MISSION ROAD CONGREGATION EVENTS – MONDAY, AUGUST 23, 2021

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. If you have people to add to the prayer list, please contact Kennetha Kuttler.

IN THIS ISSUE:

RESURGENCE OF COVID-19

FALL WORSHIP SCHEDULE NOW AVAILABLE

THIS SUNDAY’S WORSHIP ON ZOOM

ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS ON ZOOM: A HISTORY OF GOD

SCHOOL SUPPLY DRIVE IN PROGRESS FOR CENTER OF HOPE

NEXT FOOD PANTRY COLLECTION

And More…

RESURGENCE OF COVID-19

Because of the resurgence of COVID-19 in Johnson County, Kansas, the county has been placed in the "red" zone category, meaning the number of new cases (exceeds 100 per 100,000 of population) and positivity rates (more than 10%) are increasing.

In response, for the next couple of weeks, we will suspend in-person services and offer both Adult Church School and the Mission Road worship service on Zoom-only.

We are not alone, all other Mission Center congregations in the Kansas City area have done likewise. We will continue to monitor the situation and hope the trend reverses itself quickly.

FALL WORSHIP SCHEDULE NOW AVAILABLE

The Fall Worship Schedule is now available online at https://tinyurl.com/FallWorship

Thank you to all those volunteers to make the smooth functioning of this congregation possible.

THIS SUNDAY’S WORSHIP ON ZOOM

The Sunday, August 29, 2021, the worship theme is “The Inward and Outward Journey.” Jane Landrum will offer the message. Kennetha Kuttler will preside and serve as the worship planner. Robert Sindt will provide the PowerPoint and host the Zoom session assisted by Kennetha Kuttler as co-host. You are invited to join us online for worship starting at 10:30 AM.

ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS ON ZOOM: A HISTORY OF GOD

The Mission Road Adult Sunday School Class will begin the study of “A History of God” by Karen Armstrong. Ron and Caryn Millard will host the first Sunday of a two-part showing of a History Channel documentary based (in part) on the book. The class session begins at 9:15 AM this coming Sunday morning on Zoom.

The full title of the book is “A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam” by Karen Armstrong. The text discusses how the three dominant monotheistic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have shaped and altered the conception of God over time.

The epic story begins with the Jews’ gradual transformation from pagan idol worship in Babylon into true monotheism—a concept previously unknown in the world. From classical philosophy and medieval mysticism to the Reformation, the author performs the daunting task of distilling the intellectual history of monotheism into one readable volume.

If you would like a copy of the text, it’s available on Amazon, both new ($15.99) and used paperbacks ($8-10), hardback (new for $14) and the Kindle edition ($14.99). Order your copy soon! Some copies may also available at Half-Price Books locally. Check out the store near you.

SCHOOL SUPPLY DRIVE IN PROGRESS FOR CENTER OF HOPE

It’s that season again when students are returning to the classroom and school supplies are so important. The Central Avenue Center of Hope is conducting its annual school supplies drive. Can you help?

Items that are most needed include bottles of school glue (Elmer’s), sets of 24 crayons, pencil crayons, blue pens, red pens, package of twelve #2 pencils, pink erasers, glue sticks, pair of blunt tip (Fiskars) scissors, pencil cases, pocket folders, subject dividers, packages of lined paper, packages of plain (copy) paper, lined wide ruled spiral bound notebooks, 12” rulers, boxes of tissues, broad tip markers, packages of washable felt tip markers, 1” binders, pocket dictionaries, pencil sharpeners, highlighters, bottles of hand sanitizer, and primary composition notebooks. These items cover school supplies needed for kindergarten through 6th grade students.

When shopping for your children or grandchildren, pick up some extras for the CACH. Anything you can bring between now and the end of August will be a blessing for these school children.

And as an extra treat, if you can afford it, consider putting the supplies in a backpack!

NEXT FOOD PANTRY COLLECTION

The Mission Road Congregation continues to serve an important need by providing household goods and clothing (new or gently used) or food for the Central Avenue Center of Hope. Please add the following drop off dates to your calendar. Members will be at church between 10 AM and noon on these dates to accept your donations!

Saturday, September 11, 2021

Saturday, September 25, 2021

Saturday, October 9, 2021

Saturday, October 23, 2021

You can drop off school supplies for the CACH School Supply Drive on these dates too!

NEW INTERNET SERVICE – NEW EMAIL – NEW WI-FI – NO CHURCH PHONE

Google Fiber has been installed in the Church. So, the old email has disappeared. The new email address is: missionroadcc

Please change your contact information now and start using the new address for any email communication.

We also have a new password for the Wi-Fi at church. Information how to access the new Google system is posted on the church bulletin board.

We are eliminating the church phone. Most everyone has a cell phone and since we are changing from ATT to Google, we are eliminating the land line.

MISSION ROAD MESSAGES/SERMONS ON YOUTUBE

If you missed a Sunday morning message (sermon or homily), you’ll now be able to view them on YouTube. The Community of Christ – Mission Road channel can be accessed at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiCbae5dTgl0cmF9b672skAyPXl-5o1lM (Or by using the shortened, easier to remember weblink: https://tinyurl.com/MissionRoadYouTube).

We are only posting the sermon or Sunday message portion of each service due to copyright concerns. Also please note that in some cases, Zoom failed to record the service.

New videos will be posted as soon as possible following each message/sermon.

2022 CARAVAN TRIP

Youth and families interested in the tentative 2022 senior high caravan trip (campers must complete 9th–12th grades in spring 2022), please fill out this survey: http://bit.ly/CaravanSurvey

IN-PERSON AND ZOOM CONGREGATIONAL WORSHIP TIMES

The Congregation will offer online meetings using Zoom for the next few weeks, until the COVID 19 situation improves in the neighboring communities. The access weblink for all Zoom sessions is the same and times are listed below.

7 PM Every Wednesday – Prayer Circle on Zoom.

9:15 AM Every Sunday – The Adult Sunday School Class meets on Zoom.

10:30 AM Every Sunday – Sunday Morning Mission Road Worship accessible on Zoom.

TITHES AND OFFERINGS

Please remember that church expenses continue. If you are not attending in-person please remember to support the church financially. 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.

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 or email Kennetha Kuttler at missionroadcc.

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.

OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE VIA EMAIL

The email address for general church drafts of your Order of Worship and church business (Kennetha Kuttler) is missionroadcc

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.