The Call
December, 2024
A Message from the Rector
Dear Friends in Christ,
As we celebrate the birth of our Lord and I prepare for my first Sunday with you in just a few days, I find myself reflecting on the Epistle lesson appointed for the Second Sunday of Christmas from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians (Ephesians 1:3-6; 15-19a). It is one of my favorite passages of Scripture. In it, the Apostle praises God for the many gifts we have received through Christ—above all, the free gift of our adoption as God’s children.
This passage from Ephesians is especially fitting as we close one year and prepare to enter another. It reminds us to reflect on the past year (and all the years before it) with gratitude, acknowledging the blessings in our personal lives and in the life of our church community. I have found that ending the year with a heart full of gratitude for God’s goodness and blessings allows me to begin the new year with hope. So I want to encourage each of you to spend some time over the next few days reflecting on the blessings you have received this past year as well as your hopes and prayers for the year to come.
One of God’s greatest blessings to me this year has been the call to serve as your priest, and I am deeply grateful to Him for each of you. My hope and prayer for all of us in this new year—and as we begin this new chapter together—can be summed up in the words of St. Paul at the close of this passage. I pray that God may grant us “a spirit of wisdom and revelation” to discern His calling for us, and above all, that we may come to know Him more deeply and the riches He has prepared for us.
Happy New Year!
Yours in Christ,
Fr. David
On Sunday, December 8, your vestry met after church.
Cyndi circulated a preliminary budget. Pledges received so far total less than the total pledges for 2024 but it’s typical that we don’t have all pledges in this early. If you haven’t made your 2025 pledge, please do so. Extra forms and envelopes are available in the narthex.
There were 12 children at our Santa event on December 7- encouraging for a new event when there were so many others in the area that day.
Thanks to everyone who helped, especially Katie, Emma, and Rebecca Sutton!
Fr. David Wilcox will preside at our Sunday worship for his first time as our priest on January 5. A reception is planned afterward, followed by a tailgate party before the Chiefs Game.
We’ve recently had people with children visit the church, so we decided that in the future, ushers will note that Sunday School is available, and the priest will send them to the classroom at the beginning of the service.
Our Annual Meeting will be held after the service on January 26.
Minutes of the November vestry meeting are at this link.
Dates to Remember in January/early February
January 5: Fr. David’s first Sunday Service with us. Combination Welcome/Chiefs Tailgate celebrations afterwards. Daughters of the King are supplying the lunch.
January 17: God and Guinness at Conroy’s.
January 18: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Luncheon Fundraiser & Evensong at Grace & Holy Trinity Cathedral
January 26: Annual Meeting and Pot luck right after the service.
February 2: Fr. David’s Installation as Rector, 4 PM. Note that there will be no service at 10:30 AM.
Do You Have Furniture You Don’t Need?
We’d like to make the end of the narthex opposite the door to the corridors an inviting space for people to sit and relax before or after the service. We could use a couch, a few chairs and maybe a table or two.
If you’re redecorating or downsizing and would like to donate items, please let a member of the clergy or the vestry know.
REMINDER: We are wrapping the pledge drive for the 2025 year. If you haven’t already done so, please send in your pledge card or use the QR code on the letter you received. At this time we are behind on the needed support. Currently, we have received $101K in pledges and are running around $200K in expenses. I hope to have the figures firmed up for the January 29th annual parish meeting. I am deeply appreciative of all the support you provide to our parish. As they say, “It takes a village”.Blessings,
Cyndi Troyer, Treasurer
“Pay off Principal” Has an Impact!
Last year we were able to contribute $25,000 towards additional principal on our mortgage and this year we received an anonymous donation of $15,000 and have collected over $20,000 year-to-date!
Under some reasonable assumptions (depends on the interest rate and term of the new loan) every $10,000 we pay against the mortgage now can reduce out future monthly payments by about $100.
This is 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!
Planned Giving Reminder: Members of our leadership frequently receive material on Planned Giving and sometimes attend educational sessions. We were surprised and blessed when Arni, our former Business Manager, left us her house in her will and the proceeds have provided a nice financial cushion, which is being kept partly in cash and mostly in CDs yielding over 5% annually. This is a relatively small congregation and people don’t update estate documents frequently, but if you are in the process and wish to discuss planned giving, QCDs, donation of appreciated stock or any other non-cash forms of donation, please talk to Dave Pierson, Chair of the Finance Committee, Cyndi Troyer, our Treasurer, or Regina Berens.
The New Spirit is published every two weeks. Read the latest issue here.
On-Line Training
If you’re involved in any ministry at St. Mary Magdalene (and most of you are!), the Diocese strongly recommends the “Safe Churches, Safe Communities” series of online 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.
Women‘s Book Club
There will be no meeting in January. No book has been selected for February.
Daughters of the King
Members of our chapter of Daughters of the King helped serve dinner for the second time at Heart-n-Hand in Belton.
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 Night at Conroy’s:
January 17
Please join us for a fun gathering of fellowship, drinks, and food.
Contact Karen Hauswald for questions or information.
KC for Refugees Needs Household Items
A few years ago we opened up the basement of the House of Grace to KC for Refugees, an organization that provides support for newly-arrived refugees from war-torn countries. They’re in need of all the basic necessities. Here’s their most recent communication:
We need your help! Our Welcome Closet is nearly out of all supplies! We need lots of help to replenish our storehouse for the refugees arriving weekly to the KC Metro area!
Needed donations include: Towels, blankets, small kitchen appliances (rice cookers, electric tea pots, pressure cookers, etc), dishes, silverware, pots and pans (the bigger the better), diapers, sheets (twin and queen size) and hygiene and cleaning kits, diapers, maxi pads, socks and underwear for children and adults.
Our Amazon wishlist is available for easy donation! All items purchased are delivered to a KC for Refugees volunteer who delivers to our Welcome Closet.
Amazon Wish List Link
Or donations are always welcome in person! All donations should be new, or very gently used with lots of life left in them. They can be dropped off at the lower level of the House of Grace on Thursdays from 9-11am, or brought to church.
Thank you so much for your help! We cannot do this great work without your help and support!!!
Heart-n-Hand Ministries
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.
Here’s the latest list of items they need most. Donations can be left in the Narthex.
Canned meals like Chili, Ravioli, Spaghetti-O’s, stew (pop top preferred)
Pancake Mix Eggs
Pork & beans Crackers
Refried beans Ready to eat Soup
Spaghetti sauce White rice
Boxed mashed potatoes Baking goods: Flour, Sugar, cooking oil
Peanut Butter Grape Jelly
Canned chicken, ham, or pork Canned fruit
Condiments Powdered milk
Fresh produce Meat ( ground beef, ground turkey)
Lunch meats Cheese
Juice Dressing
Baby wipes Dish soap
Toilet paper Paper towels
Household cleaning products Shampoo and conditioner
Tampons and pads Kleenex
Here is a link to items you can order from Amazon
Help Save Lives with Your Donation!
We collected 23 units of blood at our August 28 drive- a record!The Red Cross cancelled our November 29 drive (the day after Thanksgiving) because they didn’t have enough people to staff it.)
Our next drive will be on Thursday, January 23 from 1 to 6 PM.
Single Mom KC needs clothing for women and children and full-size toiletries. They can be left in the bin marked for SingleMom KC in the narthex.
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.
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.
