MISSION ROAD CONGREGATION EVENTS – MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2020

If you have news to share in the weekly church email newsletter, please notify Jonathan Bacon or Larry Birkby by Noon on Sunday each week.

Don’t forget to join us each week for the Sunday Morning Mission Road Worship Online and for the Wednesday Evening Prayer Circle Online!

IN THIS ISSUE:

CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE: AN EVENING OF CAROLS AND SACRED STORY

THIS SUNDAY’S WORSHIP

ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS RESUMES JANUARY 3

MIDLANDS MISSION CENTER ONLINE CLASSES: BEGINNING JAN 9

MISSION ROAD CONGREGATION ONLINE MEETINGS

NEXT ALL GOOD BOOKS CLUB MEETING

And More…

CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE: AN EVENING OF CAROLS AND SACRED STORY

Each year at the Kirtland Temple, the Christmas story is shared through scripture and carols. Although the community is unable to gather in person this year, the Spirit of the season will continue in an expanded form and streamed around the world. In partnership with the Beyond the Walls choir and the Toronto Centre Place, we invite you to join us and the talented musicians throughout Community of Christ in singing beloved Advent hymns with friends from all over the world. Go to https://tinyurl.com/ChristEveMusic to join us via YouTube on Thursday, December 24, 2020 at 6 pm (Eastern), 5 pm (Central), 4 pm (Mountain), 3 pm (Pacific).

This is an evening you don’t want to miss!

Note: Donations received during the Christmas Eve Service will go towards the "$25,000 in 25 Days" campaign to help fund the preservation and maintenance of Community of Christ historic sites. Unable to attend but interested in supporting the historic sites? Follow the link (https://tinyurl.com/donateCofC) to make an online donation to the campaign. Contributions may be sent through the mail to: Community of Christ Historic Sites Foundation,

P.O. Box 338, Nauvoo, IL 62354.

Thank you for your generosity!

THIS SUNDAY’S WORSHIP

The Sunday, December 27, 2020, worship theme is “Guided by the Spirit” and will feature a message by Dorothy May. Larry Birkby will preside and serve as the worship planner. Clint Reine will provide the PowerPoint and host the Zoom meeting assisted by Brian Libeer.

You’re invited to join us online starting at 8:45 AM for conversation and fellowship with the worship activities beginning at 9 AM. After the service, we’ll keep the Zoom session open for folks to fellowship. We hope you can join us.

ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS RESUMES JANUARY 3

The Mission Road Adult Sunday School Class will resume meeting online on Sunday, January 3, 2021. Class time will again follow the Sunday morning worship starting at 10 AM.

Having completed the Amy-Jill Levine book “Short Stories by Jesus,” the class will begin studying her book “Sermon on the Mount.” The book examines Jesus’ most profound and memorable teachings from his sermon on the mount.

The book is available from Amazon for $13.34 (plus tax) and shipping unless you have Amazon Prime. The class will include discussion coupled with six video presentations by the author.

The class will be co-taught by Jane Landrum, Marilyn Gairns, Jonathan Bacon, Paul Bennetts and Dennis Wood.

There will be no adult class on December 20 and 27, 2020, but of course there will be worship on those dates starting at 9 AM.

MIDLANDS MISSION CENTER ONLINE CLASSES: BEGINNING JAN 9

• Introduction to Priesthood Ministry (Temple School MP300) 8 weeks

• Ministry of the Deacon (Temple School MP302) 6 weeks

• Ministry of the High Priest (Temple School MP307) 8 weeks, Instructor David Anderson, Pres. Quorum of High Priests

• Introduction to Pastor Ministry – 6 weeks

• NEW Generational Overview (mini-class) 3 weeks, $18

$25 registration begins December 14. To register, please visit www.developmetrics.org and click on “USA Registration”.

MISSION ROAD CONGREGATION ONLINE MEETINGS

The Mission Road Congregation will offer several meetings in the coming weeks online. Access details are the same for each session and are listed below.

7 PM Every Wednesday – Prayer Circle. Note: There will be no Prayer Circle on Wednesday, December 23 or 30, 2020.

9 AM Every Sunday – Sunday Morning Mission Road Worship Online.

10 AM Every Sunday – Resuming on Sunday January 3, 2021 the Adult Sunday School Class will study “Sermon on the Mount” by Amy-Jill Levine.

NEXT ALL GOOD BOOKS CLUB MEETING

The All Good Books group will meet on Thursday, January 21, 2021, to discuss “The Overstory” by Richard Powers. The book club website at https://allbooksclub.wordpress.com/ includes discussion questions for the session drawn from the PBS NewsHour website.

SCHEDULE OF FOOD PANTRY DROP-OFF DATES

The Mission Road Congregation continues to serve an important need by providing food stuffs, school supplies and new or gently used clothing for the Central Avenue Center of Hope. In October we provide an astounding 325 pounds of food for the pantry (surpassing September 245 pounds)! The need continues!

Please plan to drop supplies off at church on the following Saturday mornings between 10 AM and noon:

January 9, 2021

There continues to be a special need for food, school supplies, personal hygiene items, school supplies and t-shirts.

CURRENT CHURCH RE-OPENING STATUS

World Church buildings and historic sites remain closed. The Mission Road Congregation remains closed until infection rates in the area drop.

TITHES AND OFFERINGS

Please remember that church expenses continue, even when we’re not meeting in the building. Mary Reichenbach, the Congregation’s Financial Officer has indicated that contributions can be mailed to her house (10223 Briar Dr., Overland Park, KS 66207) or the church (7842 Mission Road, Prairie Village, KS 66208), or you can sign up for eTithing on the World Church website https://www.cofchrist.org/etithing). Any of these options will enable you to continue your regular contributions.

If you use the eTithing site, select the United States link and then scroll down to Mission Road Community of Christ. When you click on that page, there will be an option in the upper right-hand corner to ’sign up’ to create your account and enter either your bank account information for direct debit or a credit card to charge your contribution, or ’sign in’ if you have already set up your account. You may also choose a one-time contribution or a continuing contribution. Most of the contribution options on our tithing envelopes are available on the Mission Road eTithing page. If you have additional questions about electronic contributions, please contact Mary.

SUMMER 2021 CAMPS SCHEDULED

Doniphan Reunion – June 11 – 15

Middle School Camp – June 20 – 25

Senior High Camp – June 20 – 25

Junior Camp – June 27 – July 1

Chihowa Reunion – July 11 – 16

Youth Quest – July 22 – 24

Spectacular – July 24 – 31

DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WITHOUT EMAIL OR FACEBOOK ACCESS?

If you know someone in the congregation that does not have email and does not use Facebook, please let Jonathan Bacon know. We are trying to be sure everyone in the congregation has access to periodic news updates and information on congregational activities.

CONCERNING PRAYER REQUESTS

Please know that any member of the congregation can post prayer requests or share information about members, and events on the Mission Road Members Only Facebook page. You do not need to send the information for approval to anyone. In fact, doing so may slow down the dissemination of your request. Be sure to include the person needing prayers and what situation has occurred (if you wish to share that information). If your post concerns an event or news item, be sure to include the basics in your posting (such as who, what, where and when).

For prayer requests, if you do not have access to Facebook, then please call Paul Bennetts our Congregational Pastoral Care Coordinator.

OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE VIA EMAIL

The email address for general church drafts of your Order of Worship and church business (Clint Reine) is mrcoc

The email address for CFO business (Mary Reichenbach) is mrcoccfo

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.