Category Archives: Church news

Catholic Convent Coming to Rural Bourbon County In April

 

The interior of the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception.
After Easter, in April 2024, a group of 17 Catholic Sisters will be moving to a rural Bourbon County property to make their home.
“We Sisters were invited to make our home on a piece of property near St. Martin’s Academy, by Dan Kerr and by the organization Ave Philomena,” said Mother Maria Regina, a spokeswoman for the Sisters “We have obtained the property we will live on to serve as a place to support the spiritual life of the students, faculty, and families at St. Martin’s Academy. If all goes well, we hope to come very soon after Easter.”
Submitted photo.
“Our present convent home is in Minneapolis, Minnesota,” she said.  “While we have been grateful to live in Minnesota, we needed a larger place, as we had outgrown our home there.  Also, we have longed to live in a more rural area, which is more conducive to our lifestyle.”
The name of the new Catholic establishment is St. Joseph Convent on Hackberry Road, southwest of Fort Scott.
Submitted photo. This photo is the housing for the Sisters, located at St. Joseph Convent, rural  Bourbon County. Each cottage is 16 ‘ by 20 ‘ with two sleeping quarters and a shared bathroom in between.
The name of this group of Sisters is Filiae Laboris Mariae, which means “Daughters of the Work of Mary.”
“We are a group of Catholic religious Sisters, who dedicate our lives to prayer and to service,” she said.  “We are a rather new community.  We were founded in 2017, and most of our Sisters are still rather young–the large majority in their 20s and 30s.”
The 5,300 square-foot chapel is flanked by the Sisters’s cottages on the left in this photo.
“Our primary purpose is to dedicate our lives to prayer and that is the reason that the largest building for our new convent is the chapel,” she said.  “We Sisters give our lives entirely to God and live in community: praying together, working together, recreating together each day.  In addition to our life of prayer, we also intend to serve the community by organizing events that will foster the spiritual life for various groups of persons.  We have heard that there are nursing homes in Fort Scott and would very much like to make regular visits to the residents of the nursing homes.”
Submitted photo of the Sisters.
They are a community of 17 Sisters.
  “Nuns is the term for those Sisters who serve the world exclusively by their prayer and sacrifice.  Since we also have some external service to others, we are called Sisters,” she said.
“For those who become Sisters, there are stages of formation,” she said.  “The first stage is called the postulant and we have one postulant.  The next stage is that of the novice (you can tell a novice because she wears a white veil), and we have eight novices.  The last stage is that of a Sister who has professed the vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and total consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary.  The professed Sisters wear a blue veil, and there are eight professed Sisters. “
Submitted photo. The  Novice wears a white veil.
Submitted photo. A blue veil is worn by a Sister.
About the build
Steve McTavish, Olathe, is the project manager for Ave Philomena, the owner of the project. The 160-acreage was purchased from Delbert and Darla Crays.
“We started last August,” he said. “April 2 is the scheduled move-in.”
The current phase of the build is the 5,300 sq. ft. chapel,  16′ by 20 ‘ residence cottages, a 2,000 sq. ft. community center, a 4,000 sq. ft. dining, kitchen, sewing laundry center,  and a small cottage for meetings.
The future phase is for three other buildings for community and additional lodging, and a replica of the House of Loreto with courtyards,  McTavish said.
Almost all of the work on the St. Joseph Convent project has been done by local tradesmen.
The people who have helped with the build are Advantage Building and Remodeling-Fort Scott; R2 Construction-Fort Scott; Geiger Plumbing-Fort Scott, H2 Painting-Fort Scott; Wes Davis Drywall, Kelly Electric-Uniontown,  5M Restoration, LLC-Prescot; George Collinge (road and land clearing work); Bar/Rose Custom Wood Designs-Fort Scott; C.D. L. (HVAC); Aegis (fire protection); Rural Water District #2; Heartland Electric Coop; Harris Propane, Invictus Roofing, Mike the Carpet Man (flooring) and Winvent/Extrusions (windows).

 

Lenten Fish Fry Begins and Update on Catholic Church Construction

Construction work continues on the new Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church and the new parish rectory, changing the configuration of the church campus.

But the annual fish fry remains the same.

“Not much has changed on our fish fries,” Knights of Columbus  Member Calvin Barr said.  “As the saying goes, ‘why mess with something that is working?”‘

 

The annual Knights of Columbus Lenten Fish Fry continues every Friday until March 22 at Kennedy Gym at 7th and Holbrook,  on the campus of Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church, and St. Mary’s Catholic School.

The Kennedy Gym is located at 7th and  Holbrook Streets, just behind St. Mary’s Catholic School, and is the site of the annual Knights of Columbus Lenten Fish Fry.

The meal is from 5 to 7 p.m. and includes fried or baked fish, french fries or baked potato, vegetables, spaghetti with sauce, bread, dessert, and drink.

This is a freewill offering meal, but a minimum of $8 is asked for the meal, according to the flyer.

Barr gave an update on Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church, which the Knights are a part of.

“Fr. Yancy’s new rectory is just about completed,” Carr said.  “The workers are finishing up the inside this week.”
The priest’s rectory, located at 720 Holbrook,  is nearing completion. Submitted photo.
The concrete pad for Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church’s new building has been poured.
The foundation for Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church has been poured. Submitted photo.
The metal frame is up, with the walls going up this week.
The metal frame is going up this week for the Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church. Submitted photo.
To view a prior story on the construction:

Construction on the New Catholic Church and Rectory Has Started

 

New Pastor at First Presbyterian Church: Reverend Sarah Gengler

 

The First Presbyterian Church is located at 308 S. Crawford Street, Fort Scott.

As of February 1, the Fort Scott Presbyterian Church has a new pastor, Reverend Sarah Gengler.

Gengler didn’t start immediately in her current career.

While working at one career, she started volunteering at a Presbyterian Church.

Gengler graduated from  Adrian High School (Minnesota) in May 2001 and attended South Dakota State University from Sept. 2001 to Dec. 2004  earning a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and political science.

She began attending a Presbyterian Church in the community she was living in, while working as an education reporter for a daily newspaper.

“The work did not allow me to get to know people, as it had while working for a weekly newspaper, and my boss at the time seemed to thrive off the staff being unhappy,” she said. “I told the youth director I volunteered for at my church that I would love to do what she did, but I did not have the degree and could not afford to go back to school at that time. She told me that sometimes churches didn’t require youth directors to have a formal degree, so I left my journalism career and jumped into ministry with both feet.”

“After only a few months I knew I wanted to further my education in religious studies,” she said. “I began to take seminary classes online, for two years and felt God calling me to fully ordained ministry. I had just missed the cutoff for the fall of 2010 so I continued to work until I could enter seminary full time the summer of 2011.”

Gengler graduated from the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary in May 2014 with a Master of Divinity which focused on small rural ministry.

She was ordained in 2014 and has served Presbyterian churches in Indiana and Nebraska, and the last six months as a contracted pastor to an Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Minnesota.

“Some of my passions in ministry include preaching, pastoral care/visiting, mission and community work, and mailing greeting cards,” she said.” In my spare time I enjoy spending time with my family, friends, and two dogs (Max and Daisy), reading/listening to audiobooks, cooking, baking, quilting, and anything crafty. I seem to always be busy and truly enjoy helping others.”

Sarah Gengler was born and raised on a dairy farm near Adrian, Minnesota in the southwest corner of the state, as the third of six children.

“They still run the dairy farm with my two younger brothers and milk approximately 400 cows,” she said in a press release. “People are always stunned when I tell them there are 29 people, including me, in my immediate family.”

Pastor Sarah’s hours are Sunday from 9 a.m. – noon; Monday – Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. – noon; and afternoon times by appointment.

Contact info: Church – 620-223-3180; Email – [email protected]

Address of the church: 308 S. Crawford (at the corner of 3rd and Crawford Streets)

Service time: Faith Formation classes begin at 9:30 a.m. during the school year. Worship is at 10:30 a.m. Children are welcomed in worship or childcare is available.

 

 

Ground(hog) Pancake Feed on February 3 at the First Southern Baptist Church

Fort Scott First Southern Baptist Church

FIRST SOUTHERN BAPTIST CHURCH OF FORT SCOTT

 

JOIN US FOR OUR 5TH ANNUAL

ALL YOU CAN EAT PANCAKES

WITH A SERVING OF GROUND(HOG)

DINE IN OR CARRY OUT

ALSO SILENT AUCTION,

 VALENTINE GIFTS & BAKE SALE

February 3, 2024, 8 A.M.- 2 P.M.

at First Southern Baptist Church

1818 South Main, Fort Scott, KS

Children 7 and under FREE

8 to Adult $5.00 in advance

or

$6.00 at the door

for advanced tickets Contact

Ida Ford 417-262-3948,

Terri Williams 620-215-3202

 

 

 

Uniontown Baptist Church Food Baskets: A Community Collaboration

 

Submitted photos.

The First Missionary Baptist Church of Uniontown has been distributing food baskets at Christmas time for many years,”  said Marci Williams, chairperson of the mission board at the church.

“We get our suggestions (for those who might need extra food) from church and community members and the (USD 235) school,” she said.

“Church members donate food,” she said.  “(And) Ruritan ( a local community service group) donates $500 to the mission board to purchase groceries.”

And the local school organizes a food drive.

“The students, staff, and W.B.E. families are very supportive and generous,” Jenny Covey, a member of the mission board said. “The sixth-grade class has been organizing a food drive since before I started teaching in Uniontown more than 18 years ago.”

“This is a great way to teach students about giving,” Covey said.

“Our church gets together a few days before Christmas to pack and deliver the boxes,” Williams said. “This year each family received a turkey, sausage, eggs, bread, bag of potatoes, apple juice, sugar, and apples. In addition, the boxes are filled to the brim.”

 

Construction on New Catholic Church and Rectory Has Started

The architect’s rendition of the future Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church. Submitted graphic.

The area south and west of  St. Mary’s Catholic School is a hub of construction.

The August 2022 lightning-strike fire at Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church destroyed the structure.

“Fr. Yancey Burgess, the pastor, said the destruction was too great to repair the old church,”  according to a news article in https://catholicdioceseofwichita.org/new-church-planned-for-fort-scott/. “The engineers have said it would be cost prohibitive to try to rebuild it because the church would lose its ‘grandfather’ status and would have to meet modern building codes.”

Simpson Construction Services, Wichita, is the general contractor for the new church building and has two employees on site, Howard Thome, superintendent, and Tyler Fox, field engineer.

The new church site is located at 702 Eddy, in approximately the same spot as the old one.

Fox said there are approximately 26 sub-contractors from start to finish on the project.

Construction began in November 2023.

“The church will be a little over 7,000 square feet,” Fox said. “The owner occupancy is expected to be November 2024.”

 

On December 5, R2 Concrete Construction, Fort Scott, was pouring the footings.

The gate to the construction site of the new Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church.

“We had to go down to bedrock,” Thome said. “We put in a lean concrete to bring it up to bedding. The footing is on top, so should be stable.”

“We should pour the slab in the next couple of weeks,” Fox said. “Then start erecting steel in late January.”

The project is being funded partly through insurance because the church was struck by lightning in August 2022, according to Bo Casper, a church member and also a sub-contractor on the rectory building.

Above 95 percent of the original stained glass windows was saved from the fire/water damage and will be reinstalled in the new church, according to Mark McCoy, who is on the parish building committee.

It is also being funded by a capital campaign that the church parish is doing, McCoy said.

The church will be ADA-accessible with a zero-entry to the church.

The cost of the church rebuild is approximately $6.5 million, McCoy said.

The banner on the outside fence of the construction site.

To view a prior story about the fire:

Fire at Fort Scott’s Catholic Church Causes Extensive Damage

The church was built in 1872, according to https://www.mqaftscott.com/history/

“The church was one of those founded by Italian-born Fr. Paul M. Ponziglione who helped establish many churches after he arrived in 1851 at the Osage Mission in Kansas” according to the article https://catholicdioceseofwichita.org/new-church-planned-for-fort-scott/“Because of the Fort Scott fire, St. Francis Church in St. Paul is now the oldest church in the diocese.”

Church Rectory

Looking east from the new church rectory at 720 Holbrook to the construction site of the church. St. Mary’s Catholic School is to the left in the photo.

Casper Enterprises, a local company, was working on the church rectory, at 720 Holbrook, west of the new church building on December 5.

The Catholic Rectory of Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church is being framed. The location is 720 Holbrook.

Bo Casper said the crew started the framing in November (2023 )of the 1,634 square foot home the church’s priest will live in. It will have three bedrooms, two baths, a large garage and a saferoom.

The rectory should be completed by the end of February 2024 “If the weather cooperates,” Casper said.

The lot where the rectory is being built belonged to the church.

The rectory was torn down and the site moved “because the church was totaled and had to be ADA compliant and needed more parking spaces,” Casper said. “We had to gain footage and tear down the rectory. It was just as old as the church. Bats were coming in through the chimney area. It was a three-story high brick building.”

The new rectory will have a brick facade and regular siding on the rear and sides of the building, Casper said.

The concrete has been poured at the rectory, and the three-man crew is currently framing, which will be done by the end of the week, Casper said.

Bo Casper left, and Frank Casper work on framing the rectory.

The cost of the rectory is approximately $325,000, McCoy said.

 

Life Chain: October 1

On Sunday, October 1, 2023, the Life Chain will be held at the Fort Scott First Southern Baptist Church, located at 1818 S. Main on South 69 Highway.

Life Chain is an annual public witness for life through peaceful prayer that takes place on the first Sunday in October.

Pro-Life Kansans from all across the state will gather in their communities on this day.

This Life Chain, part of the National LIfe Chain, is the largest prayerful, pro-life, public witness in the world.  More than 1,500 cities across the United States and Canada are expected to participate.

The event will begin at 1:30 with a memorial service for those babies lost through abortion.

At 1:50, participants will prayerfully line up along Highway 69 to make a peaceful but powerful stance for the preborn.

The public is invited to attend.

New Methodist Church Administrative Executive: Kristin Bishop

Submitted photo. Kristin Bishop

Kristin Bishop, 43, is the new First United Methodist Church Administrative Executive.

“My new role is a combination things – covering duties typical of office manager, treasurer, membership, and volunteer coordination – a little bit of everything to help the congregation live out our mission to know, grow in, serve, and share Christ,” she said.

First United Methodist Church at Third Street and National Avenue,

Bishop is a 1998 Graduate of Fort Scott High School, a 2000 graduate of Fort Scott Community College, and a 2003 Pittsburg State University graduate with a bachelor’s of science in Family and Consumer Sciences.

She has worked at the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center, New Generation Child Care and Preschool, BIDS & DIBS, USD 234, USD 235, and Big Sugar Lumber.

Her new job is a joy.

“I enjoy working in this environment,” she said.  “The church, the sermons, and interacting with church members and community volunteers. It is a peaceful and productive place to be.”

“It is a blessing to work in this beautiful church building,” Bishop said. “I love the way the light shines through the stained glass windows and the intricate details that went into the design of this church a century and a half ago.”

“I find Pastor Christopher’s Sunday morning sermons to be engaging and thought-provoking,” she said. “There is always a takeaway from the sermon and a melody from the beautiful music to begin each week. I also enjoy working with members of the church and community volunteers alike. They walk into the church with kindness in their hearts and a mission in mind. They selflessly share their gifts, talents, and time. It’s inspiring!”

Kristin is married to Will Bishop, and they have two sons Winston (7) and Linden (6).

She enjoys reading, road trips, good coffee, and conversation in her spare time.

About The Church

 Christopher Eshelman is the pastor of First United Methodist Church, Pat Harry is the organist and choir director, Sara Schnichels is the nursery coordinator, and Robert Wilson is the custodian.
Sunday school groups meet at 9:30 a.m. and Worship is at 10:30 a.m.
The church’s annual  Christmas Candlelight Service will feature communion and real candles again this year, at 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

 

Outreach ministries of First United Methodist:
  •  Feeding Families in His Name is a free weekly meal that averages about 500 served a week, with help from other churches.
  • They provide water bottles available for homeless folks, supplied by a resident.
  • There is a Shepherd’s Center program to help encourage friendship and lifelong learning among older adults that features a variety of speakers: The 2024 schedule is coming soon!
  • Community events such as the Chuck Crain concert coming up on October 8th at 6 pm.
  • Trunk or Treat for Halloween
  • First Annual Nativity Festival, with displays of Nativities and Creche from around the world on Dec 1st and 2nd,
  • The church hosts community meetings for K-State Extension, Pioneer Kiwanis, various sewing groups, a support group for Grieving Mothers starting later this month, and CORE Community beginning in November.
  • Beginning the last Friday of October, the church will offer a soup lunch for freewill donations as a fundraiser.
For more information view its Facebook page or website www.firstumcfortscott.org!

Contact Information: info@firstumc.fortscott.org

Blessing Closet Open at Uniontown Baptist Church

First Missionary Baptist Church of Uniontown is located at the intersection of Maple Road and Hwy. 3 at 100 Fifth Street.
The Uniontown First Missionary Baptist Church (FMBC)has started a new service to their community.
“FMBC is a generous supporter of missions and we strive to
find opportunities to assist those in our community and beyond,” said Mission Board Chairwoman Marci Williams. “Hebrews 13:16 says ‘And do not forget to do good and share  with others, for which sacrifices God is pleased.’ The  current food pantry (was) located inside the church and (was) open one evening per month and by appointment.”
The church realized this was not convenient for everyone.
Beginning on September 15, the outside pantry, named the Blessing Closet, is available to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

 

The Blessing Closet is located in the alley on the east side of the church at 100 Fifth Street, Uniontown, behind this white door.
“This will be located on the east side of the church in the alley and can be accessed from an outside entrance anytime night or day.  We are hopeful this will benefit our community and increase our outreach efforts,” Williams said.
The church is located at 100 Fifth Street (also known as Maple Road in the county) at the intersection with Hwy. 3 on the town’s west side.
Food products such as canned goods, and boxed mixes (cake, Hamburger and Tuna Helper, etc.) will be in the closet.
In addition, the church believes there is a need to put personal care items in the Blessing Closet.
The contents of the Blessing Closet.
Personal care items such as deodorant, feminine hygiene products, shampoo, brushes, toilet paper, paper towels, soap, washcloths, and some laundry products.
“Motion lights will be located both inside and outside the closet for those who visit after dark,” she said.
The Blessing Closet is funded by our church through monthly offerings,” she said. “Many in our church have brought this project to completion.”
“Anyone in the area is welcome to utilize the Blessing Closet,” she said. “If  additional assistance is needed, please contact FMBC at 620-224-7438.”
The banner can be seen on Maple Road on the north side of the church.

Support for Grieving Mothers Offered Through First Methodist Church

First United Methodist Church at Third Street and National Avenue,

Cindy Valdez will be starting a group called Support for Grieving Mothers in and around the Bourbon County Area. The group will be meeting every Thursday from 6-7:30 in the Church Parlor at the Fort Scott First United Methodist Church at 301 South National.

The meetings will run from 9/21/23-11/16/23. This is a group for mothers who’ve lost children no matter how they were when they passed. I

If you’d like to join you’ll need to contact Cindy Valdez at 620-224-8515 or email her at freckles4624@zimbracloud.com in advance to reserve your spot.