FAMILY CRUSADE
FIRST SOUTHERN BAPTIST CHURCH
AUGUST 6th thru 9th
Illusionist/Ventriloquist (Randy)
Sunday 10:50 a.m. & 6:00 p.m.
Monday & Tuesday 7:00 p.m.
WEDNESDAY FUN NIGHT 6:00 p.m.
Bounce House/Slide/Snow Cones
First Southern Baptist Church
1818 S Main, Fort Scott
620-223-2986
Pastor Joel Crippen
The First Christian Church of Fort Scott closed its doors in January 2016 after 145 years of supporting and ministering to families in the Bourbon County area. The church was located most of those years at the corner of 1st and Judson.
Founded in 1871 and once one of the largest congregations in the area, First Christian Church faced an aging, declining membership with waning attendance and finally the retirement of the minister.
The Board of Trustees decided the best action would be to preserve the resources that remained and discontinue worship services. The group recognized the money was provided from Bourbon County citizens and should remain in Bourbon County to provide good works for its citizens.
After selling the church building as well as the parsonage and liquidating assets, the Board of Trustees was determined to locate the best use of their church’s remaining $250,000.
Following serious investigation and much discussion, the Trustees voted to establish an endowed fund with the Fort Scott Area Community Foundation (FSACF).
The earnings of this fund, managed by FSACF, are used annually through grants for worthy projects and efforts to organizations in the Bourbon County area. The principal amount of approximately $250,000 is left untouched and will continue to generate financial grants into perpetuity.
In 2022, grants through this Endowed Fund were made to a Riverfront Authority Labyrinth in honor of Allen Warren; Methodist Church Feeding Families Program; Fort Scott Compassionate Ministries; USD 234 Preschool Center Community Involvement; USD 234 Healthy Snacks Program and (along with other area Churches) the purchase of a used vehicle to support Afghan families who had moved to our community.
This First Christian Church Endowed Fund should generate $12,000 to $20,000 each year to be used to support worthwhile endeavors in Fort Scott and Bourbon County for many, many years to come.
If you would like to contribute to the First Christian Church of Fort Scott Charitable Endowment Fund or would like information about how an organization, individuals or families can establish their own endowed fund through the Fort Scott Area Community Foundation, go to www.fsacf.com for more information.
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Fort Scottian Josh Jones purchased the property at 301 Lowman for a philanthropic purpose.
“I purchased it from the owner with the intent to transfer it to the Gordon Parks Museum,” Jones said. “I knew of the historic meaning of the property and wanted to get it to them.”
On the property once stood the historic African-American Methodist Episcopal Church.
Now it’s the property of the Gordon Parks Museum, thanks to Jones and the Fort Scott Community College Foundation, according to a press release from the museum director, Kirk Sharp.
“The FSCC Foundation Department helped with getting it deeded into their name, the museum is under its umbrella,” Sharp said.
“Jones donated the site on the southeast corner of Third and Lowman streets where the church, attended regularly by Gordon Parks and his family, was located,” according to the press release. “The church was also used in a scene from Parks’ acclaimed film, The Learning Tree.”
“We are very excited about this donation and can’t thank Josh and the Foundation enough,” said Sharp. “This donation creates this wonderful opportunity to keep this incredible history alive in Fort Scott. This is also the same location that is located on our Learning Tree Film Sign Trail.”
The tentative plans, Sharp said, are to develop the property as a commemorative, low-maintenance park neighborhood-type park with signs, photos, benches and short walls with a history of the church as a tribute.
“The museum will look for possible grants and donations to help fund this project,” he said. “There is currently no timeline as of now for the completion of the tribute project.”
In its heyday, the church, established in 1866, was the hub of Fort Scott’s black community, according to the press release. The church moved from its original location in 1885, occupying a new brick building on the corner of Third and Lowman, where it stood at 301 S. Lowman with a viable congregation for more than 115 years.
A reduction in members and unsafe conditions eventually led to its condemnation and razing in the early 2000s, Sharp said. One of the stained-glass windows and two of the pews are on exhibit at the Gordon Parks Museum.
“The largest congregation was believed to have been in 1888,” he said. “The city directory for that year indicates the membership was 260 and the Sunday school membership was 100.”
The AME church was Fort Scott’s first and oldest black church with Shiloh Baptist being the second.
In nearly every culture, walking labyrinths are a single path to a center used for prayer and meditation, or just a brief walk, according to Pastor Christopher Eshelman of Fort Scott First United Methodist.
“We find examples all over the world, from petroglyphs to indigenous basket weavings, stamped coins and labyrinths themselves,” he said. “In this sense, a labyrinth is not a maze or a puzzle – there are no dead ends (and no Minataur!).”
Building a labyrinth in Fort Scott, was Eshelman’s idea.
“Walking labyrinths is one of my favorite spiritual disciplines and I’ve been building them for several years – everything from temporary chalk on concrete or painters tape on a gym floor to mowing them into fields or, in this case, arranging stone to form the path boundaries,” he said.
The Fort Scott Labyrinth was completed last month, and will be dedicated on May 28 at 11:45 a.m., right after the Methodist church service is over.
“It just really got finished in the last month or so and we are formally dedicating it on Sunday, May 28th with a brief ceremony, he said. “We added the benches and sign a few months ago using funds from a grant given by the Healthy Congregations program of the UMC’s Great Plains Conference. Anyone can use the space.”
The labyrinth is a place to meditate.
“It’s a personal favorite practice and it is a way of transforming the space from an abandoned lot into something beautiful,” Eshelman said. “This site, where people once bought food to nourish their bodies now serves as a space to nourish mind and spirit. It is a great way to engage people in walking, exercise, and spirituality as well as deepening the connection and cooperation between our two congregations.”
The labyrinth is sponsored by First Presbyterian Church and First United Methodist Church.
“The Presbyterians now own the land, which was the former site of Whiteside’s Grocery at 3rd and Crawford,” he said. “The Whiteside’s are longtime members of First United Methodist, where I now serve as pastor. With permission of their Sessions board, I and a few volunteers initially laid it out with marking paint and then gradually added stone – some is debris from the site and some is stone gathered and donated from nearby fields and projects by one of our members. What was once scattered now contributes to a place of wholeness.”
“It is a space where you can, quite literally, center yourself,” he said. “It really is what you make of it and what you bring to it. There is no wrong way to walk a labyrinth so long as you are respectful of the space and others who use it. One of my favorite experiences was a time I was trying to very seriously instruct a group of Cub Scouts in the ancient practice… and they did not care. They just wanted to play. When I finally got out of the way and let them runs and skip, they immediately started playing follow the leader and exploring the space. It was wonderful. Our design copies one that was laid in the floor of Chartres Cathedral in France between 1200 and 1220AD and used as a pilgrimage spot.”
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Ladies in the Uniontown community are invited to the Ladies Community Spring Tea on Sunday May 21 at 2 p.m. at the Uniontown Missionary Baptist Church, at the intersection of Hwy. 3 and Fifth Street.
There will be food, games, prizes-all centered around a tea cup theme.
“Please come and join us,” said Carla Shinn, one of the mission board members. “Any lady in the community is invited.”
Family Life Assembly of God is hosting a fun free event this Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at the Fort Cinema movie theater, 224 W. 18th.
The church will have:
Submitted by Pastor Grady Proffitt
The Knights of Columbus organization at Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church will offer three more Friday Fish Dinners in support of the rebuilding of the church.
The church was struck by lightening in August, 2022 and and a fire ensued which destroyed the building.
March 17, March 24, and March 31 are the last three dates and will end the annual fish dinners for the year.
The dinners always precede Good Friday, which is April 7 this year.
The community is invited to the dinner, which is from 5 to 7 p.m. and is a free-will donation event.
Plans are in place for a golf fundraiser for the Catholic church that burned down last summer.
On March 25, 2023 there will be an 8 a.m. registration and 9 a.m. tee off at Woodland Hills Golf Course in Fort Scott.
Mid-Continental Restoration Company is hosting a golf tournament at Woodland Hills Golf Course to help raise funds for replacing the Mary Queen of Angels Church building which burned on the night of August 29, 2022.
“THE TOURNAMENT IS FILLED!” Franks Halsey said. “BUT we are still looking for hole sponsors from businesses as well as silent auction items or donations. In addition, Mid-Continental has purchased and will raffle a golf cart. Raffle tickets are
on sale for the price of $25 for one ticket, or 5 tickets for $100. You do not have to be present to win the golf cart.”
Raffle tickets can be purchased at Woodland Hills or send a check Mid-Continental Restoration, 401 E. Hudson, Fort Scott, KS 66701 made out to Mary Queen of Angels (Building Fund). Any monetary
donations or any silent auction items can be donated and sent to Mid- Continental Restoration as well.
For any questions or any more information please reach out to Chase Halsey at 620-704-2733, or
[email protected].
Fort Scott’s First Southern Baptist Church is hosting a community event featuring Faith’s Journey, a ministry of music performance.
This is a perfect blend of Christian entertainment and ministry.
It will be March 12th at 10:30 a.m. at the First Southern Baptist Church, 1818 S Main, Fort Scott KS.
