IN THIS ISSUE:

HAPPENING THIS WEEK

BAPTISMAL SERVICE AT 9 AM THIS SUNDAY

ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS MEETS AT 9:15 AM – Questions for this Sunday

SUNDAY’S WORSHIP AT 10:30 AM

CENTER OF HOPE CHRISMAS SHOEBOXES – Deadline this Sunday

BATTLE OF THE BRAINS – Vote daily!

COOKIE EXCHANGE

VESPER SERVICE

GOGGLE VOICE PHONE NUMBER

And More…

HAPPENING THIS WEEK

WEDNESDAY – Prayer Circle via Zoom at 7 PM

SUNDAY

IN-PERSON AND ON ZOOM The Mission Road Congregation will meet in-person in the church building and concurrently broadcast on Zoom. In the church building, social distancing with face masks will be required. We’re looking forward to seeing you all in church face-to-face, while Zoom will continue to be an option for both the Adult Class and the Worship Service

BAPTISMAL SERVICE AT 9:00 AM – THIS SUNDAY

There will be a Baptismal Service for Jim Reichenbach this Sunday morning before Sunday School classes start. All are welcome to attend and witness the sacrament of baptism. The Confirmation will be during the 10:30 Worship Service.

ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL 9:15 AM. The Mission Road Adult Sunday School Class will finish the study of “A History of God”. Chapter 11 is the final chapter in the book. This Sunday, Jonathan Bacon will lead a wrap-up session on the Armstrong book. Discussion questions are as follows:

“A History of God”

Wrap-Up Session Questions

1. What did you learn from the study of “A History of God?”

2. What did you like or dislike about the author’s perspectives on God and monotheism?

3. Has the study of “A History of God” changed your views about God personally? If so, how?

4. How do you personally interpret the stories of the God of the Bible? Is there a difference in your view based on the Old Testament verses the New Testament? Explain.

5. Has the study changed your views of other monotheistic religions (Judaism and Islam)? If so, how?

6. How do you personally understand the God of your childhood verses the God of your adulthood? Have personal struggles, tragedies, successes, and joys affected your current view of God?

7. Where do you think beliefs about God are headed in our modern world?

8. What do you think people will believe about God 100 years from now?

9. In Armstrong’s book, she discusses a Personal God, a God of History, a Pantheistic God, the God of Deism, the God of Apatheia, the God of the Mystics, the God of the Philosophers, God the Father and more. Which one of these (or which combination) describes your understanding of God? Explain.

10. How should our contemporary view of God affect the future of the Mission Road Congregation? What changes, if any, do you believe should be made in our worship and service to accommodate (what may be a widely varied) contemporary view of God?

After the 12th, there will be no Adult Sunday School Class until January 9, 2022, when Paul Bennetts will lead the discussion of the Introduction and Chapter 1 of a new text, "St. Paul versus St. Peter: A Tale of Two Missions" by Michael Goulder. The Goulder book was the runner-up in the last class poll regarding what to study.

Copies of the Goulder book will be available in class. The cost is $22 for the paperback, and you can simply add the amount to your offering (indicating that you’re covering the cost of the new text on your donation envelope). Readers will be pleased to know that the longest chapter in the book is 8 pages in length! We hope you’ll join us in studying this new text in 2022

CHILDREN’S SUNDAY SCHOOL meets in downstairs classroom at 9:15 AM-not available on Zoom

WORSHIP 10:30 AM For Sunday, December 12th, the worship theme is “Sing and Rejoice!”. This is the third week of Advent. Ron Millard will deliver the morning message. Roxann Kosmicki will preside and serve as the worship planner. PowerPoint & Zoom Host is Kenne Kuttler with Dennis Wood Co-Host.

CENTER OF HOPE – Our Christmas gifts are due to the church on December 12. Gifts for all ages are needed. It is suggested that gifts be kept simple this year. Socks, gloves caps, personal items, and candy. The Center serves 50 Men, 30 Women, 20 children ages 1 to 10 and 20 youth ages 11 to 16.

*Please have the gifts in a medium size gift bag or shoe box so it will fit through the window at the Center. Label the gift as to what group it is in: Male, Female, Adult, Child, or Teen. *

BATTLE OF THE BRAINS FROM NADINE BENNETTS -As you may have heard or seen, my 5th grade students’ Battle of the Brains Team (7 members), is in the TOP 20 Finalist, (out of 750 teams), and we’re hoping to end up being #1! The prize, getting to build the next STEM Exhibit at Science City in downtown Kansas City! (A million-dollar deal!)

They’ve done their work, and now we are asking for your help in the Public Voting Round of Battle of the Brains competition, put on by Burns & McDonnell. To do that we need you to vote, daily, for the next two weeks – using each of your email accounts! Again, that’s each day, each email account, starting Monday morning, December 6, until Friday, December 17, 2021!

*One more request – please Share this request with everyone you can, and ask them to vote, too.

To do this, go to https://www.botbkc.com/vote/ and choose Shawnee Mission Northwest Enhanced Learning Program!

On theirs and my behalf, I thank you, for helping us on this exciting journey!

Nadine Bennetts,

(Mission Road Congregation

COOKIE EXCHANGE – Join other bakers in a cookie exchange. Sign up sheet will be up this Sunday. Exchange cookies after church on Sunday, December 19. Contact Roxann for more information.

VESPER SERVICE—Save this date on your calendar: December 19th at 6 PM.

FROM MIDLANDS MISSION CENTER -Digital Strategy Moves Church Forward

The Communications team, in collaboration with groups from the field and headquarters, is leading an effort to increase and focus the church’s presence online. As technology and the way people interact with information evolve, an awareness that we’ve outgrown our digital home is becoming apparent.

The strategy emerging from our collaborative work positions the church to look confidently into the future. We’re excited to share some of the Phase One elements of this strategic plan.

BACKGROUND

The current CofChrist.org has three major communication goals—mission, administrative operations, and formational resources and experiences. Communicating all of that and providing relevant information to leaders, members, and seekers is a tall order for any single website. We find our messaging becomes diluted or sometimes even confusing depending on your role and how you interact with certain information.

OVERVIEW

The new digital landscape strategy for Community of Christ includes three distinct yet connected websites with three focus areas.

• MISSION

Site: http://www.CofChrist.org

Audience: Members and seekers

Details: Explore our faith community and how we are living Christ’s mission. Anticipated launch of new English, French, and Spanish site in the first quarter 2022.

• OPERATIONS

Site: Built on SharePoint platform

Audience: Leaders, priesthood, and members

Details: Access church policies as well as priesthood and leadership resources. Site will require a username and password to access. You can vote on one of the names submitted by our community.

• FORMATION

Site: http://www.HeraldHouse.org

Audience: Members, leaders, planners

Details: Discover retail and free disciple formation tools, resources, and products. Enhanced French and Spanish experience will be available in the first quarter of 2022, followed by a way to see several pages of a book’s PDF before downloading.

We received over 65 name suggestions for the Community of Christ SharePoint site during the initial brainstorm phase. The Communications team reviewed the submissions and grouped similar ideas and themes to arrive at three great options.

Now we need you to vote! Choose A Name (wufoo.com)

A Worldwide Conference Preparation Event is scheduled for June 9-11, 2022.

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

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 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@gmail.com.

IMPORTANT CONGREGATIONAL LINKS AND CONTACTS

The email address for general church drafts of your Order of Worship and church business (Kenne and Roxann) is missionroadcc@gmail.com

The email address for CFO business (Mary Reichenbach) is mrcoccfo@gmail.com

The Church now has Google Voice. It is associated to missionroadcc@gmail.com. That number is 913-890-3460. This is still forwarded to Kennetha’s phone, but it allows us to put a public number out to our media sites.

The Mission Road Congregation hosts the following social media sites:

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

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

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.