St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church
Our Vision: To be a community… Real. Rooted. Relevant.
Our Purpose: To follow Jesus Christ so that we will be His hands and feet in the world.
The Call
August, 2023
A Message from Fr. Larry
What is all of this talk about a Kingdom?
Despite the heat, our professional football team is hard at work practicing these days for a new season at a local university football stadium in St. Joseph. Even though it is still technically baseball season (remember that other professional team in town – the Royals?), we are already seeing advertising that reminds us that we truly live in the Chief’s Kingdom. Please recall that in in the not-too-distant past, we celebrated the July 4th holiday when we recalled the overthrow of the claim of an English King on us. Rather than be subject to a foreign monarch, we celebrate our independence. Even the Gospels we hear on Sundays these days speak of the Kingdom of God in a variety of ways. What is all of this talk about a Kingdom?
There must be something important about this ‘Kingdom of God’, because the written Gospels mention this kingdom 80 times, and at least 30 times in Matthew’s gospel alone – so it would seem to be important, right? Yet, none of these parables really makes it any easier to fully understand what the kingdom of heaven is. Now, we do know something about what the kingdom of God is not. The kingdom of God is not: children and teachers who live in fear of gun violence in their schools; coral reefs dying as a result of a warming climate, or sea life choking on bits of plastic. The Kingdom of God certainly is not death and destruction from war, or world hunger. I’m sure you have your own ideas about what the kingdom of heaven is ‘not’.
Perhaps there is some unique wisdom in the way Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God. Instead of being extremely concrete and precise, maybe the parables intentionally invite us to engage our imagination and creativity to explore what the dream of God is for us, and our world. We certainly have clues of what this Kingdom is in the words of the Beatitudes and the prayer that begins with “Our Father”. We are given images of leaven transforming ordinary flour into something special, a hidden treasure that is worth sacrificing everything to obtain, or a very small seed that surprisingly grows into a very large bush that birds can find a safe home in. The wonderful aspect of this Kingdom is that we do experience brief, fleeting glimpses of it in our lives. These include special moments that ground us in what life is really about – a special sunrise or sunset, the birth of a child, any experience of healing in whatever form it may take, a sense of timelessness in taking in a piece of art or hearing a moving piece of music. We also experience the Kingdom of God in true forgiveness and reconciliation, a profound experience of being loved as we are, the overcoming of hatred and violence, or in the deep peace we experience at times within and around us. When we experience these special moments, we wish they would last forever…. but they do not. Maybe he fullness of God’s Kingdom is the transforming qualities of these special moments lasting forever and taking us to a new place of wonder and joy.
So, for you, what is all of this talk about a Kingdom?
Larry Ehren+
On July 9, your vestry met and discussed the following:
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Repairs are being made to portions of the roof damaged by hail. Insurance willl cover all but a $1,000 deductible, which has been funded by an anonymous donor.
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Cyndi Troyer and Tasha Moorhead were affirmed as Convention Delegates. We still need an Alternate who can commit to attending the Diocesan Convention at the Cathedral in Kansas City, Friday evening and Saturday through 2 PM. There are also Saturday morning Deanery meetings every other month to discuss issues that will come before the Convention. This is a wonderful opportunity to represent St. Mary Magdalene and to learn about how the Diocese works to support churches and spread the Gospel. Please let Fr. Larry or Regina know if you’re interested.
Minutes of the June vestry meeting are at this link.
Closed Captioning for our Streamed Services
Thanks to Rick Harkins for this information:
There are closed captions available for our streamed services on YouTube.
If you are watching on your phone, tap the video screen then look for the CC button near the top. Tap CC and it will turn on closed captioning.
If you are watching on a computer, hover your mouse over the video and look for the CC button at the bottom. Click on CC to turn captioning on.
Now Hear This!
To all of our wonderful Readers and our Leaders of Prayers of the People: Despite last year’s major fixes to our sound system, we still have issues with some of your readings not being audible, especially those who aren’t blessed with booming voices.
The acoustics in our space are wonderful for Wagnerian opera but bad for the spoken word. The time between when you speak and when it reverberates against the walls (even if you don’t hear it) is very long. If you speak too quickly, what you’re saying is muffled by the echo of what you said before that. Here are a few tips to help people hear you:
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Pause between sentences.
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Adjust the microphone to your height and make sure it’s a few inches from your mouth.
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Make an effort to speak clearly and distinctly, maybe above your normal volume.
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Note which readers you can hear clearly and, to the extent you can, follow their techniques.
- Thanks for your work in spreading The Word!
Help us Pay off Principal!
If you’ve ever been moved by the Spirit to show your appreciation for a special blessing God has given you- an anniversary, a landmark birthday, the birth of a grandchild- the bright yellow envelopes in the Narthex are for you. We’re launching a “Pay off Principal” drive to reduce our mortgage balance.
This will be an ongoing effort to encourage year-round awareness of stewardship as one way to give from what God has given us. Please take an envelope home so you can add donations to the offertory plate when you’re moved to do so. No amount is too small!
The New Spirit is published every two weeks. Read the latest issue here.
Diocesan Council met on July 8. The Assessment sub-committee has received and reviewed fifty-four assessment
formulas from other dioceses. The Finance Committee will be looking at the formulas at its meeting in the upcoming week and will provide more information at Council’s August meeting.
The Rev. Charles Everson, quarter-time Vocations Missioner for the Diocese, has accepted a call to become the rector of Church of the Atonement in Chicago, an Episcopal church in the Anglo-Catholic tradition. He will leave St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Kansas City at the beginning of August.
Diocesan Communications Director Gary Allman has retired; his replacement is Zach Phillips. Managing a project for a majot overhaul of the Diocesan Web site will be a priority.
Dates to Remember
August 18: God and Guinness. Details in this newsletter below.
September 7: Blood drive. Details in this newsletter below,
October 1: Church Picnic and Welcoming of New Members
October 28: We’ve agreed with a local handbell choir to let them use our beautiful space for a concert Saturday evening, October 28. Details to follow!
October 29: Trunk or Treat. Last year’s was hugely successful- we cooked 150 hot dogs and we ran out! Join the fun this year.
Help Wanted: Mowing Team
Our large, beautiful property is maintained slely by volunteers- another example of our careful stewardship of our resources. The Mowing Team needs more members. We have a state-of-the-art riding mower to make the job easier. If you’r einterested in helping, pelase talk to Rich Koch or Don Gerhardt. Thanks!
On-Line Training: Safe Churches, Safe Communities
If you’re involved in any kind of ministry at St. Mary Magdalene (and most of you are!), the Diocese strongly recommends this series of on-line modules. Each can be covered in 15 minutes or less. Everyone- Chalice Ministers, Lay Readers, Acolytes, Vestry members, people with a key to the church, Sunday School teachers, etc.- needs to be educated on risks and risk mitigation to keep God’s people safe.
If you haven’t started these courses, contact Cyndi and she’ll set up an account for you.
New Way to access Ministry Schedules
From Regina:
A reminder from last month:
You will not be getting reminder e-mails from the churchscheduling.com software (I removed everyone’s e-mail addresses). Ignore any you do get. As we phase out Breeze you will not get them from Breeze, either. You can, however, get the entire schedule any time at this link or from the “Ministry Schedules” button on the front page of our web site.
Please let me know of any upcoming changes and I’ll update the schedule.
Women‘s Book Club
Due to several of us taking vacations in July and August we will cancel our meetings for both months.
At our September 11th meeting (change of Mondays because of the Labor Day holiday on the 4th) we will discuss The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda.
At the October 9th meeting we will discuss The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris.
Daughters of the King
Daughters of the King meets the third Sunday of the month in Education Room right after church. . If you’re interested, please contact Cyndi Troyer.
God and Guinness August 18
Heart-N-Hand Ministries, right here in Belton, serves the homeless as well as others just needing a hand up. At their website, www.heartnhand.org, there is always a current list of donated items they are seeking.
Heart-N-Hand would also appreciate volunteers to assist in their Thrift Store, Monday-Saturday; the store hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For for more information, please contact Alexis Butterfield, Executive Director, at 816-322-1133 or 417-551-2470. Her e-mail is alexisjbutterfield@gmail.com.
Thank you for your consideration!
Here are some additional items you can donate; donations can be left in the Narthex.
Heart N Hand in Belton could use:
· Hygiene items (Preferably travel sized items: wash cloths, small combs and brushes, deodorant, body wash, razors, lip balms, wipes)
· Band-aids and individual sized medications like Tylenol, Ibuprofen, tums, etc.
· Lightweight brand-new fleece blankets.
· $10 HyVee gift cards to be used as gas cards for our clients.
· Winter gloves
· Size 4, 5, and 6 diapers
· Adult diapers of varying sizes
· Coffee creamer / sweeteners (individual packets)
· Cleaning supplies (Lysol wipes, toilet bowl cleaner, multi-purpose cleaners)
· Food donations (any non-perishable goods are always appreciated!), including individual bags of chips
· Here is a link to items you can order from Amazon
Our Next Blood Drive will be Thursday, September 7 from 2 PM to 6 PM.
Our May drive results brought in 10 donors including one first-time donor and three who donated double units of red blood cells.
We still need plastic bags to make mats for the homeless. If you’d like to learn how to crochet them, contact Regina at berensregina@gmail.com.
Single Moms KC needs clothing for women and children and full-size toiletries.
Missouri Puppy Mill Rescue needs bleach and Lysol multi-surface cleaner.
The Call
We are still looking for another person to create The Call every other month (alternating with Regina). It can be done gradually as you get announcements of events, etc. Many other items are provided by others and you just have to incorporate them with some pretty straightforward “drag-and- drop” software. Please let Regina know if you are interested.
Events
We need someone to take over co-ordination of church events — the earlier, the better so Denise can show you how it works. Please contact her if this interests you.
Service Streaming
We are looking for someone to help stream the service so that people can access it on our YouTube channel. Frank and Brock will train you; talk to either of them if you’re interested.
More About Us
St. Mary Magdalene offers in-person Sunday Worship at 10:30 a.m. We are also live streaming the service for those who prefer to join us from home, on our YouTube channel at this link.
If you have a family illness or a personal concern, please contact the church office at 816-331-2222 and leave a voicemail.
We miss you when you cannot participate in church, and we want to know when one of our members can be comforted from a pastoral visit, being added to our prayer list, or by receiving communion at home.
If you have a family illness or a personal concern, please contact the church office at 816-331-2222 and leave a voicemail.
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St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church | 16808 Holmes Rd., Belton, MO 64012
(816) 331-2222 | http://www.marymag.com
