July Connection 2

Jul 15
3 min read

July 15, 2026

DISCIPLES CONNECTION

AROUND THE REGION

General Assembly

KC Disciples gathered at Country Club Christian Church on Saturday, July 11, to join in General Assembly.

Thank you to all who joined virtually & in person!! And a special thank you to our wonderful hosts at Country Club!

Rev. Donna Rose-Heim Celebrates 40 Years of Ministry!

Pastor Donna Rose-Heim celebrated 40 years

of ministry Sunday, July 12th with her current congregation, friends and family at Longview Chapel CC in Lees Summit, MO.

Celebration highlights included: recognition by Regional Minister Rev. Dr. Lara Blackwood Pickrel; and worship moments shared from Pastor Donna's original ordination including a duet sung Revs Bill and Donna Rose-Heim "Take, Lord, Receive" and a responsive reading. Pastors Bill and Donna, and ordination candidate Karla Williams all participated in the sermon on "God's Promises".

Pastor Donna spoke on her foundational scripture, Romans 8:28, "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to God's purpose."

We welcomed three KC Disciples camps out at Tall Oaks in the start of July!

We spent a week with our Eighters Campers, a weekend with our Grandparents 2 campers and four days with our Junior campers.

Thank you to our camp directors, counselors, keynoters and chaplain for all their time and love!!

DWM Fish Fry

Thank you to everyone who joined GKC Disciples Women's Ministry for an evening of food, fellowship, and faith in action. Your support helps further the mission of Blue Springs Terrace and reminds us of the joy that comes from gathering around the table, sharing a meal, and serving one another in Christ's love.

Because of the generosity of everyone who attended, we raised over $200 in offerings and more than $250 through event registrations to benefit Blue Springs Terrace.

We are so grateful for everyone who attended, volunteered, donated, and helped make this evening such a blessing. We look forward to seeing you at our next Food, Fellowship & Faith in Action event!

Just Disciples Podcast

The Becoming Beloved Community Team has a podcast available on Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, and YouTube.

The episodes of this podcast will examine what it means to be the justice seekers that God has commanded us to be.

Justice isn’t a political agenda, it’s a theological agenda. In this podcast we will

examine what it means to do what God commanded us to do through the prophet Isaiah: to “learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause (Isaiah 1:17; ESV.)

Episode 1: Reimagining Faith and Politics

Episode 2: The Battle for the Ballot: Louisiana v. Callais and Voter ID Laws

UPCOMING REGIONAL EVENTS

Anti-Racism/Pro-Reconciliation 2.0 Training

Thursday, July 23, 9:00 am-4:00 pm at Merriam Christian Church.

Anti-Racism 2.0 answers these questions:

"Where is the evidence that systemic racism exists in my community?"
"How did race prejudice and abuse of power shape many of the laws that systematized racism?"
"What are local Disciples of Jesus Christ doing to mitigate this sinful reality?"
"Me? Biased? I have lots of friends who are . . . "
"What can I and those I serve do to help change this sinful reality?"

Planned learning activities include: taking the Implicit Bias Test beforehand, exploring the origins of the pseudo-science of eugenics, and taking an in-house virtual tour of the Greater Kansas City area to learn about how racism shaped our communities. We will meet with local people who are making progress mitigating some of systemic racism’s effects.

Full Details can be found HERE.

This workshop includes several individual and small group activities. Please wear comfortable clothing.

There is suggested pre-reading. You can find more information HERE .

Anti-Racism 101 is a prerequisite for this workshop.