Following the resignation of Mary Lim-Lampe, who took a community organizing position in Oakland, Lora McDonald has been announced as the new Executive Director of MORE². The particularly pleasing part is that, after a nationwide search, the search committee came back to Kansas City and hired one of our ... Continue

When the Congregational Council gathered in late February for its monthly meeting, I certainly didn’t arrive with many expectations. I assumed we’d laugh together, pray together, hear reports, maybe make a few decisions, and go home. The evening turned out to be quite different from my minimalist expectations. ... Continue

I doubt that those who went on the Tijuana Mission Trip would describe our experience as “nice” or “interesting.” Those words are utterly inadequate to describe what happened to us or what happened among us or what happened through us to others. The word that ruminates in my ... Continue

• On our trip to Tijuana, I was thrilled to learn upon arrival that a former parishioner and dear friend, Dr. Grant Ward, would be spending the week with us. Grant brought his guitar and delighted us with his music. We have been friends since our college days at ... Continue

Prairie Early Childhood Center (PECC) will be hosting visitations this month for parents whose children qualify for preschool or prekindergarten for the 2012/2013 school year. The visitation for 3-day Prekindergarten (for children who turn 4 by September 1st) and for 4-session Prekindergarten (for children who turn 5 by September ... Continue

Along with several faculty members at Central, I recently heard Dr. Philip Cunningham, a highly acclaimed Catholic scholar; speak on positive developments in the unfolding dialogue between Christians and Jews. Cunningham stated, “We have a covenant with the Jews that we can’t have with any other group.” It ... Continue

It has been a joy to begin a preaching ministry at Prairie Church. You have been most responsive in my first sermons. I have found that preaching improves the better I get to know you because so much of preaching is impacted by context. My preaching has ... Continue

I do not worship big-ness. I often find “big box” stores to be numbing. You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. You end up walking what feels like a mile and a half for a few items. You walk from one end of the store to ... Continue

Our son’s telephone call on our way home Sunday night changed the mood considerably: Osama bin Laden had been killed. Almost immediately, a crowd gathered outside the White House and at the WTC celebrating the killing of America’s most hated enemy. Bin Laden was the #1 enemy of ... Continue

When I began my pastoral ministry, I hadn’t really thought about the value of prayer and hardly knew anything about meditation. I recall that a progressive church in Southern California contacted me and asked me to meet with their pastoral search committee. I would have been the second ... Continue