Beyond Belief
West Meets East At Olathe High School
Sebhnem Heller, who is originally from Turkey, came to the Asian Cultural Festival in Olathe all the way from Omaha. “I got this rare opportunity to know other countries’ culture,” said Heller, who brought her parents with her. “I came here last year and enjoyed the ambiance of the diversity of people and culture here.”…
Rev. Adam Hamilton Strains to Prevent Schism in United Methodist Church
Forgive the Rev. Adam Hamilton, founding pastor of the 20,000-member United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, if his attention seems divided these days. One minute, he’s celebrating the opening of a new $81-million sanctuary — complete with a breathtakingly large stained glass window — at its main campus in Leawood. The next, he’s worrying that…
It Starts With You And Must Engage Others
Walking along the Jersey Creek Park Trail in northeast Kansas City, Kansas, Broderick Crawford can see the overgrown weeds, the fractured asphalt trail and broken benches. “You can’t sit on them without getting a splinter,” he points out. No one could blame him for being angry with the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas…
Making Sense of A Tragedy
The Rev. Kelly Isola is chair of the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council. The comments below were prepared for a vigil held days after the fatal shooting in Olathe. It is with a heavy heart that I stand with you today. The council is deeply disturbed and saddened by these violent acts. We offer our…
Your Purpose Must Be Clear
When a storm blew through Shawnee this summer, it left downed trees and branches in an elderly man’s yard. He had neither the financial nor the physical means to clean up. Many suburban codes don’t make exceptions when it comes to unkempt yards. But in Shawnee, the city has a backup plan thanks to a…
Leadership Is An Activity, Not A Position
Browse the list of summer youth camps at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City and parents are bound to find something to suit just about any childhood personality. There are classic youth activities for softball players, theater performances for emerging actors and trendy Lego camps for the STEM-obsessed. The Jewish Community Center, situated…
Leadership is Risky
When Pastor Adam Hamilton embarked on a series of sermons about Moses last year, he knew the gravity of his message. Hamilton knew his call to action had the power to change the lives of children and families forever. So he started at the beginning. Inside Leawood’s United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, the nation’s…
Anyone Can Lead, Anytime, Anywhere
Pastor Adrion Roberson likes to say that youth sports founded his church in Kansas City, Kansas. He has spent 25 years coaching youth football in Wyandotte County and founded the KC United! Youth Sports Initiative – a league that has grown to 65 teams in several Kansas City-area communities. He launched it so working parents…
The Importance of Engaging Beyond Your Usual Circle
When Kansas City Oasis, a nonreligious fellowship, first partnered with a religious organization to serve meals to the needy, some Oasis members expressed concern that their secular group could become fractured. Would the separate factions find shared connections? Would they breach one another’s beliefs or boundaries? These days that concern is hard to remember. The religious group –…
A Community Rebounds, Copes After Targeted Murders
Since that bloody Sunday in April 2014, when a neo-Nazi targeted Kansas City’s Jewish community, this area’s 18,000 Jews have been adjusting to the reality that evil forces still want them dead. The three people he murdered — two at the Jewish Community Center, one at nearby Village Shalom — turned out to be Christians,…