Holding a Balance of Unity Within Diversity

worship space

Jo Shryrock likes living in Tonganoxie, Kansas. It’s a small town, with a population of little more than 5,000. The people are friendly, and it’s a great place to raise children. But she wishes there were more diversity, particularly religious diversity, in her town. She looks at Kansas City, Missouri, and sees how the varied…

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What’s The Story Behind That Shiny Spire In Independence, Missouri?

temple and other holy sites 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…

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Angry Metro Clergy Await Homosexuality Decision from United Methodist Church

protesters at February methodist meeting in St. Louis

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…

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The Christianity Spectrum: Local Millennials Share How They Do Church

Taylor Hudspeth (left) and Chantell Smith have been thinking about how church finds it way into their lives.

Chantell Smith was sitting on the couch in her apartment flipping through the channels when she saw the news. A gunman had entered a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, and killed nine people. She felt defeated. Her cheeks were wet with tears. “That was the one where I was just like, ‘What is…

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