By Barbara George, Director of Membership Development

“Welcome to our Church Family.” This is what I say to individuals as they make their commitment to membership at Country Club Christian Church. We certainly are a family; like-minded people of faith, in fellowship together, a community who expresses caring and concern for one another. More importantly we are one in the Body of Christ where all are welcome.

The commitment that we make to our new members is to invite them to go with us beyond these walls, beyond ourselves, to fulfill the mission that lays before us. In our Outreach Mission Statement we are called to: Transform lives using our time, talent and resources. Our Vision: Every member engaged in local and global partnerships that create a more just world.

This Sunday, May 7, at the 11:00 a.m. service we will be joined by our local partners in mission from Kansas City, MO; Kansas City, KS; and our Northeast PartNEership Initiative. Through them we tutor children at schools, clean and set up homes for incoming refugees. We help repair neighborhood homes, support mothers who are working diligently to create new lives for themselves and their children. We sort clothing, cook and serve meals at Cross-Lines and Micah Ministry each month.

Four weeks ago a new Amani Choir, meaning peace in Swahili, was formed in the Northeast that combines the voices of Country Club Christian Church members and refugees resettled by Della Lamb Community Services. A choir director was hired. Our humanitarian and traditional religious songs are in both English and Swahili. In the beginning it was a little wiggly and raw as we found our footing but that didn’t inhibite one ounce of joy or limit our chatter as we learned about one another. For example, Ariane is finishing high school at Penn Valley and plans to stay for college. She wants to be a doctor (“not a nurse, a doctor”), a gerontologist because that’s what her country needs. Darcy just joined us but wants to learn guitar so one member will stay late this week to work with him. Davey just relishes playing his keyboard and is all smiles! We have three guitars, a keyboard, and two African drums, plus 18 combined voices singing…and two babies sleeping. All are welcome.

We each are transformed as we endeavor to create a more just world. We all have “A Place at the Table.”

Welcome to our church family.