Tanya Glessner ecently published several different Daily Prayer Journals for 365 Days. Three of them are live for purchase. now-the The other will be live for purchase soon, according to Glessner.
” Prayer journaling can help people strengthen their faith, focus, and gain a deeper understanding of their faith,” she said. “It can also help people recognize patterns in their lives, which can reveal areas for growth or passions, and can be a witness to future generations of your walk with the Lord.”
The Williamsons are coming to town! First Southern Baptist Church Fort Scott Kansas invites you to be a part an incredible night of music and inspiration featuring one of the top groups in Gospel Music-The Williamsons!
Mark your calendars for Thursday May 16th at 7:00 p.m. (doors open at 6:30) at 1818 South Main, Fort Scott, KS (across from Briggs Auto.
Free Will Offering!
Come join us for an incredible night of music and inspiration.
The Sisters are fostering lambs while they need bottle-feeding, then they will be returned to their owners. Submitted photos.
Sixteen Catholic Sisters have arrived at their new convent in rural Bourbon County from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The name of the compound is the St. Joseph Convent.
“Our convent (the house in which Sisters live) was too small and we were unable to find either an available building or land in the area,” said Mother Maria Regina. ” We desired to live in a more rural setting, and the opportunity to settle (near) Redfield, Kansas, was an answer to our prayers for a good location for a larger convent.”
“Our service to the community will include service to Saint Martin’s Academy and its families, but it will also include the wider Fort Scott community,” she said.
St. Martins is a Catholic boarding school for boys a few miles east of the convent.
Submitted photo of the Sisters in a procession around the buildings on the convent property located on Hackberry Road, southwest of Fort Scott.
The Sister’s way of life is semi-comtemplative.
“That means that we have a strong contemplative element, which includes ample time of prayer every day,” she said. “In addition to Holy Mass, we also pray every day what is called the Divine Office. The Divine Office is composed primarily of the Psalms which we pray for all the needs of people everywhere. We also spend time in silent prayer every day. If anyone would like to send us prayer intentions, we are happy to receive them because it is part of our mission to pray for the needs of people. If someone wishes to send a prayer request, it can be sent to us by regular mail at 1250 Hackberry Road; Redfield, KS 66769 or by e-mail (filiaelaborismariae@gmail.com).”
The Sisters in procession. Submitted photo.
“Besides prayer, we also do work, which we call ‘apostolate’ (because, like the Apostles, the intention of our work is to bring Jesus to people),” she said. “Our apostolate includes outreach to the people in the area around us. We are visiting the elderly, we are setting up a “Girl’s Guild” with activities for girls of various ages, and we hope and intend to include other ways of serving the people of the area, as well.”
She said the first meeting of the Girl’s Guide is May 10 and it will be for young ladies ages 10-18. “It is three hours of time spent with some conversation, games, meal, prayer, and some catechesis. If someone is interested in coming, the present email is the best way to contact us. “
Submitted photo of the Sisters during a procession in honor of Saint Joseph, walking around the perimeter of the buildings of the compound.
Even though they are on former farmland, they don’t intend to produce their own food.
“Our apostolic work is more directly with the people,” she said. “We intend to have a garden, probably not this year, though, and we will have a few animals, but they will not be the main thrust of our work.”
The rhythm of the day at the cloister is prayer, work, recreation and for some, classes.
“The typical day begins and ends with prayer in the chapel, and the other parts of the day are also punctuated with times that we return to the chapel for common prayer and also for private prayer,” she said. “Aside from that, we have time in the morning for work (some of the work described above, plus the usual tasks of preparing meals, laundry, housekeeping, etc.). In the afternoon, we have a set time for recreation, during which we enjoy one another’s company and do some handwork or go for a walk together outside or engage in some other enjoyable activity.”
The Sisters praying in their new Chapel. Submitted photo.
In the convent, there are stages of formation and the younger Sisters have some classes for their formation as religious Sisters in the afternoon, as well. “
Sunday May 5th from 12pm-1pm at First Baptist Church of Fort Scott, 123 Scott Ave. the church will host a bake sale fundraiser for Fort Scott Compassionate Ministries.
*This is a FREE WILL OFFERING*
Fort Scott Compassionate Ministries helps our community with:
-groceries
-gas voucher to get to medical appointments/work
-non-narcotic medications
-shoes/clothes for work
-diabetic supplies
-hygiene
-incontinence pads
-baby diapers
-wheelchair/crutches on loan
-blankets/sheets/pillows
-resource assistance
-homeless kits
-needs to establish employment
-and more
-100% of donations stay in Fort Scott and goes to helping our community.
If you can’t make it to the Bake Sale and still want to help support this resource in our community-you can feel free to reach out to Tanya Glessner or Angela Handly.
From left, Luke Moore, Hunter Fortenberry, Steve Fortenberry, and Russell Moore are preparing their trebuchets for the competition on April 6. Submitted photo.
On April 6, those passing by Bethel Community Baptist Church on Hwy. 54 saw a group of men and boys together picking up trash.
“We are Troop KS-7777 of Trail Life USA, a ministry of Bethel Community Baptist Church, and are partnered with the national organization,” Troopmaster Josh Gier said. “Trail Life USA is celebrating its tenth year with over 1,100 troops and 50,000 Trailmen nationwide. “
“Trail Life is an easy-to-manage, Christ-centered, boy-focused outdoor adventure program empowering the church to grow boys to become men of character and conviction,” according to the Trail Life website.
There are 19 boys enrolled in Troop 7777, and nine mentors, “mostly dads, grandpas and uncles,” Gier said.
“Our troop is not limited to church members,” he said. “We are open to all.”
“All boys from kindergarten through high school are welcome to join at any time,” Gier said. “Our enrollment focus will be in August at the beginning of our program year.”
They meet every other Monday of the month.
“If anybody would like more information about Trail Life Troop KS-7777, they may contact me through the Find a Troop link on traillifeusa.com,” he said.
From left Russell Moore, Luke Moore, and Josh Gier as the Moores receive the trophy for building the trebuchet with the farthest launch.Submitted photo.
Gier said a total of 101 blue bags of trash were left to be picked up by the Kansas Department of Transportation, which they had made arrangements with.
After that project, the group had a Trebuchet competition.
A trebuchet, taken from the American Association for the Advancement of Science website.
Trebuchets are used as teaching tools in high schools and colleges to learn about load, force, fulcrums, velocity, gravity, and parabolic arcs. They are also used as recruiting tools to lure students into engineering programs. Designing a trebuchet is an assessment of mechanical design and engineering skills. Testing a trebuchet is not only a learning tool, it is also fun, according to https://www.aaas.org/trebuchets-and-their-modern-use
In Troop 7777, six father/son(s) teams were challenged to build their trebuchet to see who could launch a projectile, a golf ball, the farthest.
The winner of the competition was father Russell Moore, with sons Luke and Ben. They launched a golf ball 152.6 inches.
The Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church following the fire on August 29, 2022. Submitted photo.
Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church was damaged beyond repair following the lightning event that struck the church on August 29, 2022.
Since then the church members pulled together to design a new building, which is anticipated for completion in December 2024.
Statutes are being restored by an artist
“When I heard about the fire, I immediately contacted Fr. Yancey Burgess ( the parish priest) to offer my help,” Robert Elliot, an artisan specializing in church renovations and statue restoration, said. “Father Yancy …presided over my wife’s funeral mass along with three other priests and this has always meant a great deal to me, so helping him and his community was the only thing to do.”
Elliot’s studio in Wichita. Submitted photo.
He received the Stations of the Cross and other statues last May, he said.
Some of the statues that are being restored. Submitted photo.
“We are restoring the fourteen Stations of the Cross and the following statues: The Corpus Of Christ, Mary Queen of Angels, The Sacred Heart of Jesus, St. Joseph with the Infant Jesus, two angels with ribbons, and one free-standing angel.
Elliot anticipates completion of the statue restoration project in mid-September after 16 months of work, he said.
Elliot started his company in 1995 and is located in Wichita.
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).
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.
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.
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.
