good Friday Stop, Drop and Pray: Stop wherever you are, drop whatever you are doing, and pause to pray at 3 pm CST on Friday, April 7. This time marks the moment Jesus drew his last breath (Luke 23:44-46). Here’s the link to an online prayer guide.

ROBERT JOHNSON NAMED LEAWOOD LOCATION PASTOR

When Pastor Wendy Lyons Chrostek was sent to start the new Resurrection Brookside location, it left an opening for our Leawood Location Pastor. Each of our six locations has a Location Pastor who gives key leadership to their location including their location’s congregational care, a focus on building community, strengthening our outreach ministries, strategic planning and leadership development for the location, connecting with our members and visitors and much more. After a six-month search, we are excited to announce that the Rev. Dr. Robert Johnson will join us as our Leawood Location Pastor on July 1.

Rev. Johnson has served as pastor in United Methodist churches for more than 27 years. He served on the pastoral staff at Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston –at the time it was the largest UMC in the US. He went on to start a new congregation, then had successful ministries as senior pastor at several churches. For the last seven years, he has served as Senior Pastor at St. Mark’s UMC in Wichita, one of the leading churches in the Great Plains Annual Conference. He’s done great work there, strengthening the church and helping them engage in significant ministry in the community. He is noted for his exceptional commitment and effectiveness in leadership development, team-building, and organizational development.

Rev. Johnson received his undergraduate degree in psychology, with a minor in philosophy and religion, at the University of Southern Mississippi, in Hattiesburg, MS. He did his graduate work at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, earning his Master of Divinity degree in May, 1994. Roberts is the author of the recently published book, Jesus Unchained.

Rev. Johnson is married to Linda Johnson, a senior financial manager with Koch Industries. He and Linda have 2 daughters: Giselle, 27, and Kayla 22. Giselle, a Howard University graduate, is a creative executive with Sony Entertainment. Kayla is an educator in Atlanta, GA and a recent graduate of Spelman College.

This week we invited Robert and Linda to record a brief video greeting to our congregation that you can watch by clicking here.

VESPERS TUESDAY, April 4

I’ll be concluding my study of the gospel of Luke with our college-age students during Vespers this Tuesday, April, at 7:30 pm CST. You can join us live on my Pastor Adam Hamilton Facebook page Tuesday night, or watch the replay on my FB page or on our YouTube channel after Tuesday. This has been an incredible experience to meet with these bright young adults as they study, ask questions, and grow in their faith.

AN EVENING CONVERSATION WITH YOUR SENIOR PASTOR

I regularly field questions about faith, theology, the Bible and how our faith relates to social issues of our time. I enjoy discussing these questions and thought some of you might enjoy having a chance to have a conversation with me about your questions of faith.

Here are a few of the questions I frequently receive: Is there a hell and who goes there? What is the eternal fate of people of other faiths? What happens to our souls at death and can we talk to our deceased loved ones? Is the Bible inerrant? Is it always meant to be read literally? How do we read its difficult passages? What are the essential Christian beliefs? What if we have doubts? What is on the horizon for the denomination? And, how does our faith relate to the major social issues of our time? There are many more.

On two Tuesday nights, April 18 and 25, from 6:30 to 8 pm, I’ll be fielding your questions about faith, the bible, theology and life. This will be held in the Leawood sanctuary. I’m excited about this opportunity to share with you. You can register for this event and share a question that you’d like to see me include. I’ll try to cover the most frequently asked questions. Click here to register and to submit your questions.

A RECENT EXPERIENCE WITH A DONOR-ADVISED FUND

Some of you have, or have thought about setting up, a Donor Advised Fund. These are valuable tools for generosity and tax planning. On a couple of occasions in the last year or two, Resurrection members reported that a certain donor-advised fund sponsored by an organization in Kansas City refused to allow gifts to be directed to Resurrection. The organization gives to churches, but apparently not to churches that welcome and include same-sex married couples. In both cases, our members were disappointed because our welcome of everyone is one of the things they are proud of about our church.

I looked on the organization’s website and could not find mention of their position restricting gifts to congregations based upon their welcome of same-sex couples. These two families would not have placed their funds with this organization had they known. I believe they should be able to move their fund to another donor-advised fund organization elsewhere in Kansas City. There are many outstanding organizations that can manage donor-advised funds – this is the only one I know of that holds the position they do. You might want to check, before setting up a donor-advised fund with an organization, if they have restrictions that are consistent with your values. If you have questions, feel free to reach out to Debi Nixon on our development team or to my assistant, Stephanie Hubers.

LOOKING AHEAD AFTER EASTER

We have some exciting events coming up after Easter – opportunities to connect, learn and serve -and I hope you’ll consider joining us.

Bookmobile Used Book Drive – On the weekend of April 15/16, You can help us “stuff the bookmobile” and keep it full of great titles that kids will enjoy reading and adding to their home libraries. Your gently used children’s books can be re-purposed to bring joy and the love of reading to another child. More than 25,000 used books were distributed to low-income students through the bookmobile and reading programs in 2022.

Strength to Love – Join Resurrection and St. James UMC for a four-week study of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s book, Strength to Love, on Wednesday nights beginning April 19. Sponsored by Allies for Racial Justice, this dynamic study will be held at both Resurrection and St. James UMC, and is intended to promote racial healing and awareness through conversation alongside a diverse group of participants from both congregations. Here’s the link to sign up.

Managing Student Loans Seminar – The Resurrection Foundation is hosting an online seminar on Saturday, April 22, from 10-11:30 am CDT. An experienced financial educator and Certified Financial Planner will explain the new federal repayment options, how to fit them into your financial goals and minimize the total amount paid. Everyone is welcome – graduates, students, and parents. The seminar is free but you need to register here to receive the Zoom link.

As I close this note, I am thinking about the people in Nashville, including, students, parents and staff at The Covenant School and all who were affected by this tragic shooting this week. It was Palm Sunday weekend nine years ago that two of our members were killed in a shooting at the Jewish Community Center and I remember well the pain inflicted on so many in our community. Please join me in praying for those impacted in Nashville, and for all who have suffered the tragedy of senseless violence, who grieve with them today, who cry out, with Jesus from the cross, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

In Christ’s love,

Adam

P.S. Make sure you check out all the exciting things that are happening at Resurrection during the season of Lent at resurrection.church/next.

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.

Learn More About What's Happening Now at Your Location

WEATHER ALERT:

IMPORTANT:

Weekly Update from Pastor Adam - March 31, 2023

THIS WEEKEND IN WORSHIP: JESUS’ FINAL WORDS

EASTER WORSHIP SERVICES

EASTER EGG-VENTURE APRIL 1!

MAUNDY THURSDAY AND GOOD FRIDAY

ROBERT JOHNSON NAMED LEAWOOD LOCATION PASTOR

VESPERS TUESDAY, April 4

AN EVENING CONVERSATION WITH YOUR SENIOR PASTOR

A RECENT EXPERIENCE WITH A DONOR-ADVISED FUND

LOOKING AHEAD AFTER EASTER

Adam Hamilton

Resurrection Senior Pastor

Learn More About What's Happening Now at Your Location

Leawood

West

Downtown

Blue Springs

Overland Park

Brookside

Spring Hill

Liberty

Lee's Summit

Online & TV