CAMP COURAGE PROJECT & REQUEST

Cheryl Kennedy has been involved with Camp Courage now for 3 years. She is a counselor for a cabin of 5 young ladies. Camp only costs the camper $180.00 out of pocket but it costs around $360.00 total for each camper for the 4-day camp. Cheryl has decided to make it her mission to cover the other half of her 5 campers’ camp fees ($180.00 each) by asking friends and family to help out. She already has funds for two camper fees covered, one by her husband’s company and another by her Girl Scout pals, but she still needs to cover the $540.00 for the other 3 campers. Cheryl is asking her church family to help. Whatever you can give will be put to good use.

CAMP COURAGE BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Camp Courage provides a typical camping experience for adults (21 and older) with developmental disabilities. It started in 1977, as a joint venture between Community of Christ and Catholic Charities. The camp is held at the Community of Christ campground in Stewartsville, MO (Camp FarWesta). Carroll Cathey of the St. Joseph, MO congregation was director for many years. Other directors have been Joel Loving, Steve Calloway, Bea Koehler and Ina Faye Overdick. Carroll Cathey’s daughter, Janet Woodward and her husband have been the directors for the past 16 years. The camp is run totally by volunteers and no one gets any pay for working at this 4-day camp. Dates for camp this year are June 23 – 26, 2016.

The camp has applied for grants but since it only occurs for 4 days once a year it is very hard to get funding. Foundations typically fund programs that run the entire year. So camp staff holds fundraising events, mail invitations for donations to folks on their mailing list and encourage businesses to sponsor a camper for a donation of $180.00.

"MAKE SOME MAGIC NIGHT" AT MISSION ROAD

This year Mission Road is hosting a Camp Courage fundraising event. It is on Saturday, March 5, 2016 from 6 – 8 PM. "Make Some Magic for Camp Courage!" Tickets cost $15.00 and tickets are available from Cheryl Kennedy. Cash or check is acceptable. Checks should be made payable to Camp Courage.

There will be a Silent Auction, Food Sampling and a Popcorn Bar by Funky Monkey Popcorn. Starting at 7 PM John Weaver, a magician, will provide the entertainment. Cheryl is also accepting donations for the silent auction.

NEW SPRING WORSHIP SERVICE SCHEDULE!

The new Spring Worship Service Schedules are availability. If you do not have one there are additional copies on the table in the Fellowship Hall by the bulletin board. Thank you to all those that have agreed to serve. Thank you to Pam O’Neal, Caryn Brown and Ron Millard for their work in organizing the new spring schedule. If you find you are unable to serve your assignment YOU need to find someone to take your place. When a change is necessary to the Worship Schedule, please notify the Worship Planner, The Presider, Clint, Jonathan, Jason Scott & Larry. Additionally, changes should be penciled in on the Worship Schedule posted on the bulletin board in the Fellowship Hall. Phone numbers of all members are available in the Church Directory.

SOCKS STILL NEEDED NOW!

We are collecting good new or used socks for the students at Osage City High School. Your past donations of shoes are gratefully appreciated; now we need socks! Please bring your donations of new or used (but still useful) socks to church this Sunday.

CONTINUED NEED FOR SCHOOL SUPPLIES!

The second semester of school is well underway, but that doesn’t diminish the need of many disadvantaged students for notebooks, pencils, paper, erasers, markers and all the traditional school items. There is no end date on this request. The Central Avenue Center of Hope can use your donations of school supplies anytime during the year. The need is always greater than the supply. Next time you are shopping, why not buy an extra notebook or package of pencils, erasers, or any school supply and bring to church.

UNIVERSITY ACADEMY BOOK FAIR

On Tuesday March 1st University Academy is holding their annual Book Fair. Karen is looking for some volunteers to assist in helping the children and parents "dress" for their photo op, preside over the snack table and help with a small game. Time frames would be from 1 to 2:30 and 2:30 to 6pm. Please contact Karen by email or call her if you have an interest in helping. Karen assures it will be fun and your help will be greatly appreciated.

MIDLANDS MISSION CENTER NEWSLETTER

A copy of the February Midlands Mission Center Newsletter is posted on the bulletin board in the Narthex. Online registration is available for Camps and Reunion at www.midlandsmc.org

Under "Youth Camp and Reunion Registration" click on the Green Button

"THE SECRET MESSAGE OF JESUS," ADULT CLASS CONTINUES

The Adult Sunday School class is studying "The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth that Could Change Everything"by Brian D. McLaren each Sunday during the 9:30-10:15 AM Sunday school class hour.

Jonathan Bacon, Paul Bennetts, Jane Landrum, Jennifer Libeer, and Dennis Wood are team teaching the class. Copies of the book are available in paperback through Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com. It is also available from Amazon.com for the Kindle.

The schedule for the upcoming weeks includes:

Sunday, February 28, 2016 – Jennifer Libeer, Chapter 18 ("The Borders of the Kingdom")

Sunday, March 6, 2016 – Jonathan Bacon, Chapter 19 (The Future of the Kingdom)

Sunday, March 13, 2016 – Jonathan Bacon, Chapter 20 (The Harvest of the Kingdom)

Sunday, March 20, 2016 – Paul Bennetts, Chapter 21 (Seeing the Kingdom)

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Wednesday, February 24, 2016, 6:30 PM – Saints’ Chorale rehearsal in the Sanctuary.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016, 7:35 PM The Prayer Circle meets in the quiet of the Church Library. Come join the Prayer Warriors of our congregation.

If you are not able to join the Prayer Warriors at church, please schedule time to remember those on our prayer list. Prayer is a strong power we each can use to support one other. Prayer Works!

Sunday, February 28, 2016 – 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.
• Adult Sunday School class – 9:30-10:15 AM, team taught by Jonathan Bacon, Paul Bennetts, Jane Landrum, Jennifer Libeer and Dennis Wood in Church Library.
• God’s Kids – 9:30-11:30 AM – Children’s Library (Second Sunday of the Month Only) studying Bible stories.

Sunday, February 28, 2016, 10:30 AM – Jonathan Bacon will speak on the theme "Repent and Be Fruitful" with Linda Dayton presiding and serving as the worship planner. The ministry of music will be provided by the Susan Clark.

Monday, February 29, 2016, 7:00-8:30 PM – The Mission Bells will rehearse in the Sanctuary.

MARCH BOOK SELECTED FOR THE ALL GOOD BOOKS CLUB MEETING

The next meeting of the All Good Books discussion group will on Thursday, March 10, 2016 at 7:00 PM to discuss "My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry" by Fredrick Backman. The group meets at the church in the library (7842 Mission Road, Prairie Village, KS).

You can always find information on the book club’s schedule, on the website at http://allbooksclub.wordpress.com

MIDLANDS MISSION CENTER 2016 SUMMER CAMPING PROGRAM

Sr. High Camp: June 12-17

Doniphan Reunion: June 21-26

Junior Camp: July 5-9

Youth Quest KC: July 7-9

Chihowa Reunion: July 10-15

MITIOG: July 24-29

Spectacular: July 23-30

Middle School Camp: July 31-August 5

Online Registration is now available on the Mission Center website! Online registration is available for Camps and Reunion at www.midlandsmc.org Under "Youth Camp and Reunion Registration" click on the Green Button If you have questions call Larry & Karen or Pennie.

MISSION ROAD WORSHIP AUDIO RECORDINGS

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

NOTE: for the next few weeks, new recordings (after January 10) will be available at https://goo.gl/gj6Eog until they are moved to our regular Copy.com storage after mid-February.

Recently added audio recordings include:

Jennifer Libeer message presented on December 6, 2015, filename 20151206-JLibeer.mp3 (available soon)

Ron Millard message presented on December 13, 2015, filename 20151213-RMillard.mp3

Annual Christmas Concert on December 13, 2015, filename 20151213-ChristmasConcert.mp3

Jonathan Bacon message presented on December 20, 2015, filename 20151220-JBacon.mp3

John O’Neal message presented on December 27, 2015, filename 20151227-JONeal.mp3

Larry Birkby message presented on January 3, 2016, filename 20160103-LBirkby.mp3

Kirk Barnhart message presented on January 10, 2016, filename 20160110-KBarnhard.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). The 2015 recordings have now been moved into the 2015 folder. If you missed a Sunday, this provides you a way to hear the music and the message.

IMPORTANT CONGREGATIONAL LINKS

The Mission Road Congregation hosts the following social media sites:

Congregational (public) website at www.mission-road.org

Facebook Page (public) at https://www.facebook.com/MissionRoad.CoC

Facebook Group (open only to congregational members) at https://www.facebook.com/groups/MissionRoad/

The All Good Books discussion group website at https://allbooksclub.wordpress.com/

Visit and "like" each of these sites to keep up-to-date on congregational news.

CONGREGATIONAL NEWS EMAIL

If you have news items and calendar additions or changes that need to be included in the congregational news email please contact Larry Birkby. His email address and phone number are both in the Church Directory