Burns Night at FCC Columbia

Burns Night is an annual fundraiser led by the youth of First Christian Church in Columbia to support their annual mission trips. A traditional Scottish celebration, Burns Night is a commemoration of the Romantic poet Robert Burns. It is also an opportunity to don your fanciest kilt, try some haggis, and dance the night away! The youth do a bit of everything to facilitate the event, including cooking, serving, setting up, childcare, dishwashing, and cleanup. This was the second year the congregation held the event, so it will evolve as the tradition continues.

Later this year, the group will be participating in an 'intergenerational' mission trip that includes upper Chi Rho, CYF, and college-agreed students. They are headed to Evansville, IN, from July 21-27. While there, they will work with Community One, a local nonprofit, on providing direct support for folks with housing struggles (aging in place, short-term disability, etc). They will also serve and learn in United Caring Shelters, a no-barrier homeless shelter. The group will also have an opportunity to learn from a local disability rights lawyer. In all this, the participants will be learning various contexts for housing justice. 

Thank you to FCC’s Associate Minister Rev. Dr. Topher Endress for this information and photos.

Frankford First Christian Church Monthly Missions

Throughout the month of December, the members and friends of Frankford First Christian Church collected 5,042 diapers for the Pike County Diaper Bank. This set a new record for most diapers that the congregation has collected for the diaper bank!

The Pike County Health Department hosts the diaper bank, and the staff at the health department distribute the diapers to low-income families. Since its inception in 2015, the diaper bank has provided more than 30,000 diapers to families in need. Learn more about this project here>

In January, the congregation collected more than 340 toiletry items for AVENUES in nearby Hannibal. The items that were donated ranged from tubes of chapstick to toothbrushes and shampoo and conditioner. AVENUES is a shelter for domestic and sexual violence victims and provides services in 11 Northeast Missouri counties. Learn more about this project here>

For February they are filling Valentine’s Day Boxes of Goodies for their homebound friends and those living in nursing homes!

Thank you to FCC’s Ethan Colbert for
this information and photos.

Adopt-a-Family for Christmas

During this past holiday season, First Christian Church in Maryville was busy with their Christmas Adopt-a-Family program. Though it was only their first year, they “adopted” 15 families! The program was quite a success, and the congregation plans to continue it next Christmas.

Each of the families was presented with a gift for each of the children, a small gift for the mother, and a $50 gift voucher to the local grocery store.

Both givers and receivers seem to have had a wonderful time, and hopefully a very Merry Christmas.

Thank you to FCC’s Virginia Ripple for this information and photos.

Voices of Arrow Rock Receives Reconciliation Grant

The Voices of Arrow Rock readers theatre series has been awarded a reconciliation grant by the Christian Church of Mid-America’s Anti-Racism Pro-Reconciliation Justice Ministries. Using art to explore history, this readers theatre series brings to life lesser-known citizens of Arrow Rock, one of Missouri’s most historically significant villages.

“It is about forgotten and underrepresented people, their times and their spirits,” says the Rev. Dr. Michael Kateman, creator and producer. “Their voices span the centuries since Arrow Rock was first mapped by French explorers in the early eighteenth century.” Kateman is pastor of the Arrow Rock Federated Church.

Each episode of Voices presents a theme through the perspective of our ancestors, which we continue to explore today. Episode One addresses the responsibilities of privilege, challenges the happy slave narrative, and emphasizes the importance of family. Episode Two shows the value of cross-cultural relationships, while Episode Three focuses on preservation of self, hope, family, and legacy. Episode Four demonstrated the realization of oppression, and Episode Five delves into the challenges and blessings of mixed-race identity.

The series began as an official project of the Missouri 2021 Bicentennial Commemoration and will continue through 2029, Arrow Rock’s Bicentennial. It is sponsored by the Friends of Arrow Rock in partnership with the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre.

Use the Voices of Arrow Rock Episode Guide to learn more about the series and view the episodes. The next episode, Consummate Showman, introduces us to Doc Brown, a formerly enslaved man from Arrow Rock who became a national champion cakewalker in the 1890s. It premieres at the Old School House on Main Street in Arrow Rock at 10 am on May 6, 2024.

The next application period ends with documentation due by March 1, 2024. Learn more>

Thanks to Rev. Dr. Michael Kateman for this information.

Annual Free Thanksgiving Dinner at Affton CC

For its 13th year, Affton Christian Church served a free Community Thanksgiving Day Dinner. Close to 500 meals were served as people had the option of dining with others in the fellowship hall, carrying out, or having meals delivered.  It was a beautiful day of sharing and serving, laughing and loving – together. Around 70 volunteers from the community who were not affiliated with the church came to help make this an enjoyable and memorable experience for all. One such volunteer emailed Pastor David that they “overheard guests saying to each other that they wanted to stay as long as they could because they didn’t want to be alone.”

For ACC, it’s not about the number of meals served. As pastor Rev. David Woodard said, “We’re not serving meals. We’re serving people. People are important. People matter. Every person matters.”

A local news team was present to cover the event. See the broadcast here> (story begins at 5:00)

Thanks to Rev. David Woodard for this information and photos.

Union Avenue CC's Urban Mission Inn Partners with "Be the Neighbor"

Union Avenue Christian Church in St. Louis has provided an exciting outreach ministry for many years called “Urban Mission Inn.”  Urban Mission Inn has provided both space and program support for groups of youth, college age, and adults coming to St. Louis to engage in hands-on mission and mission education. Many Disciples and other groups from across the country have had a transformative week or weekend at Urban Mission Inn.

We are very excited that Urban Mission Inn is taking a new step by partnering with “Be the Neighbor!”  We are now “Be the Neighbor at Urban Mission Inn.”  Be the Neighbor is a Disciples and United Church of Christ Service and Justice Learning organization. It grew out of two organizations, Connect Ministries (with a 9 year history of this work) and Reach Beyond Mission (with a 10 year history of this work). The two organizations joined in the last 2 years to become “Be the Neighbor” with their office located in Ft. Worth, Texas.  We are working with the Rev. Allison Lanza, Co-Executive Director of Be the Neighbor.

With Urban Mission Inn on board, “Be the Neighbor” now has 15 sites in both cities and rural areas across the country. Partnering with Be the Neighbor will provide enhanced programing that begins with leaders before a group arrives and continues with follow-up after the group returns home to respond to needs in their own community.

Be the Neighbor provides trained summer interns who do program leadership for each group at each site, allowing the adult sponsors the opportunity to experience the time and deepen relationship with their group. 

The purpose of Be the Neighbor trips is for groups to both learn about the issues and experience outreach in the community they visit, AND to explore those issues in their own community back home and plan with their church how they can respond to the needs in their own communities.  Different themes and community needs are embodied across the Be the Neighbor sites, such as hunger, urban poverty, rural poverty, refugee ministry, anti-racism, disaster relief, etc.   Groups can do a “Connect” trip or a “Reach” trip, or perhaps in subsequent years put the two together for a deeper understanding of the issues at hand.  For instance, “Be the Neighbor at Urban Mission Inn, St. Louis” is a Race and Reconciliation Connect Site, and “Be the Neighbor, Tulsa” is a Race and Reconciliation Reach Site.  The two will complement each other.

We at Union Avenue are so excited to partner with Be the Neighbor, in order to deepen and broaden the impact of Urban Mission Inn. 

To explore “Be the Neighbor at Urban Mission Inn” and all the other sites, go to www.betheneighbor.org  All registration for programs is done through the Be the Neighbor website.

Jacque Foster, Chair of Outreach & Justice Ministry,
Union Avenue Christian Church, St. Louis

Rummage Sale for Mission

On October 27-28, Community Christian church in Jefferson City held a rummage sale. The members were told by Pastor Craig Kirby-Grove to clean out their closets, their basements, and their attics. They followed his instructions and the fellowship hall of the church was full of tables artfully holding everything from a computer monitor to a 1950s tube radio.

The purpose of selling all these treasures was to buy food for the local Salvation Army. Profits from the sale reached just short of $1,300 to help fill the cabinets and pantry.

Thanks to Cindy Stephens for this information and photos.

Mission Can Be Closer Than You Think

First Christian Church in Maryville has been very busy in their local community lately and are happy to share about their August activities.

On Saturday, August 19, they held a Free Rummage Giveaway Day in the parking lot where they invited anyone in the community to receive the blessing of some free furniture, kitchen items, and other miscellaneous things. Although it was a hot day, there was a great turn out and nearly everything from several couches to shelves to a couple burn bins were gifted to members of our community.

On Thursday, August 24, they served a lunch and a motivational moment with the Northwest Missouri State University Football Team--a group of about 160 people. 

On Sunday morning, August 27, they blessed returning students of all ages, and those in education with a Blessing of the Backpacks celebration during worship. Each student was also given a small token of encouragement.

Also on Sunday evening, August 27, they hosted an Ignite the Night Prayer Walk/Run where they invited the community to join in sharing prayers and then walk/run a route that is 15 blocks around the church. This is our first foray into the idea of making our primary mission field "our own backyard," hence the 15-block route traveled.

Thank you to FCC’s Virginia Ripple for this information.

Green Chalice Summit

On Saturday, August 19, twenty-two Disciples gathered at Olivet Christian Church in Columbia for our first Green Chalice Summit.

After a welcome by Regional Minister Rev. Ron Routledge, Rev. Patricia Farmer spoke on her book Replanting Ourselves in Beauty: Toward an Ecological Civilization. Then Rev. Ron Farmer shared about their stay in an eco-community in Ecuador, and that country’s constitution which gives rights to the land.

Bill Zimmerman presented about the USAID’s Farmer2Farmer program with which he has traveled throughout the world, sharing knowledge of soil needs. We then broke out into small group table discussions about current efforts with Green Chalice Ministries in our congregations.

Roger Bergman presented an MIT En-ROADS Powerpoint as a Climate Ambassador. We concluded with communion led by Larry Brown. All agreed we need to have another day-long event next Spring around Earth Day in April. Please visit the Upcoming Events page on our website regularly for information about that, and all Regional events!

Trails of Tears Pilgrimage

Our group at Old Baptist Mission Church.

The purpose of this year’s pilgrimage was to trace and understand the historic forced relocations (1831-1839) of the Five Civilized Tribes. Thirty-three people participated. Nine of these are members of Broadway Christian Church. We travelled through eight states in eight days. 

Our thanks go out to Larry Brown for lining up the sites we visited. He also prepared a Travel Guidebook for us. This gave us scriptures related to what we would see each day and questions to ponder as we travelled.

From the time Europeans arrived in the new world, they struggled with how to live near native people.  Thomas Jefferson was the first president to support removal of native people. Congress passed the Indian Removal act in 1830. Even though the Supreme Court ruled that the Cherokee had sovereign land rights, Andrew Jackson dismissed the ruling, leading to removal of the tribes to Indian country along what is known as the Trails of Tears.

Broadway group at Chickasaw Cultural Center.

On our pilgrimage, we learned of what the Indians experienced as they were forced to walk from their native lands to Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma. They walked about ten miles per day, often in terrible conditions without adequate protection from the weather. Many died along the way.

There is no substitute for seeing sites where these events took place. We were greeted by wonderful people along the way. On Sunday, July 16, we worshipped in the Old Baptist Mission Church near Westville, OK. They treated us to a meal of Indian tacos and desserts.

Our pilgrims have many stories to tell and we will be scheduling educational events to tell those stories.  We will be looking at current events affecting Native Americans. 

Race Onward sponsored the pilgrimage. They are also looking at other activities to help heal the racial divides many people still face. Watch for these events. Events will include book studies and local events like setting a marker at the courthouse to commemorate the lynching of George Bush in 1889.

Thank you to Broadway CC’s Don Day for this information and photos.

Mid-Americans at Disciple Summer Mission

Two Mid-America youth groups participated in this year's Disciple Summer Mission held the last week of June in Kansas City.

Groups from First Christian Church of Fulton and First Christian Church of Edwardsville (IL) joined other DOC youth from around the US for a week of serving and learning. Staying at Rockhurst University and worshipping at Crossroads Christian Church, the ninety-six person mission group spread out across the city serving with local organizations to serve food to those in need, understand homelessness, pack for a regional food bank, do yard work, and clean. There was also time spent learning the history of segregation in Kansas City. Evenings included worship, a Royals game, good BBQ, indoor putt-putt and more. The entire group filled a small cinema for a viewing of the new Pixar movie Elemental. Pictured are the Fulton and Edwardsville groups when they were on the same project one hot afternoon.  

Thank you to Rev. Jimmy Spear, pastor of FCC in Edwardsville,
for this information and photo.

Connecting at the Fair

Savannah First Christian Church had a booth at the Andrew County Fair on the Square, June 24.  It was a fantastic opportunity for us to get our name out there as we gave away bottles of water - and welcome that was as it was hot!  In addition, we sold raffle tickets to win a dozen homemade cookies a month from one of our premium bakers, raising money for the local food pantry.  We also sold some of the cookbooks we put together for our 175th Birthday.  We had a great time!

Thanks to FCC pastor Rev. Kate Titsworth
for this information and photo.

Community CC Partners with UrbanReachSTL

Located in downtown St. Louis, UrbanReachSTL is committed to breaking the generational cycle of poverty and violence in the Columbus Square Neighborhood.  Each Thursday during the months of June and July, funded in part through a grant from the Anti-Racism Pro-Reconciliation Justice Ministry of Mid-America, Community Christian Church in Manchester has been delivering sack lunches for the children and youth who attend a daily Vacation Bible School led by UrbanReachSTL. 

Community also provided supper recently for one of the weekly gatherings held in the neighborhood.  More than two hundred hamburgers and hot dogs were served.  A highlight of the evening was watching individuals from all generations and walks of life sit on the grass in the local field and simply engage in conversation with one another.

And perhaps the best part of this ongoing relationship is the look on children’s faces from UrbanReachSTL when they have visited the Bremer Community Garden at Community and tasted fresh red raspberries and sugar snap peas right off the bush and vine (another grant-funded ministry from the National Benevolent Association).  Together, Community and UrbanReachSTL are working together to grow a brighter future for the children and youth of St. Louis.

Thanks to Rev. Jacob Thorne, pastor of Community Christian Church in Manchester for this story and photos.

Reconciliation Grants Awarded

This year's Spring Reconciliation Grants have been awarded to First Christian Church in St. Joseph and Isaiah 58 Ministries.

First Christian Church in St. Joseph will convene and host a series of community conversations under the name “All Voices St. Joe”. These will be designed to reach populations - and specifically minority populations -- that aren’t being reached by city-sponsored efforts like the 2040 visioning process. Then we would bring the thoughts and ideas expressed into other political channels, including the visioning process. In these conversations we would be using well-tested dialogue structures like the World Cafe or Conversation Cafes to promote connection, interaction and deep engagement.

Isaiah 58 Ministries is hosting its 2nd Annual Juneteenth Celebration this year. It is an event that brings individuals and families from all walks of life together for a day of food, fun, and education. It is important to provide safe space for the community to celebrate the day alongside people they know and trust. This is also an opportunity to bring in artists whose voices are too often silenced, so that they may share their talent. All of the activities work to unite the community across racial and socio-economic divides, celebrating the human race and combating policies and attitudes that seek to divide us.

These grants are made possible through our Anti-Racism/Pro-Reconciliation Justice Ministries. Team members invite and assess applications semi-annually. Grants are funded primarily through the Reconciliation Special Offering.

Applications for next cycle are due August 1. Learn more>

Because Everyone Should Have a Bed...

On April 29, more than 85 volunteers from Wyatt Park Christian Church (WPCC), Youth Alliance and other churches, agencies and groups from throughout St. Joseph came together to help build beds through the organization Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHP). 

This event always brings an outpouring of support from church members that can’t attend but want to help provide bedding and pillows. This is our 3rd annual build since 2021 and each time we try to build between 40-50 beds, which stay in our community and are delivered to children that currently do not have a bed. The SHP Chapter that we work with is from Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas and their team, headed by Chapter President Patrick O’Malley, has been amazing in sharing their knowledge, tools and insight.

When a child receives a bed, they not only get the bed frame but also a new mattress, sheets, pillow and comforter. Our local quilters guild has also gotten involved and are making and donating twin sized quilts for some of our deliveries. (The bunk bed photo has two quilts from that group.) 

WPCC first learned about the need through social workers who we partner with and knew there had to be a way to help. In the last two years over 100 beds have been delivered by the amazing volunteers. SHP’s motto is “No Child Sleeps on the Floor in Our Town” and while we aren’t there yet, each time we build that means more children are off the floor. Then, they are hopefully sleeping a little better, hopefully doing better in school and knowing that there is someone that cares about them enough to provide such a simple item like a bed for them. It is humbling to realize there are so many that don’t have a bed.

Some recipient families are just getting into a new home after a time of being unsheltered. Since the state requires that every child has a bed or they can be removed from the home, we do see referrals from the school district, and we work closely with Children's Division through another nonprofit organization which is a technology platform called CarePortal. CarePortal is how we first learned about the need for beds and by helping with SHP we are able to step in before it gets to Children's Division. 

 Thank you to Tonya Ball, WPCC Children’s Ministry Director for this story and photos.

Beloved Bundles & More

Our Disciples Women had a fantastic event at Lake Ozark Christian Church this past Saturday! About forty were gathered and had a wonderful time together. The ladies really enjoyed being together and the Spirit was present! 

Those gathered were blessed to be a blessing for others! Sue Frick gave a great talk and led the mission activity beautifully. Patty Martin from the CADV gave a wonderful talk and provided lots of information. They had a lovely worship service and Ruby from Cameron gave the words of institution. 

The group was happy for the learning opportunity, and the chance to pack some Beloved Bundles with clothes, hygiene items, and prayers, which will be distributed to sexual assault survivors.

Thank you to Rev. Jennifer Long, Associate Regional Minister for Disciples Women for this information and photos.

Missions in the Middle

Every 15th of the month, Community Christian Church in Camdenton does something mission-oriented. They have found that more people can participate with this scheduling, as opposed to something like every first Monday, since the 15th falls on a different day of the week each month.

For April, they commemorated the start of baseball season by playing wiffle ball for mission! They also talked/learned about nine of their mission partners - one for each inning! Each player/spectator was invited to bring $1 (or more!) to vote for their favorite partner, and the winning organization received not only their vote money, but a $150 bonus donation from the congregation.

Twelve people of all abilities and ages participated and had a wonderful time playing and learning. A total of $173 was raised at the event and will be distributed, with some additional congregational funds, to each of the organizations. LAMB House Food Pantry and Thrift Store received the most votes! Learn more about each of the featured agencies on their websites.

LAMB House - https://lambhouse.org/
Kids’ Harbor Child Advocacy Center - https://kidsharbormo.org/
Citizens Against Domestic Violence (CADV) - https://www.cadv-voc.org/
Share the Harvest Food Pantry - http://sharetheharvestfoodpantry.org/
Local Area Needs Initiative (LANI) - https://www.facebook.com/localareaneedsinitiative/
Medical Missions for Christ - https://mm4c.org/
Raising Hope Free Store - https://www.facebook.com/groups/280794492284464/
Pregnancy Help Center Lake of the Ozarks - https://phc-lake-of-the-ozarks.business.site/
The Changing Table - https://changingtable.org/

Thank you to CCC Senior Minister Rev. William Brown for this information and photos.

United Christian Presbyterian Church Mission Projects

The Friendship Committee of United Christian Presbyterian Church in Richmond has focused on building relationships with people in their community, and has organized a series of small community service projects.

In October and November, they distributed light bulbs to low-income families. To each package they affixed a label with the message “Jesus is the Light of the World.”

In January, they visited a local laundromat and supplied quarters for the washing machines and dryers.

Right before the time changed in March, they distributed 9-volt batteries for people’s home smoke detectors.

In May, they plan to give carnations to the women of the community.

For each individual project, the committee invites the congregation to participate by donating the current item to be given away and/or helping distribute them. On distribution day, volunteers also have church brochures and business cards at the ready for anyone wanting more information about the congregation. Going forward they also plan to have index cards available so people can leave their contact information if they so desire.

Some have expressed gratitude for the help. At the laundromat, one person told the volunteers that he was very impressed by what they were doing.  He said it was kind of like washing people's feet, except that they were washing people's dirty clothes. He even donated some quarters to help them help more people.  

Thank you to UCPC Pastor Randy Schreurs for this information.

Earth Stewardship Ministry

Last week Regional Minister Ron Routledge hosted a discussion about earth stewardship and invited all Green Chalice congregations, as well as anyone wishing to learn more about this ministry. A wonderful sharing of ideas took place and a recording is available for those who couldn't make it on that day.

This is a good continuing education opportunity for Mid-America clergy, and a great resource for any congregations interested in becoming more intentional in creation stewardship.

Rev. John Bennett has authored a Biblical/theological foundations document and Rev. Ron Routledge has authored a study book to help people advocate, educate, and create an alternative model for creation stewardship. Please contact the Regional office in St. Louis to obtain either of these resources.

We will have a follow-up meeting on World Environment Day, Monday, June 5th at 1:00pm via Zoom. Registration/login information will be posted as that date draws nearer.

Putting the Fun in Fundraiser

The Christian Women’s Fellowship of West Lake Christian Church helped raise over $1,600 for Week of Compassion through their congregational White Elephant Gift Exchange. The event was part of the monthly fellowship dinner held after worship.

Retired auctioneer and church member Terry Mathena pitched in, auctioning off each of the gifts. After winning a bid, lucky participants had the opportunity to either open the package they had just purchased, or trade it in for a different one.

They helped put the fun in fundraiser, and are excited to see these funds go forth and create transformation in the world.

Thanks to WLCC pastor Rev. Chance McMullin for this information and photo.