Beyond Belief
What’s The Story Behind That Shiny Spire In Independence, Missouri?
Like many Metropolitan-area residents, Valorie Wells Fenton has driven by the silver spire that corkscrews skyward in Independence, Missouri. She heard it’s the place Mormons expect Jesus to return and wondered if the site may be to Mormons like the Vatican is to Catholics. After talking with family and friends about the church, she realized…
Beliefs Ease Strain of Rime Buddhist Center Financial Struggles
In early March, the winter-brown grass on the vacant lot at the northwest corner of 30th Street and Highland in Kansas City reflected the harsh winter weather that pummeled the city for several months. It looked beaten, exhausted, almost breathless. But this land is where the Rime (pronounced REE-may) Buddhist Center has placed its long-term…
Understanding Islam in KC
At 79 years old, Marian Thomas is as inquisitive now as she was as a Sunday school student. She asked curiousKC: “What are the range of beliefs/practices within Kansas City’s Muslim community from ‘conservative’ to more ‘progressive’ and ‘liberal’?”
Church Is Ray Of Light In Urban KC Neighborhood
The Sheffield Family Life Center, a 6,000-member Assembly of God church, is a sparkling diamond in an urban coal mine. It’s big, diverse and a key center of life in Kansas City’s distressed Blue Valley area. “We are in a location where we kind of get left out,” says Sheffield’s pastor George Westlake III. “We’re…
Angry Metro Clergy Await Homosexuality Decision from United Methodist Church
Right after a governing body of the United Methodist Church in February approved keeping the denomination’s ban on gay clergy and on any clergy officiating at same-sex weddings, the Rev. Tex Sample was indignant and defiant. He told worshippers at Trinity United Methodist Church in Midtown Kansas City that their historically gay-friendly congregation would follow…