Our History
St, Mary Magdalene started out in 2002 as a small band of dedicated Christians who met for Sunday Eucharist in the homes of various parishioners. By 2005 we had moved to McGilley’s Funeral Home on State Line Road. When McGilley’s was no longer available, we moved down State Line Road to a storefront in a nearby shopping center.
We were a small congregation but with many missions. We used every inch of space, including the worship space after the service, to carry on missions such as packing BackSnacks for the local schools.
In 2009, we took a leap of faith and conducted a capital campaign for a new building. The campaign was successful, despite its timing so close to the great recession, and we successfully raised the money to begin construction. The Diocese of Western Missouri purchased property in a growing area south of Kansas City, with a house on the property that would later become the House of Grace. The Bishop presided at the groundbreaking ceremony in late 2009.
Construction began soon afterwards, and we moved into our beautiful new building in July, 2010.
Who Was Mary Magdalene?
Frankly, we don’t know a great deal about Mary Magdalene, and a great deal of what has been said and written about her is pure speculation. We know enough on the authority of Scripture alone, however, to hold her in high esteem.
Most importantly, we know she was the first person to see Jesus after his resurrection, an indication that she had been an important figure in His ministry on Earth. This is told most simply and clearly in the twentieth chapter of Matthew beginning at the fourteenth verse. In this passage Jesus appeared to her as she was grieving at the empty tomb, saying to her: “Woman…why are your crying?”. Then, when he spoke her name she recognized him as her beloved teacher, her “Rabboni,” Later, in one gospel it is said that she went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” and bearing the important teachings which He had revealed to her for the first time.
In other instances we see her identified as one who provided early financial support for His ministry and in John 19 verse 25-26 we are told that she was present at the crucifixion in the company of his mother, his mother’s sister and one of the disciples, probably John himself.
She is also identified elsewhere in the Bible as a sinner from whom Jesus freed from demonic possession. The word “sinner”, unfortunately, has led to some confusion about her character. At some point in the early church the term led to the belief that her sin was that she had been a prostitute, a belief that has no Scriptural support. But, thinking kindly, perhaps the fable grew out of good intentions, giving assurance that no sin is beyond the grace of our Lord to forgive.
Among the more positive traditional depictions is a tale that sometime after the crucifixion she journeyed to Rome and appeared before Emperor Tiberius Caesar bearing an egg in her hands, saying “Christ has Risen.”. He scoffed, saying that Jesus rising from the dead is about as likely as that egg turning red… which it did even as he spoke. And, so the story goes, her ministry prospered and colored eggs thereafter became a part of the celebration of Easter.
In total, in the Bible’s depiction of Mary Magdalene and the later commentary, we learn that women have played a key role in Christian ministry from the very beginnings of our faith and that an unwavering devotion to the risen Lord that she personified is at the very core of what we celebrate in our worship.
Here is a link to a recent article about a mission to women who have sufered trauma, named for Mary Magdalene.
Growing Our Church for God’s Work
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