Fully vaccinated and ready-to-go see their grandchildren René and Rick Jensen will be on vacation from Sunday night, April 11 through Monday, April 19 in Denver, Colorado. Their trip planned around their younger granddaughter’s birthday, April 13, was canceled because of COVID-19 a year ago. They will return on Monday the 19th.
The Men’s Group will return to Tanners on Sunday, April 18th, from 7:30-9:00 p.m. No reservations are needed. These will be regular meetings in Tanners back room, unless otherwise indicated. Tanner’s is located at 22374 W 66th St, Shawnee, KS 66226.
This coming Sunday, April 11th, the Men’s Group will meet from 7:30-9:00pm on Zoom. Contact Rick Jensen at rpmcycler@gmail.com for more information.
Youth Sunday will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, April 18. Youth will be leading various parts of the service, and Ken and Monica Montgomery will be doing the sermon titled “Why Church?” Sign-up for worship or join us on Facebook Live at 10:00 am to support our amazing youth!
Youth, get ready for a fun day at Tall Oaks! Youth will leave from church at 11:00 am and return to church at 5:00 pm fro parent/guardian pick-up. Don’t forget to bring a water bottle and clothes to get dirty. Contact Jack Sampel at studentministry@shawneecommunity.org for more information or questions.
Sunday, April 18th: Youth Sunday
Saturday, April 24th: Mission Day
Sunday, May 2nd: Bowling
Sunday, May 16th: Creek Hike
Parking Lot Worship at 8:30 am
We will gather in the parking lot at the rear of the building. Bring a lawn chair along with your own communion.
Sanctuary Worship at 10:00 am
There will be limited in-person worship in the Sanctuary as we rejoice in the good news that Christ is risen. We have increased the number that can attend this service to 40 and there will be Children’s Activities. This service will be live streamed.
If you are signing up to attend worship and you need nursery care or have children attending Children’s Ministry activities, please include them in your count for attending worship. We need to have an accurate count in order to ensure we have enough staff each Sunday.
Easter has taken on a special aura this year. Normally we think of it marking nature’s annual transformation from Winter into Spring, with the greening of the grass, the blooming of the flowers, and the warming of the earth.
For those of us who have experienced this transformation over the course of many decades, it can seem pretty ho-hum. As the elderly preacher Koheleth utters in the Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes, “There’s nothing new under the sun.”
Except the Spring of 2020 and the seasons which followed felt much more like an endless Winter.
March Madness in 2020 for NCAA basketball was cancelled. I still think KU men’s basketball team got shorted because last year’s team had the players who could have gone all the way to a national championship!
About this time last year, I had just finished listening to part of a Royal’s Spring Training game when Major League Baseball announced postponement of the season. Dickering over all kinds of details made it look for a while like there would be no season at all. 2020’s World Series winner, the LA Dodgers, should have an asterisk by their name for the abbreviated 60-game season.
The only statistics that, by any measure, deserved being counted soon after COVID hit were the number of new cases, and the number of deaths. Terrifying our nation was the dismal news that each wave of cases and deaths surpassed the last. The possibility of a vaccine being developed and distributed felt more like a pipe dream than an inevitability.
All of us were deeply affected. The idea of getting badly sick or dying or having a friend or loved one sick or die became all too real a possibility.
For the next 12 months, it was like the whole world was stuck with a never-ending Good Friday and Holy Saturday! As Thomas Paine once said, “These are the times that try men’s (and women’s) souls.”
But Easter this year, 2021, looks much more promising. Last year, all of us were so down in the mouth we would’ve sworn that if we’d looked inside the empty tomb Jesus would still be there. It was that kind of year.
This year our prospects are much brighter. We’ve been doing Live Streaming at SCCC since early December. Sunday, March 7 we began limited in-person worship. On the 14th Ronette Hoard, our Music Director, started playing in person. On the 21st Joe Follette started playing guitar alongside Ronette. This past Sunday, the 28th, we started children’s activities, beginning with their Palm Sunday miniparade. We also had the largest number of people at church in over a year with 45 people in attendance! Our amazing Director of Children & Family Ministries Patt Ludwick was able to do “LIVE” ministry instead of Kid’s Chat.
This coming Sunday we will have a “Y’all Come” 8:30 Easter service outdoors in the north parking lot of the church. Everyone is asked to bring their own lawn chair. This service will be followed by the 10:00 am service, again with Live Streaming. People who would like to attend at 10:00 can sign up via the newsletter and “Sign-Up Genius.”
The future keeps getting brighter and brighter at Shawnee Community. Our patience is beginning to pay off! Many of our folks are vaccinated now. Youth will lead worship on April 18. The Men’s Group is planning to return to Tanners for their Sunday night 7:30 p.m. weekly meeting, on the 18th. We look forward to the return of more of our band members in worship.
The apostle Paul after a long, difficult period in his life, writes, “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.” “Well done, good and faithful servants.” So, have we Shawnee Community!
The season of hope is upon us. May we rejoice we have come so far after such a trying year!
Happy EASTER!
Rick
P.S. On Sunday, April 11, we will be talking in worship about baseball, another sure sign of Spring! You are invited either in the sanctuary or at home to don your Royals cap, T-shirt, jersey or sweatshirt. It’s time to give up 2020’s blues and put on Royal Blue, as we consider what baseball may teach us about our nation and our faith.
In lieu of traditional worship services on these two holy days, the church will be open for members and friends of Shawnee Community Christian Church to come to the church for a prayer and reflection.
There will be ten interactive prayer stations to guide your reflection. Each prayer station will include a scripture, an activity, and a reflection that will encourage you to reflect on your spiritual life. For example, the second station is called Blindness. The scripture for this station is the story of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, where the disciples fall asleep even though Jesus asks them to stay away. Here you will put on a blindfold and asked to reflect on the times when you have been blind to the needs of others.
Maundy Thursday Hours: 5:00 to 8:00 pm
Good Friday Hours Noon to 2:00 pm
Registration for summer camps at Tall Oaks is now open. Tall Oaks offers several day camps and overnight camps throughout the summer. Get out your calendars and start looking ahead to warmer weather and fun at Tall Oaks! Tall Oaks will have many COVID policies and procedures in place to keep campers safe.
Tall Oaks and Shawnee Community will offer scholarships this year to ensure all kids can attend camp. Early Bird Registration is from now until May 1st. Please r contact Patt Ludwick at familyministry@
Tall Oaks is our Kansas City Disciples region’s camp and conference facilities in Linwood, KS. For over 50 years, children, youth and adults have attended camps, conferences and retreats at Tall Oaks. Tall Oaks also serves many other groups in our community such as summer camps for young people with muscular dystrophy, juvenile diabetes, autism and foster kids. Tall Oaks is a great ministry of our region and an important part in the faith development of our children and adults.
Sunday, March 28 • 10:00 am
Numbers increased to 40.
Children’s Activities Resume!
Beginning this Sunday, March 28, we are increasing the number of slots for In-Person Worship to 40—and we will be resuming children’s activities during worship. There will also be child care for infants and toddlers. Here are the details:
And WE WILL BE HAVING OUR TRADITIONAL PALM SUNDAY PROCESSIONAL!
Holy Week
Maundy Thursday and Good Friday
In lieu of traditional worship services on these two holy days, the church will be open for members and friends of Shawnee Community Christian Church to come to the church for a prayer and reflection.
There will be ten interactive prayer stations to guide your reflection. Each prayer station will include a scripture, an activity, and a reflection that will encourage you to grow in your faith. For example, the second station is called Blindness. The scripture for this station is the story of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, where the disciples fall asleep even though Jesus asks them to stay away. Here you will put on a blindfold and asked to reflect on the times when you have been blind to the needs of others.
Thursday, April 1st: Maundy Thursday hours 5:00 to 8:00 pm
Friday, April 2nd: Good Friday hours Noon to 2:00 pm
Easter Sunday Worship Schedule
Parking Lot Worship at 8:30 am
Bring a lawn chair and gather in the parking lot of Shawnee Community for a joyful celebration of Christ’s resurrection.
Sanctuary Worship at 10:00 am
There will be limited in-person worship in the Sanctuary as we rejoice in the good news that Christ is risen. We have increased the number that can attend this service to 40 and there will be Children’s Activities. This service will be live streamed.
