UPCOMING EVENTS

NEXT SUNDAY EVENING: THE ANNUAL ICE CREAM SOCIAL and TALENT SHOW

Mark your calendar for Sunday evening, August 30, 2015 at 5 PM for the Annual Mission Road Ice Cream Social and Talent Show! The children’s Sunday school class made a signup sheet, which is on the bulletin board. Signup soon so we can make this another great Mission Road Ice Cream Social. Bring your talent to entertain all of us. Come and enjoy some ice cream and support the talented participants.

ANNUAL SCHOOL SUPPLY DRIVE IS OVER, BUT…

Keep in mind that school supplies are needed all year long. Any time you think of it, simply bring supplies and place in the Central Avenue Center of Hope Food Pantry cabinet inside the front door of the church. Always needed: paper, pencils, erasers, crayons, markers, and all the usual school supplies that children need. If you are blessed, pass it on.

SAINT’S CHORALE INVITATION TO JOIN!

If you like to sing and want to share your talent, come join the Saint’s Chorale, a group of dedicated, loyal, and caring people. New members are welcome and we hope to see all members from last year return for the 2015/2016 season. If you have friends that like to sing and are not members of our church and would like to join a choir, please invite them to join our choir.

The new season will begin with the first rehearsal on Wednesday, August 26th at 6:30 p.m. Our first Performance will be on Sunday, September 13, 2015.

Our heartfelt THANKS to Janice Hedrick for the many years of leadership she provided for the Choir, truly an era to cherish! A big welcome to Jack Cave who has accepted the major responsibility as the new Saint’s Chorale Director.

A special thank you to ALL the musicians who so willingly give of their time and talent to enhance the Mission Road Worship experience. Y’all Rock! (According to Charles Athey, Music Coordinator)

MISSION BELLS SEEKS MUSICIANS

Musicians wanted! You are invited to be a part of the Mission Bells this coming season. We perform on the third Sunday of each month and rehearse two or three Monday evenings per month beginning September 14, 2015 at 7 PM. Tutoring is available on hand bells. The ability to read music is needed. Contact Dorothy Kelly May if you have questions.

MINISTRY OF THE ELDER TEMPLE SCHOOL CLASS

From Barbara Borkowski, Central USA Mission President. Midlands USA Interim Mission President: Dear Friends, I just wanted to share information about the new pilot “Ministry of the Elder.” If you have individuals who need this class prior to ordination…this is a great way for it to happen!

September 5–November 27, 2015 “Ministry of the Elder” Temple School Class offered through eLearning. Temple School will offer a pilot of the new course “Ministry of the Elder” as an 8-week online class through the new Community of Christ eLearning. Registration begins August 5 at 8:00am (Central Time) and ends September 5. This class is limited to 20 people.

To be eligible, students need to:

• Have access to a computer or tablet with high-speed Internet access

• Be able to dedicate 1.5 hours each week (8 weeks) Sept. 5-Nov. 27, 2015

• Pay the reduced pilot fee of $15 (credit or debit card) by calling Herald House Customer Service toll free at 800-767-8181 or locally at (816) 833-1000 x 1004

ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS SCHEDULE

The Adult Sunday School class is studying Mark Scherer’s "The Journey of a People: The Era of Reorganization, 1844 to 1946." This coming Sunday, the class will discuss Chapter 16 (“Early Efforts toward Internationalization – Missions to Europe”). Dennis Wood will lead the class discussion.

What Would You Like to Study Next?

In the Adult Sunday School Class, we anticipate completing Volume 2 of the church history (by Mark A. Scherer) by mid-October. In order to allow time for class teachers to prepare, we would like to settle on a class topic over the next couple of weeks. Nine suggestions have been received to date; AND you’re encouraged to add to the list:

1. God is Closer Than you Think by John Ortberg: Intimacy with God can happen right now if you want it. A closeness you can feel, a goodness you can taste, a reality you can experience for yourself. That’s what the Bible promises, so why settle for less? God is closer than you think, and connecting with him isn’t just for monks and ascetics. It’s for business people, high school students, busy moms, single men, single women … and most important, it’s for YOU.

2. The Life and Letters of Paul (using Alfred H. Yale book and "The First Century Church" by Wayne Ham and Pat Spillman plus additional contemporary resources).

3. Live, Love, Share: Visibly One in Christ: a six-lesson text that includes articles and readings related to words of counsel presented at Community of Christ World Conference 2013. It explores liberating disruption, covenant principles for priesthood ministry, faithful disagreement, generosity, and commitment and response. Recommended 2015 reunion resource.

4. The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus by Amy-Jill Levine: In the The Misunderstood Jew, scholar Amy-Jill Levine helps Christians and Jews understand the "Jewishness" of Jesus so that their appreciation of him deepens and a greater interfaith dialogue can take place. Levine’s humor and informed truth-telling provokes honest conversation and debate about how Christians and Jews should understand Jesus, the New Testament, and each other.

5. St. Benedict on the Freeway by Corrine Ware: How can we heal the rift between our daily lives and the sacred? How can we live a life capable of hearing "the still small voice" of God while experiencing the speed and sensory overload of modern life? This book is Ware’s answer to these questions.

6. The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth that Could Change Everything by Brian D. McLaren: McLaren invites you to discover afresh the transforming message of Jesus-an open invitation to radical change, an enlightening revelation that exposes sham and ignites hope, an epic story that is good news for everyone, whatever their gender, race, class, politics, or religion.

7. Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith by Ron Bell: This introduction to the Christian faith is definitely outside the usual evangelical box. Bell wants to offer "a fresh take on Jesus"—a riff that begins with the assertion that Jesus wanted to "call people to live in tune with reality" and that he "had no use for religion." Bell invites seekers into a Christianity that has room for doubts.

8. The Village Effect: How Face-to-Face Contact Can Make Us Healthier, Happier, and Smarter by Susan Pinker: In her surprising, entertaining, and persuasive book, author and psychologist Susan Pinker shows how face-to-face contact is crucial for learning, happiness, resilience, and longevity. From birth to death, human beings are hardwired to connect to other human beings. Face-to-face contact matters: tight bonds of friendship and love heal us, help children learn, extend our lives, and make us happy. Looser in-person bonds matter, too, combining with our close relationships to form a personal "village" around us, one that exerts unique effects. Not just any social networks will do: we need the real, in-the-flesh encounters that tie human families, groups of friends, and communities together. Marrying the findings of the new field of social neuroscience with gripping human stories, Susan Pinker explores the impact of face-to-face contact from cradle to grave, from classroom to workplace, from love to marriage to divorce. Most of us have left the literal village behind and don’t want to give up our new technologies to go back there. But, as Pinker writes so compellingly, we need close social bonds and uninterrupted face-time with our friends and families in order to thrive—even to survive. Creating our own "village effect" makes us happier. It can also save our lives.

9. What Did Jesus Really Say (and exploration of the words of Jesus in the scriptures using additional resources that consider what we know about the historical Jesus).

What would you add to the list? Contact Education and Communication Coordinator Jonathan Bacon this week with your suggestions. We’re hoping to have a ballot prepared and distributed in class in early September.

PAPER DRIVE STARTING SOON!

The Central Avenue Center of Hope Paper Drive begins on September 1 and runs through October 25, 2015. Please start collecting those needed items now: plates, napkins, cups, spoons, forks, toilet paper, and paper towels. What can you provide?

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Wednesday, August 26, 2015, 6:30 PM – Saints’ Chorale Rehearsal in the Church Sanctuary

Wednesday, August 26, 2015, 7:45 PM – The Prayer Circle meets in the quiet of the Church Library. NOTE NEW TIME!

Sunday, August 30, 2015, 9:00 AM – Breakfast (Marge & John Trinkl), come and join us for conversation and fellowship.

Sunday, August 30, 2015, 9:30 AM – Sunday school classes for children and adults.

· Nursery available – 9:30-11:30 AM in downstairs Nursery.

· Children’s Sunday School class – 9:30-10:15 AM taught by Robin Payne

· God’s Kids – 9:30-11:30 AM – Children’s Library (Second Sunday of the Month Only) starting a study of the Book of Mormon.

Sunday, August 30, 2015, 10:30 AM – Karen Birkby will speak on the theme "Purify Your Heart" with Clint Reine presiding. Dorothy May will serve as worship planner. Jennifer Libeer will offer the ministry of music.

Sunday, August 30, 2015, 5:00 PM – Annual Ice Cream Social and Talent Show

SEPTEMBER BOOK CLUB TOPIC ANNOUNCED

The next meeting of the All Good Books discussion group will be held Thursday, September 10, 2015 at 7:00 PM at the Community of Christ (7842 Mission Road, Prairie Village, KS) in the Church Library. The book we will discuss is "We Are Called to Rise" by Laura McBride.

MISSION ROAD WORSHIP AUDIO RECORDINGS

Our congregational worship audio recordings are hosted online at https://copy.com/ej21J9e1xKOCiJwX

Recently added audio recordings include:

Margaret Athey message presented on August 2, 2015, filename 20150802-MAthey.mp3

Avis Garrett-Baptist message presented on August 9, 2015, filename 20150809-ABaptist.mp3

Richard Emslie message presented on August 16, 2015, filename 20150816-REmslie.mp3

Steve Holben message presented on August 23, 2015, filename 20150823-SHolben.mp3

The beginning numbers of each filename indicate the Sunday of the audio recordings. The first 4 digits represent the year; the next two digits indicate the month and last two digits represent the day of the month. In most cases, the date is followed by a dash and then the first initial and last name of the speaker.

Audio recordings from previous years are located in folders corresponding to the year (2005, 2006, 2007, and so on). If you missed a Sunday, this provides you a way to hear the music and the message.