Alleluia! The spirit of the Lord renews the face of the earth! Alleluia!

 

The WebEmpress is out of the country until June 1 - please check with the Parish Office (816-931-2850) for clarifications and more information about events. Sorry for the inconvenience!

 

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI

To Worship, To Serve, To Learn

Welcome to the St. Paul's Website. We are delighted to have you online. We hope you will find this site useful for staying abreast of the wonderful things that are happening in our parish as we carry out our mission: To Worship, To Serve, To Learn. Please browse our site to learn more about parish life, our many ministries, and to read recent sermons or request prayer or pastoral care. If you are looking for a church where you will feel welcomed, where you can be engaged with others who seek to serve Christ in the heart of Kansas City (map), please join us. Our casual Saturday night service is at 5 p.m. (Rite II), and our Sunday worship services are at 8 (Rite I) and 10:30 a.m. (Rite II). Every second Sunday a healing service is performed at the 10:30 service.

Whether you are a visitor, a brand-new member, long-time member, a returning member, or "none-of-the-above," you are WELCOME to join us in our activities. You can always find out more information about us and our events by calling the church office (916-931-2850). Please join us!

From the St. Paul’s EfM* Group

The Saint Paul’s EfM Group spent a month this spring discussing what we mean in our theological reflections by the terms Creation, Sin, Judgment, Repentance, and Redemption. Our goal was not to arrive at dogma or any theological certainty, but to explore our understandings of these words in an attempt to find common ground. We realize that we might come to different understandings of these terms under different circumstances, but we believe that the discussions that produced these definitions were of value in our spiritual growth.

 

What do we mean by CREATION?

Creation is the ongoing expression of God’s love, calling us to care for this

gift and to express God’s love in our own creating.

 

What do we mean by SIN?

            Sin is the unavoidable misuse of our gifts that harms our relationship

            with God, with others, and with the created world.

 

What do we mean by JUDGMENT?

Judgment is God’s determination of righteousness, sometimes revealed to us through faith, conscience, and reason.

 

What do we mean by REPENTANCE?

            Repentance is our free acknowledgement of and regret for our sin.

 

What do we mean by REDEMPTION?

Redemption is God’s forgiving grace, available to all.

                                                                                               April 2008

* Education for Ministry

 

Announcements

  • Episcopal Relief & Development in Iowa

Episcopal Relief & Development is providing emergency assistance to
communities devastated by ongoing flooding in Iowa. So far the flood
waters are responsible for the deaths of five people, the displacement
of 38,000 others and have inflicted up to $1 billion in damage to Iowa's
agricultural sector.

The damage to infrastructure is severe. Across eastern Iowa, the
flooding rivers have washed out railroad lines, halted barge traffic on
the Mississippi River and closed major roadways. Twenty-four counties
have been declared disaster areas to date.

The crisis is far from over. More rain is expected in the region and
officials fear that flood waters will breech 27 levees along the
Mississippi River in Iowa and Missouri later this week.

Working with its partner the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa, Episcopal Relief
& Development is providing emergency assistance to people who have been
displaced from their homes. Families will be given temporary shelter and
provided with food, clothing, first aid and other basic necessities.

"The Diocese of Iowa's extraordinary people have been bringing support
to those impacted by recent tornadoes, immigration raids and now these
terrible floods," says Abagail Nelson, Senior Vice President for
Programs at Episcopal Relief & Development. "We will continue to support
them as they bring critical aid to the people impacted in their
communities."

To help people affected by flooding in Iowa, please make a donation to
Episcopal Relief & Development's "Disaster Response Fund" online at
www.er-d.org <http://www.er-d.org/> , or call 1-800-334-7626, ext. 5129.

 Gifts can be mailed to: Episcopal Relief & Development "Disaster
Response Fund" P.O. Box 7058, Merrifield, VA 22116-7058.

  • Christmas in July for Pantry Clients

Please join us for a festive holiday coffee hour (sponsored by the Friday Guild) on July 27th following the 10:30 service and help us start gathering gifts for the St. Paul's Pantry. Bring an unwrapped gift for a child aged birth to 15. There is no gift too small. If you would rather leave the shopping to us, we will gladly accept a monetary donation. HO! HO! HO!

  • Garden Plots Available

Have you noticed the progress in the garden? The Community Garden is located just east of the church, across Walnut Street. The Garden is now lovingly called "Mary and Martha's Garden." We are proud to offer individual plots for anyone interested. This year we are expanding to include an area that will go toward providing fresh produce for our pantry clients. Easom Bond and Matt Skeens will be working toward putting back the original picket fence, with a new coat of paint. If you would like to help out in any way, contact Easom Bond or Laura May (lmay@stpauls-kcmo.org) See "upcoming events" for garden meetings and events.

  • Father Runnel's "E-pistle" July 1, 2008 (click here)

  • Parking: Important Information

    Our parking lot is now unavailable through July due to the regrading, resurfacing, and landscaping of this area. The handicap spaces at the north end of the lot and the drive between the church and the construction site will remain open for most of the summer until, toward the end of the project, this area will be closed for renewal. We apologize for the inconvenience but look forward to a much better parking lot!

  • The House that Abraham Built

St. Paul's sponsored the Johnson family for Christmas. They had many requests as they

moved into their new Habitat home, and we were able to fill them all! The Day School raised over $300 for a gift card. The church raised almost $500 for furniture and big ticket items, and we delivered over 20 presents for under the tree Christmas morning. St. Paul’s was very generous in sharing the blessings of the season! Thanks to all! Check out the House of Abraham Photo Gallery (click here!

  • Pantry Needs

WE NEED: Plastic or paper grocery bags, hotel-sized shampoos and personal hygiene supplies, summertime clothing, especially t-shirts, jeans, socks, shoes, and shorts.

Since January 2008 we have served 143 adults over the age of 65, 1,853 adults under 65 (23 of whom are homeless), and 1,508 children. The total number of bags distributed January to April of this year is 2,629.

Please click on this link for a list of pantry items that you can purchase and bring for our clients. You can bring your grocery donations anytime during church business hours.

  • Pantry Volunteers Needed

    We are recruiting for additional volunteers for the Food Pantry. Whether you can volunteer one day a year or one day a week or anything in between, we invite you to consider offering some of your time to work in the Food Pantry. Please call the office  (816.931.2850) if you are interested in working in the Pantry, or send a note to Rich Ellison at golfwannabee@yahoo.com.

     

  • Tullintrain West Scottish Pipe and Drum Band

    St. Paul's Parish Hall has recently become the practice hall for Tullintrain West, a Scottish Pipe and Drum Band.  They will normally be practicing on Saturday mornings from 9 a.m.-noon.  This group is composed of twenty members about evenly split between pipers and drummers.  In addition to their personal practice on Saturday mornings, they also offer lessons for those interested in learning the bagpipes or Scottish drum technique.  Adults and children are invited to consider taking lessons.  If you are interested, contact the rector, srunnels@stpauls-kcmo.org , and he will make sure you get connected to Tullintrain West (please note, they are not authorized to let anyone into the building so don't come to the church for other reasons at that time expecting them to open the door for you).  We will look forward to their occasional presence in parish events as well. 

  • Meals on Wheels Deliverers

We are recruiting for Meals on Wheels deliverers. This is a Sunday ministry.  For more information, call the parish office or visit the kitchen on Sunday mornings and talk with those who are preparing the meals for delivery. 

  • Caring for God's Creation Ministry

 . . . is a newer ministry, designed to inspire, educate and invite to action the St. Paul's community, so that we may join in caring for the life-giving environment God bestows on all creation. Our group meets the second Sunday of the month at 8:30 in the Westport Room on the third floor. Our conveners are Elizabeth Fischer (elizabethathome@gmail.com) and Bill McInerny (wmcinerny@kc.rr.com).

  • Aluminum Can Drive to Benefit our Community Garden

We will continue to collect all aluminum cans. Bring  in your cans from all your family and social  events to benefit our Community Garden renovations. Have you noticed the Garden? It has been tilled and ridden of the weeds. Our next phase will be installing the fence, building new plotted beds and planting a spring garden.

Bring your crushed aluminum cans any Sunday to the south entrance. Visit the St. Paul's Community Garden page by clicking here.

Please visit and participate! Our Rector will be putting essays on this site regularly. You will have an opportunity to share your comments. However, please refrain from name-calling, hair-pulling, kicking, cussing, or biting. Stan will be screening for rule violators. Check it out and let Stan know what you think.

  • Integrity Kansas City

Integrity Kansas City is the local chapter of www.integrityusa.org, a ministry to all those who wish to participate in a safe and thoughtful conversation about Christian Spirituality and Sexuality within the Episcopal Church.

 

A group is now meeting at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral in Kansas City on the Third Sunday of each month.  The meeting will begin each month by participating in the 5 p.m. Eucharist and then at 6 pm will continue with a time of discussion and fellowship. If there

are more questions about Integrity Kansas City please contact either Rev. Bruce Hall, Deacon at bhall@ghtc-kc.org or Adam Duncan at AdmDunc@aol.com or call 816-

474-8260 Ext 135 and leave a message.

 

There is also an Integrity Chapter in the Northland at Grace Church, Liberty. Contact Susan McCann via mothermccann@prodigy.net for more information.

Sermons & the Epistle

Lectionary readings Monday through Saturday

For directions and child care, please click here.

Suggestions for the website? Please email Nancy Day, the WebEmpress.

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