“Wait! I thought you were living in Canada”
“No, I finished my coursework at Regent and we are in the process of planting a church in Kansas City.”
“Oh...Wow! I had no idea. So, how do you like living in KC?”
“Well, we’ve actually been living in Little Rock since last summer...it’s kind of a long story”
This pretty much summarizes the opening segment of every conversation I’ve had for the past eighteen months. The good news is, we are finally in Kansas City!
And, by God’s stunning grace, our plans to plant a new church in the urban core of KC are moving forward at a blinding pace and in ways much different and more beautiful than we ever could have conceived.
What follows is my attempt to provide a brief sketch of some of what has transpired in the past year and to update those who are interested on what we are currently doing in Kansas City.
The last 18 months have been, without question, the most bizarre, busy, and exciting months of our lives. I finished my coursework for my ThM at Regent; Katie and I moved from Canada to Little Rock, AR; I worked as a church planter in residence with Fellowship Associates; and baby Quinn entered our world on December 5.
On top of all of this, we traveled literally 80% of our weekends since last July – making seventeen trips to Kansas City to study the culture and cultivate relationships – as well as trips elsewhere for networking, team development and fundraising.
All that to say, it feels nice to actually live here and no longer have to commute to KC. Now that we’re here and getting settled, I thought it was finally time to make the update I have been promising for so long...
CHURCH PLANTING UPDATE
The short story, for those who don't already know, is that Katie and I have been praying, planning, and dreaming about planting a church in Kansas City since 2005, and my dreams for KC date back much further than that. After a great deal of prayer and a long weekend of marathon meetings in KC last winter, we started moving forward with plans to plant.
The day after we made the decision to plant in KC, I received a phone call from Darrin Patrick about a dying church that was about to dissolve as a congregation and give everything they had to The Journey. This initiated a season of prayer and discussion among our team and with The Journey about what it might look like to partner with them and First Calvary Baptist Church to plant a new church in Kansas City. Though it is now slightly dated, a summary sketch of what we have done to this end can be found here.
On June 1, we celebrated the final service of First Calvary Baptist Church. We put the archives of the church on display, heard testimonies of members, former pastors, and a former pastor’s wife. This was an amazing opportunity to rejoice in God’s faithfulness to a church for over 150 years-- and a humbling responsibility to bring the life of this church to a decisive end.
On June 8, we held our first gathering as Redeemer Fellowship. This was not the typical “church plant launch,” but it did mark the first gathering for a new work in the city through which we pray God will build a vibrant, gospel-centered community. You can see more photographs from our first service here at our flickr page.
We are hosting simple Sunday gatherings throughout the summer to study the Bible and to worship and pray together. Additionally, we are experimenting with several different opportunities for people to connect and for God to cultivate community. These will include both formal and informal gatherings.
For those interested in keeping up with these opportunities, we will communicate information via our Sunday gatherings, email updates, website, and, as a highly experimental means of content delivery, twitter (Those who have never heard of twitter should rest assured that you’re not missing anything. If you don’t believe me, you can read about it here-- and those that don’t care, but like the syndication can grab the RSS feed here. What’s RSS? Still asking questions? Then I can’t help you, and you will find a soulmate in our community development pastor, Kris!)
Those who aren’t receiving our email updates but would like to can click here-- but the best way I can tell you to get connected with what we’re doing is to come hang out with us and meet people. (If you're in the area and would like to meet up, I would love to share coffee or a meal with you.)
We are thankful for those who continue to keep track of us from a distance. Your prayers and support have kept us going and have been critical for us in this intense time of transition. Thanks.
Those interested in partnering with us financially can learn more about how to do that here.
BLOG UPDATE
An unrelated sidenote, I have a re-awakened desire to actually post things here on my blog again. Though I’m not making any promises, my hope is to utilize this space once again to make book and music suggestions, share links I find interesting, and take the rare occasion to write. I suspect much will be largely related to what is going on within our community, but I hope to make it a spot on the interwebs that is once again beneficial to like-minded people.
As always, questions, comments, and criticism are more than welcome. Email me: kevin {at} redeemerkansascity {dot} org.
We are so proud of what you are allowing God to do through you and Katie, Kevin. You are always in our prayers, but we wish we could be there to help fulfill this dream and watch God work His miracles in person. We're for you :o)
So blessed to finally hear a report and that all is going amazingly well.
Posted by: Deea | June 23, 2008 at 10:27 AM
Congrats Kevin,
What a great blessing! I'm excited to see what God does with Redeemer in Kansas City. Make sure to keep us up to date.
Posted by: Mike Anderson | June 23, 2008 at 11:12 AM
kevin:
can't wait to hear about the gospel penetrating westport and beyond. blessings to you and your family!
Posted by: brad andrews | June 23, 2008 at 01:24 PM
Hi Kevin-
Welcome to KC! I grew up there and while I'm far away now (living in L.A.) I have a deep fondness for the place and return often. The urban revitalization is indeed exciting and many of my friends from high school are moving down there (Crossroads district, lofts, etc).
Congratulations on Redeemer and I look forward to visiting sometime when I'm home for a holiday or something. And though you probably know more about KC in 2008 than I do, if you have any questions about the city's culture or quirks from someone who lived there for a long time, let me know!
God bless,
-BM
Posted by: Brett | June 23, 2008 at 03:09 PM
It's exciting to hear about this work you're doing in K.C. Keep blogging and keep Twittering!
Posted by: Bobby Gilles | June 24, 2008 at 07:16 AM
Kevin & Katie, Kris & Adrienne,
You are doing a key work in KC. It's thrilling to hear your reports! Wish we could be there with you. Know that we are praying for you. Fred & Sherri Fishel
Posted by: Fred Fishel | June 25, 2008 at 08:57 PM