CCUMC The Connection - Country Club UMC
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January
CCUMC 2022
The Connection
INSIDE:
• More photos from the Christmas season
• “Souper Bowl” soup-can reminder
• Imagining the Future by Pastor Angie
• Leave a Legacy in 2022
Country Club United Methodist Church • 400 West 57th Street, Kansas City, MO 64113
816-444-1616 • countryclubumc.org
Pastor: Angie Colina McNeil • “Connection” editor: anmvernon@aol.com
Sunday, Dec. 5, was Daycare Sunday, when staff and families of our CCUMC Child Development Center
came to worship, see Santa, decorate cookies and make ornaments for the Christmas tree in the Family
Foyer. CDC Director Allie Hubbard, photographed her baby daughter with Santa. Cathy Oesterling, Nancy
Smith, and Nancy Leisinger strung lights on the tree foyer tree. Later, Adalyn Snyder and other young
people made “stained glass” stars for the tree. Several CDC families stayed for the service along with regular
attendees. It was a joyous morning!
Coming Events
Sun., Jan. 2 – 10:45 am worship --
“Imagine Limitless Joy” sermon
Tues., Jan. 11 – 7:00 pm Admin.
Board meeting
Mon., Jan. 17- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Day. Church office closed
Thurs., Jan. 20 – 6:30-8:30 pm
Administrative Board dinner
Sun., Feb. 13 -- Super Bowl Football
Playoffs
The Altar Guild decorated the Chancel, hung swags from balconies, and put up the Sanctuary tree in
early December. The holiday décor will be up until Epiphany, 12 days after Christmas Day.
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Help feed hungry families in Kansas City. Bring canned soup (chicken, bean or tomato preferred) to the
Mission Table in the Family Foyer. Last year we contributed about 700 cans. Can we do better this year?
Paper bags will be distributed to the neighborhood, asking for donations of canned goods starting
Jan. 15.
The soup will be donated to Harvesters food bank after the Super Bowl Football Game.
Grayson Michael Unger was baptized on Sunday, Dec. 12, during the morning
worship. Grayson is the son of Michael and Carly Unger, church members who
live in Parkville. Pastor Angie officiated, with Rev. David Gilmore. Rev. Gilmore is
District Superintendent of the Heartland District of the Missouri United
Methodist Church. He was guest preacher for the day.
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The Christian
Year
Paraments are those
richly-colored cloths
that hang on the lecturn
and pulpit at the front of
the church. Did you ever
think about why they –
and the wall banner
behind them – have a
change of color with the
seasons? We use white
for weddings, but what
do the other colors
mean?
Next time you worship at our church, look at the banner colors and ponder what they mean to
you. Maybe the purple for Advent and Lent reminds you of the color of royalty? Gold or white
for Christmas could stand for the gold for Christ’s gift from the Wise Man, or white for Mary –
and her baby’s -- purity. Red for Holy Week or Pentecost (for the blood of Christ). Different
theologians have different explanations. What do you think it means?
As Linda Neal said after reading this article, we need to understand “there is a Reason for the
Season.”
Della Lamb Update
The Christmas Offering totaled more than $4000 for Della Lamb Community
Services so far this year. The money will go to helping refugees from Afghanistan get
settled with housing, food and clothing, finding jobs and learning English as a
second language.
As of Dec. 25, over 170 Afghan evacuees have come to The Lamb seeking refuge and
support. Requests go out each week for volunteers to help clean or furnish
apartments, for individuals to help the evacuees adapt to a new culture, and teens
to befriend teenage refugees.
For more information on how you can serve, go to: www.dellalamb.org/volunteer.
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FROM THE PASTOR – Angie Colina McNeil
Dear friends in Christ,
Less than a month ago, I sat down to write my December article and began
to laugh. I was so excited to spend our first Christmas together in our
sanctuary. On Tuesday, December 21, my husband, with whom I had spent
three hours in a car on the preceding Sunday, was sick. He was sure it was
a sinus infection as he is prone to them. I had an at-home Covid kit so I
took it to him. It lit up brighter than any of the Christmas lights we went to
see on Sunday: Covid-19.
It became a waiting game for daughter Ripley and me. She woke up with a fever on
Wednesday, and we both tested positive on Thursday.
2021 started off as a year of hope. With Covid running rampant across the globe, two
manufacturers had received approval from the FDA for the emergency use of an mRNA vaccine.
It was a true miracle that we got to witness unfolding in real time! God had equipped these
scientists to work together to come up with a solution.
Here’s the thing about being human, though. We haven’t quite “moved on to perfection,” as
our founder, John Wesley, would say. Had we figured out how to work together to bring about
worldwide healing in the first place, I imagine the heavens would have opened up and Jesus
would have returned and the redemption of the world would be in its final stages.
Alas, that didn’t happen, and here we are continuing to figure out what Covid is going to do
next. Some of us are navigating badly bruised relationships, having fractured from differing
ideologies. Others of us are moving forward without loved ones who succumbed to the virus.
But there is good news -- there is ALWAYS good news.
Even when we fail, Jesus is there to forgive. When our loved ones don’t forgive us, He does.
When death is all around us, Jesus makes way for new life.
As we enter 2022, I want us to lean in even more to the spirit of God and imagine what God has
in store for us. We know God is always making things new, so I want us to really believe that
this year. Here are some things I’m imagining right now:
● What will worship on December 24, 2022, look like? Is it one service or is it five?
● On September 29, 2022, what will my relationship look like with our Child Development
Center? How can I be of service there?
● How many people can I meet in the community, while maintaining proper hygiene and
safety, whom God is waiting for?
(continued, page 6)
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FROM THE PASTOR (continued)
My personal list could be endless, and that’s why you are so important. What can YOU imagine
for our church in the future?
I know you have hope for our congregation and you want to help build God’s kingdom. So in
2022, let’s dream together. Let’s imagine what God has in store for us.
2021 was a great year, but I have a feeling 2022 is going to be wonderful. Happy New Year!
Many blessings, Angie Colina McNeil
Safe-keeping of a
“legacy gift”
by Linda Neal
One hundred years ago, our church family
put into our hands a beautiful gift: our
sanctuary. We discovered the cornerstone,
which had been hidden behind some
overgrown shrubs, when we created our
Garden of Remembrance. And while the
building’s walls resonate with all the joy of
the weddings, baptisms, musical
performances and worship services
celebrated over the past 100 years, we can
see where we need to continue our
stewardship. So, to be sure our future members will be able to experience that same joy, we
will celebrate the original building’s 100th birthday with some special attention and loving care.
As we develop our plans to keep it both elegant and functional, we will keep you up to date on
what sort of “birthday present” we might offer.
FUN FACT:
The Sanctuary, pastor’s office, kitchen and fellowship hall were completed in 1923 at a cost of
$125,000. The pictorial stained glass window was added above the chancel in 1964.
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