February Connection 2
- Feb 16
- 14 min read
February 16, 2026
DISCIPLES CONNECTION
AROUND THE REGION
Chi Rho Mid-Winter
This weekend we welcomed 33 middle school campers at Tall Oaks. Our Chi Rho Mid-Winter focused on "Live Loud, Love Louder!" We explored radical love, inclusion, and justice in the teachings of Jesus- and what that means for middle schoolers today.
Thank you to our director Natalie Milne and our camp counselors: Cole Becker, Julia Chamberlain, Sammantha Heuton Mason Oswalt, and Rev. Stephen Underwood.
Save the date for Chi Rho Summer Camp July 19th - 23rd and
Eighters Camp July 6th - 12th.
Registration is open now.
ALEX 2025 Yearbook Reporting is Open!
Alex reporting has opened up for all churches through March 31st.
To help support those who are responsible for submitting the reports, the region is offering the following:
The ALEX Help Center is SUPER HELPFUL - go here first with your questions. This Help Page has been greatly improved in the last 12 months.
Our www.kcdisciples.org site is updated with the reporting form. Go to Our Churches, scroll down to find the form's link.
Check back to this space by Friday, Feb. 6, for additional helpful tips.
GKC Region ZOOM calls are available weekly on Wednesday from 12:30 to 1:30 pm.
ZOOM Link
This is not training, it's a highly flexible "call in as needed" to ask questions. Claudia Kauffman will be on the Zoom to help or find the resources you are needing if you are stuck.
Use the Contact Us form at the bottom of our website to submit your questions IF the ALEX Help Center does not provide the information you're looking for.
THANK YOU for all the work you do to support and nurture your church families!
Seven Reasons to Complete the ALEX Yearbook Report
The data that has been collected in annual Yearbook reporting for decades has
provided a picture of who we are as a church.
Completing and submitting the ALEX Yearbook report:
Cultivates the covenantal relationship between congregations, regions, and general ministries.
Demonstrates a covenantal commitment to the ministry we share.
Contributes to understanding trends in membership, attendance, outreach, and giving.
Helps your region and general ministries understand your congregation so that they can provide appropriate support and resources.
Provides statistics that contribute to important research for the Disciples in the U.S. and Canada as well as all mainline denominations.
Provides verification when applying for loans or grants.
Creates a historical statistical record for your congregation that will outlive current generations.
Ash Wednesday - A letter from our Regional Minister
Ash Wednesday is my favorite day of the church year and Lent is my favorite season. Our culture has quite ruined Christmas and Easter with Santa and the Easter bunny and all the grotesque consumerism and made for TV specials behind all of it. But oddly nobody waits every year to watch the Ash Wednesday Peanuts
Special. There are no Doorbuster sales at 4am on the first day of Lent. There are no big garish displays in the middle of the mall with mechanical Children in sack cloth and ashes. Nope. We get this one all to ourselves. Our culture has no idea what to do with a day that celebrates the fact that we all sin and are going to die.
I think perhaps liberals equate admitting we are sinful with having low self esteem. And then the conservatives equate sin with immorality. So one end of the church tells us that sin is an antiquated notion that only makes us feel bad about ourselves so we should avoid mentioning it at all. While the other end of the
church tells us that sin is the same as immorality and totally avoidable if you are just a good squeaky clean Christian.
But when sin is boiled down to low self esteem and immorality then it becomes something we can control or limit in some way rather than something we are in bondage to. The reality is that I cannot free myself from the bondage of self. I cannot keep from being turned in on self. I cannot by my own understanding or effort disentangle myself from my self interest and when I think that I can …I am trying to do what is only God’s to do.
To me, there is actually great hope in admitting my mortality and brokenness because then I finally lay aside my sin management program and allow God to be God for me. Which is all any of us really need when it comes down to it. In the rest of our lives it seems that we are consumed by the hopeless project of ensuring our own immortality. As though we can live forever or fend off the insult of aging with the right combination of exercise, diet, self-care and if we can afford it, elective surgery--face creams, hair dye, yoga. The offers of false promise are all around us. Luring us
into the delusion of endless youth as though we can buy our way out of the foundational truth of who we are. Mortal.
But while we are denying the truth, God is delighting in it. This is what we hear in Psalm 51: Indeed, you delight in truth deep within me and would have me know wisdom. That’s the desert we journey through in these 40 days of Lent. The wilderness of the truth deep within us. A wisdom which is not of this world. We journey with Jesus through the desert of Lent but it’s almost as though we have to clear through a whole lot of brush to even get to desert. Lent is about hacking through self-delusion and false promises. Lent is about looking at our lives in as bright a light as possible--the light of Christ--to illumine that which moth and rust can consume and which thieves can steal. It is during this time of self-reflection and sacrificial giving and prayer that we make our way through the over grown and tangled mess of our lives. We trudge through the lies of our death-denying culture to seek the simple weighty truth of who we really are. This is not a season of taking up self-denial, it’s a season of relinquishment. We let go of all the pretenses and destructive independence from God. We let go of defending ourselves. We let go of our indulgent self-loathing. Like the prodigal son we then begin to see a loving God running with abandon to welcome us home. But we can’t begin to see this God until we turn from our arrogance and certainty and cynicism and ambivalence. The Psalmist says that God delights in the truth that is deep in us. The truth. God doesn’t delight in the purity of our doctrine or the perfection of our piety. God delights in the truth and wisdom underneath all the overgrowth of despair and false pride. There’s no shame in the truth of who we are: the broken and blessed beloved of God.
Journeying with you, Ron Routledge
Design our 2026 Summer Camp Shirts!
Calling all creatives!! This year, we are enlisting the help of all designers in the Greater Kansas City area to help us create our summer
camp t-shirts.
Our summer camp curriculum is "In the Wilderness." The wilderness can inspire us and guide us, assuring us of God’s constant presence.
All are welcome to submit a design to gkccampcoordinator@kcdisciples.org in jpg or png form bySunday, March 1st.
From there we will ask our community to vote on their favorite designs.
Sponsor our Camp Shirts
This year, we are asking for the support of churches and organizations across the Greater Kansas City Region to help cover the cost of our summer camp shirts. In an effort to keep our camp registration fees accessible, we are asking for help from our community. With a donation of $100 your church or organization name will be featured as a summer 2026 camp sponsor on the back of our shirts.
This is a great way to support the youth and children's ministry in our Region!
If you or your church would like to be a sponsor, please mail a check payable to "Greater KC Christian Church" with "2026Shirts" on the memo line to the Regional Office at Merriam Christian Church, 9401 Johnson Dr., Merriam, KS 66203.
If you have any questions, please reach out to our camp and Conference Coordinator, Kylie Graham.
UPCOMING REGIONAL EVENTS
Regional Office Closet Cleaning
Volunteers Needed
If you like to do any of the following: organize, straighten up, sort, throw out - the Regional Office has a whole room that needs your help.
When: Thursdays in February Any 2-hour (or longer) timeframe from 10 am to 3 pm
Who: YOU and a friend or two
Where: Merriam Christian Church 9401 Johnson Dr, Merriam KS 66203
Why: The basement office needs cleaning out! There are oodles of office supplies and books to organize for donation to our regional churches. And there are files to go through and sort too.
How: Please call Office Manager Claudia at 913-432-1414 and leave a message if you’re interested!
Greater Legacy Society Launch
Sunday, February 22nd, 2:30 pm at Country Club Christian Church
All Greater Kansas City Disciples are invited to join us for the launch of our new Regional Endowment Fund we are calling the Greater Legacy Society. This new partnership will allow individuals to consider ways they can leave a legacy for our Regional Ministry to continue well beyond our lifetimes.
This in-person launch will be a social gathering to hear more about the work of the Region and ways we can all invest in our shared future. Disciples who love the Church can participate with outright and blended gifts. Kirby (Gould) Hughes of the Christian Church Foundation will be present to answer questions around estate planning and including your congregation/ Region in that planning.
All givers who participate by the end of March 2026 will be named as Charter Members of this new Society. Please join us for an hour as together we celebrate the ongoing ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Greater Kansas City.
Much gratitude to our Task Force members who have developed our Gift Policy and Endowment Policy and are hosting this event: Ashley Cheung, Kirby Hughes, Rick Hueghy, Vicky Kumorosky, Ron Routledge, and Lem Whitmer.
RSVP by calling the Regional Office at (913) 432 - 1414
Job Opportunity: Children's Ministry Director at Living Water Christian Church
Living Water Christian Church is currently seeking to hire a part-time Children's Ministry Director. Please see the ministry description below.
Send resume to: Pastorfred@livingwaterchristian.org
Children's Director Ministry Description
Primary function: to oversee children’s ministry (birth-5th grade) at LWCC and recruit, train, and develop a growing volunteer children’s ministry team
Reports to: Fred Herron & LWCC Council
Responsibilities:
1. To oversee children’s ministry at LWCC
2. To develop a strategic plan and outreach for children’s ministry which implements the vision, mission, and goals of LWCC
3. To recruit, train, and develop a volunteer team for children’s ministry
4. To implement creative children’s curriculum
5. To partner with families to raise children to love God and follow Jesus
6. To manage children’s ministry budget and facilities
Hours and pay will be negotiated
Retreat for Youth Workers
Disciples Youth Ministry Network (DYMN) is a partnership of ordained and commissioned Disciples working in youth ministry. DYMN is bigger than any of our events. The connections we share span geographic regions, time, and memory. Some members attend and connect at every opportunity, while others choose to join the retreats when they best fit their situations.
DYMN Gatherings provide access to authors, leaders, and thinkers across denominational borders for dialogue on trends in youth culture, youth identity, theology, exegesis, and faith formation with young people. DYMN Gatherings have limited space so as to provide maximum access to the keynoter for participants and to foster conversation.
We also have time for personal spiritual renewal, worship together, networking, resource sharing, and rest.
What to expect at DYMN 2026:
• Network & connect with DOC colleagues in youth ministry
• Sabbath rest & support
• Professional-level continuing education around cutting edges of youth ministry
• Conversations with keynoter as well as with experienced colleagues and partners in youth ministry.
REGISTRATION includes housing, meals, program, and Sabbath space for DYMN 2026.
DWM 2026 Spring Retreat – Give to Gain
Date: Saturday, March 7, 2026 | Tall Oaks Conference Center, Greater KC DWM
Join us for a day of faith, fellowship, and renewal!
Hear from guest speaker Emily Stirewalt, enjoy a Taco Bar lunch, and participate in meaningful breakout activities designed to refresh your spirit.
NEW Kids’ Corner for ages 5–12 offers fun, faith-filled activities so moms and caregivers can fully engage in the retreat.
Whether you come with friends, children, or on your own, there’s a place for you at the table.
Ramadan Dinners
The Becoming Beloved Community is co-sponsoring 4 Ramadan Breaking of Fast Meals with the Dialogue Institute at churches around the Region.
Tuesday, February 24th
5:45 at Saint Andrew Christian Church
Please RSVP here.
Saturday, March 7th
5:45 at Community Christian Church
Please email Nola Kroner, at couter@kc.rr.com to RSVP
Saturday, March 14th
6:30 at Hillcrest Christian Church
Please email office@hcckc.org to RSVP
Sunday, March 15th
6:30 at First Christian Church of Smithville
Please RSVP by emailing office@smithvillefirstchristian.org or by calling 816.532.0773
EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
Community Listening for Church Growth Webinar Series
In this three-session webinar, you will learn how to grow as a connection-rich congregation where everyone can make a friend and no one goes through life's hardest moments alone.
Each webinar includes times for discussion to explore how community listening applies in your specific ministry, and to identify practical next steps you can take.
Led by Ministry Consultants Joy Skjegstad and Heidi Unruch with KC's Associate Regional Minister for New Church, Rev. Amy Shoemaker. Joy and Heidi team up to help churches make God's love and justice visible through creative ministry, especially in ways that put relationships at the center. They co-authored the book Real Connections: Ministries to Strengthen Church and Community Relationships (Judson Press, 2021). Amy is excited to be joining Joy and Heidi to bring these crucial skills to the KC Disciples.
Sacred Resistance
As the news shares images and videos from Minneapolis, Chicago, and other cities across the United States, Bible verses have been shared by Christians across the theological and political spectrum. Some have been used to uphold federal orders, and others to encourage compassion, mercy, and welcome.
Join Minister of New Church Strategies Rev. Dr. Jose Martinez and guest panelists Rev. Dr. Jia Starr Brown and Rev. Tanya Lopez on February 25 at 3:00 PM EST as New Church Ministry discusses what is happening and what our response can be as members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
Central Seminary Launches Antioch Center to Equip Congregations, Empower Leaders, and Strengthen Communities
Central Seminary announces the launch of the Antioch Center, a new initiative dedicated to strengthening congregational vitality by equipping lay leaders, pastors, and congregations for faithful, sustainable ministry in a changing world. Located near the intersection of Antioch Road and 110th Street in Overland Park, the Center intentionally draws its name and purpose from the biblical city of Antioch—the church’s first great crossroads—where diverse believers were formed and sent into the world. In this shared sense of place and purpose, the Antioch Center brings formation and mission together, welcoming diverse voices and preparing congregations to respond creatively and courageously to emerging challenges.
The Antioch Center will offer practical, accessible educational opportunities, including webinars, certificate programs, and customized resources tailored especially for small, rural, and multilingual congregations across the Midwest. Existing certificate programs will be integrated into the Center’s work, with new programs developed in response to emerging needs.
The Center will also provide expert coaching and guidance for lay leaders and clergy addressing critical issues facing congregations today, including church finances, stewardship of aging facilities, mental health concerns, accessibility and inclusion, and innovative approaches to engaging youth and young adults. Programming will be supported by adaptive, multilingual learning platforms that foster coached learning communities.
Serving as a hub for lay leadership formation, the Antioch Center will support and expand existing programs at Central Seminary—including the Hispanic Lay Institute, Judson Communities Certificate Program, and Ola Hanson Bible Institute—while launching new English-language lay leadership training and Lay Leader Communities of Practice.
Committed to collaboration, the Antioch Center will deepen partnerships with denominations through shared content development, recruitment support, and regional gatherings, ensuring its work remains responsive to the lived realities of congregations.
The Antioch Center will begin its work in spring 2026 with a three-part Congregational Learning Series and will expand in September 2026 with comprehensive lay leader training and continuing education opportunities for pastors.
The Antioch Center is co-directed by Rev. Rhonda Hetzel and is funded in part by generous grants from Lilly Endowment Inc.’s Pathways for Tomorrow and Thriving Congregations Initiative.
Sign-up to receive Antioch Center updates and opportunities by completing this form or you can text ANTIOCH to (913) 270-3062
Has your community of faith ever wondered about Disciples Church Extension Fund (DCEF)’s financial, building planning, and ministry services? If so, this is its opportunity to get a deep dive! Host and Creative Writer/Digital Media Specialist Nadine Compton will be covering it all—from initial consultations to capital fundraising campaign guidance—on Monday, March 16 at 3:00 PM EST with guest and Senior Director of Services Rev. Richard Williams at DCEF’s very first Facebook Live Q&A event. So save the date and come with your questions ready!
Anti-Racism Pro-Reconciliation Training
Thursday, March 26, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Anti-Racism 1.0 is an introduction for clergy and lay leaders to become aware of the systemic nature of racism, see racism as sin, acknowledge the presence of racism today, and recognize ways in which we as individuals and churches function within systemic racism.
The curriculum was developed by the Reconciliation Ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and led by facilitators trained by
Rev. Dr. Sandhya Jha and Rev. Dr. Nathan Hill. Thursday, March 26, 2026 10:00 am-4:00 pm, Merriam Christian Church.
$35 fee includes lunch, workbooks, and an annotated bibliography of resources and organizations active in the work of anti-racism.
RSVP by calling the Regional Office at (913) 432 - 1414
SAVE THE DATES
General Assembly Livestream
July 10-11
While this summer's General Assembly is vitural we invite all of the Greater Kansas City Disciples to gather at Country Club Christian Church to participate together.
The theme, BEYOND: Love Surpassing (Ephesians 3:14–21), builds on the work that God began last year and marks the first General Assembly of the new triennium as we live into our new structure. Plan to join us online alone or with others at a local assembly gathering in your area for vital worship, discernment, and connection.
Mark your calendar now and plan to participate as we are further “rooted and established in love” that surpasses knowledge. More details to come.
Spiritual Care Volunteers
The University of Kansas Health System is seeking compassionate lay leaders and clergy to volunteer with our Spiritual Care Team. We would love if you would forward this to your ministry colleagues and lay leaders.
We train our Spiritual Care Volunteers to offer a listening ear, devotional materials, or perhaps a prayer to our patients—depending on each of their unique preferences and needs. This helps extend care to patients within our Health System, allows Staff Chaplains to provide more focused care for the most critical among us, and enriches the lives of our Volunteers who better align their faith with action. At this time, we are especially looking for volunteers to serve at our KCKS Campus at 39th and Rainbow, our Olathe Campus (formerly Olathe Medical Center), and a couple of smaller outpatient clinics.
The next Spiritual Care Volunteer Orientation will take place on the morning of Friday, March 6.
There are some small onboarding steps to complete prior to attending the orientation. Thus, RSVPs are required. Anyone interested can RSVP or ask questions by emailing jstegner@kumc.edu. We’ll then send more pertinent details for that day directly to them.
We are excited to collaborate more effectively with other members of the KC Metro community of faith in caring for our friends and neighbors.
Thank you for your continued support of our patients, and the compassion you bring to Kansas City.
With gratitude,
Chaplain Jeff Stegner, M.Div, BCCC
The University of Kansas Health System
4000 Cambridge St.
Kansas City, KS 66160
Office: 913.588.3277
Registration Now Open for Lead(HER) 2026:
Empowering Female Clergy
Lead(HER) brings together female clergy from across denominations for two and a half days of worship, practical skill-building, and authentic community. The expanded 2026 format includes Monday evening through Wednesday afternoon programming, responding to attendee feedback emphasizing the importance of connection and networking among clergywomen.
"For women, by women. Celebrating women. Healing women. Strengthening and encouraging women in their leadership, their ministry, and their lives."
Stephen Ministries 50th Anniversary Celebration and Learning Event
Saturday, April 25, 2026
Founded in 1975, Stephen Ministries is celebrating its 50th year of equipping God’s people for ministry! As part of the celebrations, we’d like to invite you and others to an upcoming event in the Kansas City area.
Featuring Dr. Kenneth Haugk and other teaching faculty from Stephen Ministries St. Louis, this hope-filled, insightful event will look not only back at the past but also into the future—equipping and inspiring you for building a more caring world.
2026 Racial Justice Summit
Save the date for the Becoming Beloved Community's fourth annual Racial Justice Summit Saturday, November 7th.
