Along with you, we continue to watch what is happening in Ukraine and want to help the people that are in Ukraine as well as those that are fleeing. Currently, we are working with Methodists in the Ukraine and surrounding countries to help with basic needs such as food, hygiene items, lodging, and medicine. An update from the Bishop’s office in the Methodist Conference of Central & Southern Europe:

“Save your strength, the road we are on will be long.” This is how Supt. Ivana Procházková, of the UMC in Czechia, perceives the current situation as it is becoming increasingly obvious that the response to the war in Ukraine and its implications won’t be a matter of a few weeks only. Numerous refugees continue their journey after having spent some restful nights in a country directly or indirectly bordering to Ukraine. In Hungary and Slovakia, for instance, the majority of those having arrived from the war-torn neighboring country, are in transit. On the other hand, the Superintendent in Poland estimates that about 60% of the more than two million refugees that have fled to his country so far, aim to stay. This means that in addition to providing emergency relief for refugees on their onward journey, taking care of those staying longer-term is of increasing importance – for the governments, churches, and other organizations.

We are sending funds to support their effort in housing and feeding those that have had to flee their homes as well as helping cover the costs of relief transports from the surrounding countries to different locations in Ukraine. Please pray for the people of Ukraine – and everyone involved that want a quick and peaceful end to this war. If you’d like to donate, you can donate to our disaster response ministry HERE.

This spring, Habitat KC and Church of the Resurrection will Rock The Block in Olathe, KS! Join more than 100 volunteers on Saturday, June 4th at 8 a.m. to revitalize the Lakehurst neighborhood by helping homeowners with minor exterior home repairs such as painting, porch repair, landscaping and more. Volunteers must be at least 16 years old, and a parent or guardian must accompany all volunteers under the age of 18. Lunch is provided!

Visit HabitatKC.org/RockTheBlockOlathe to learn more and sign up to Rock The Block!

The parking ministry impacts the first and last impression of everyone who worships with us each Sunday. Help us show them a safe and positive experience! No experience is required. Assist outside before and after worship services, directing cars and pedestrians in the parking lot. Serve 30 minutes prior to service and leave service 10 minutes early to assist with exiting guests.

If you are interested reach out to our Downtown Worship Experience Specialist Logan Shaver.

When school is out in the Kansas City area, many children lose access to nutritional foods they need every day.

In the Harvester's Service Area:

• 108,000+ children are food insecure
• 1 in 6 children are in danger of being hungry
• Only 58% qualify for federal nutrition programs
• 10% of children in Johnson County, KS are food insecure

You can make an impact by purchasing "Summer Staples" food donations and dropping them off at any Church of the Resurrection services in June.

Or donate online!

Summer Staples Shopping List

• Cereal - Our biggest need this year due to demand
• Peanut butter & Jelly
• Mac and Cheese
• Canned Pasta (Ravioli/Spaghettio's)
• Canned Chicken

Volunteers needed to help collect and sort donations!

• On going collection support
• Food Sorting: June 27th | 5-7pm
• For these opportunities and more please contact Eric Breidenstein or Reca Hanna

Want to volunteer at your campus? Visit our June 18th Serve Saturday Sign- up HERE

We ask that unsolicited donations be taken to another donation center. If you are interested in helping receive and sort donations or dropping off donations during weekday office hours, please contact Cristen.summers@cor.org and she’ll get you connected to your location specific Director of Missions.

Serve in our community at various locations in Kansas City.

Serve Saturdays are the third Saturday of the month and offer a variety of pre-planned serving opportunities which require only your time and a desire to make an impact in our church, our community and our world. Individuals, families and groups are welcome to participate in any of our events. Help us serve God by serving others!

This month we have added our yearly School Makeover project!!

Our events are designed as easy, low-commitment ways to make a positive impact on your neighbors in the metro area. Try something new, or enjoy a familiar favorite. Either way, you'll experience the powerful impact of helping others by becoming God's hands and feet right here in Kansas City.

Registration is required. Volunteers will go directly to their selected serve site on that day. Please note, some locations have specific COVID-related guidelines for volunteers.

• Family Friendly opportunities from sorting donations to serving meals
• Hands on opportunities from building shelves to grounds maintenance
• Making personal connections while shopping with our neighbors for their clothing needs.
• And so much more!

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER HERE!

Looking for some at-home serve activities? Check out our DIY Serve page!

At Resurrection Downtown, we are an intergenerational group of people who love to worship through play. Facilitated by drums, bass, guitar, keyboards, brass, strings, and vocalists, our musical worship is ever-growing.

If you love to worship by singing or playing an instrument, contact Sam Wells about the audition process and for more information.

She can be reached by email at Sam.Wells@cor.org

Help us, welcome guests, to worship at Resurrection! A smiling face and a warm hello put people at ease and lets them know they are welcome and belong here. Be part of a fun group of volunteers that loves serving God and our guests.

Outside Door Greeters typically serve by opening doors for our guests as they arrive - rain or shine! Greeters arrive approximately 40 minutes before worship and are at their doors serving until 15 minutes after worship begins. Then you're free to enjoy the service!

If you are interested reach out to our Downtown Worship Experience Specialist Logan Shaver.

Jewish Vocational Services (JVS) assists newcomer individuals and families in achieving self-reliance. We serve by helping with home setups, groceries, and welcoming arrivals at the airport. Further opportunities directly with JVS are available providing support in the form of personal development, employment and training services. We can always use items found on this home set up list if you’d like to help mitigate the costs of home set-ups. Another way to support home set-ups is to donate to Flourish Furnishings, which provides many of the needed items.

If you haven't filled out the cor.org/VolunteerHub application yet, please do so before proceeding.

Next, you can watch this JVS training video.

Last, fill out these forms for JVS and return them to Patrick McLaughlin with a statement affirming you've watched the video.

If you'd like to simply become a JVS volunteer unaffiliated with Resurrection, please contact volunteer@jvskc.org.

Using Psalm 4:8 as the guiding mission, the Beds Program provides new beds to children who don’t have beds of their own in Kansas City urban and suburban communities. Our purpose is to recognize and address the physical need for sleep, thus providing a sense of comfort, rest and peace. Through this coordinated demonstration of God’s love and provision, we will bring smiles and comfort to children and families. Our focus is to serve the children referred by Resurrection's partner school districts and specific mission partners.

Upcoming Serving Opportunities:

Beds Pick-up Parties:

Volunteers are needed to load/unload mattresses, greet participants and assist them in picking up linens and pajamas. This is a great serving opportunity for the whole family-appropriate for children 7 and older when accompanied by an adult. Please note this event takes place outside-dress accordingly!

• Beds Party at Wheatley Elementary 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 25

• Beds Party at Big Brothers Big Sisters at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 2

Contact bedsforeverybody@gmail.com with questions.

Other Serve Opportunities:

Host a Linen Drive

Host a linen drive in your school, workplace, or neighborhood! New twin linens will be provided to school aged children who receive beds through the Program. If you need more information on the Program for your drive, please contact bedsforeverybody@gmail.com.

Slat Support Construction

Have access to free or inexpensive lumber? We are always looking for lumber to build our slat support structure. This structure is used in place of a box spring.

Sponsor a Bed

Don’t let a Kansas City child sleep on the floor tonight. Consider sponsoring a bed!

• $95 for a new twin bed (mattress, mattress pad, slat support and metal frame)
• $40 for a new set of linens
• $135 for a twin bed and all the linens!

Contact bedsforeverybody@gmail.com with questions.

Please visit the Beds Ministry Donations page for more information about how to support this ministry with donations.

I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety. -Psalm 4:8

Tutor with children grades K-6 at one of Resurrection's partner school locations helping students improve their reading and math skills.

Serve Opportunities

Tutor or Reading Buddy: Assist students with reading skills, letter recognition and/or letter sounds. Requires weekly commitment.

Classroom Assistant: Assist teachers in classrooms and work with individuals or small groups of children; help the teacher with other needed tasks. Requires weekly commitment.

Lunch Buddies: Be a mentor and build self confidence with children. Enjoy lunch with a student each week while reading, visiting, or working on flashcards.

Ages: Volunteers must be 18 years and older.

Training Requirements: In order to provide a safe environment for all children, background checks and specialized training will be required prior to serving as a tutor. Please go to the Partner Schools Cultural Competency Training page for training dates and to register. Safe Gatherings certification is also required for those working in the schools. If you are not already Safe Gatherings certified (certification lasts four years) you will receive tips to help you quickly complete the required online training when you attend Cultural Comptency training.

Grace United Community Ministries operates to better the community one person at a time in a holistic approach through basic needs, supportive needs and spiritual needs.

Grace currently offers an after school tutoring program for children Kindergarten through 8th grade.

When: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 3:50-5:45 pm.

Where: Grace United Ministries, 811 Benton Blvd, Kansas City, MO.

Approximately 80-90 students attend four days a week, Monday through Thursday from 3:50 to 5:45 pm.  The program follows the KCMO school calendar.  All students are tested to determine their reading grade level and math proficiency.  A retired district reading specialist coordinates the curriculum and after more than ten years of operating, the program has achieved success in helping these children reach grade level proficiencies.  Adults work one on one with students in a structured environment and normally tutor three students each session.

Passions and skills that are especially helpful for serving in this role are children, education, literacy, care & support, mentoring, underprivileged, justice and mentoring.

If you are interested in helping with this ministry, please contact Linda Anderson at randerson507@gmail.com or (816) 352-3741.

A Child's Hope offers volunteers an opportunity to work with children and teens in foster care through a variety of programs that support foster children, foster care parents and adoption.

Over 900 children in Kansas Foster Care are waiting to be adopted and looking for forever homes. You may view their profiles at adoptkskids.org.

• Our mission is to support foster and forever families and share Christ's love with children and teens in foster care.

• With the shortage of foster and adoptive homes in Kansas City and Johnson County, Resurrection families are needed to open their hearts and their homes.

A Child's Hope ministry is not affiliated with any national organization and is solely a ministry of Church of the Resurrection. Please check out the other pages to learn more about the opportunities.

James 1:27  "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans... in their distress..."

The need for affordable housing is immense, and the lasting impact homeownership can have on families and individuals is undeniable.

There are more than 13,000 families in Kansas City struggling to find affordable housing. We are excited to be partnering with Habitat for Humanity of Kansas City to build new affordable homes.

The homes are not free – each family who partners with Habitat is making a personal and financial investment in their future. Habitat for Humanity of Kansas City partners with families to provide strength, stability and self-reliance through shelter. Through this partnership, each family has the opportunity to build or rehab and purchase their own decent home with an affordable zero-interest mortgage.

Upcoming Opportunities with Habitat KC:

Resurrection is participating in a very special build this Spring. We will help build a fully accessible home for a young girl, and her family, who experienced a tragedy that left her paralyzed from the neck down. Click HERE to find out more information and to register to volunteer.

Rock the Block Olathe May 21st- Help homeowners in the Lakehurst Neighborhood with minor exterior home repairs such as painting, porch repair, landscaping and more. Click HERE to learn more.

Ongoing Opportunities:

We have a crew, led by Ken Nollen, that volunteers every Wednesday with Habitat for Humanity of Kansas City. To find out more about volunteering with our Resurrection Wednesday crew contact Ken at knollen40@gmail.com

Helping Hands Construction Ministry
Our RezDT Construction ministry is looking for volunteers of all skill levels and from all of our campuses. This ministry meets the first & third Saturdays of each month to help families and Serve Saturday partners that have a little more advanced and time consuming needs then they can address on their own. For info email rezdtconstruction@cor.org.

If you're interested in other housing and construction opportunities please contact Bob at resurrectionhabitat@yahoo.com.

KC Public School partnerships

• Church of the Resurrection partners with eight local elementary schools to help improve lifelong outcomes for students. A full description of opportunities and steps to get involved are available at our Partner Schools Ministry page.
• RezDowntown partners specifically with two schools and our members are encouraged to participate here to build community along fellow RezDowntown participants.
• Information on our two schools
  • Wendell Phillips Elementary
    • Located at 2400 Prospect Ave. KCMO (view website)
    • For more information on serving at Wendell Phillips, contact Sally Smith!
    • See all opportunities to serve here.
  • East High School
    • Located at 1924 Van Brunt Ave, KCMO (view website)
    • For more information on serving at East High School, contact Pastor Patrick.McLaughlin@cor.org.