First Southern Baptist Will Perform at Friday Night Free Concert
Category Archives: Church news
VBS at Nazarene Church is June 26-29
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Historic Church Property Donated to the Gordon Parks Museum
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.”
Left to right): Josh Jones, along with Kirk Sharp, Gordon Parks Museum Director and Sarah Smith, member of the Fort Scott Community College Foundation. Submitted photo.
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.”
Gordon Parks, 1950.
Photo Courtesy of and Copyright by The Gordon Parks Foundation
“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.
Fort Scott’s Labyrinth To Be Dedicated May 28
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.”
Rev. Darryl Burton’s Faith Story: Miracle Man, on June 11
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Uniontown Ladies Spring Tea is May 20
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.”
Easter Egg Stravaganza This Saturday at Fort Cinema
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:
- Inflatables
- Face Painting
- Yard Games for Kids
- Hot Cocoa
- Popcorn
- Easter Egg Hunt
Submitted by Pastor Grady Proffitt
Catholic Fish Fry Continues Until March 31 to Benefit Rebuild of Mary Queen of Angels Church
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.
Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church Golf Tourney Fundraiser is March 25
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].
Faith’s Journey Trio Coming to Fort Scott
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.
Demo of Catholic Church Begins
Demolition started sooner than expected on Fort Scott’s Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church, following a wind storm early on March 1, 2023.
A portion of the facade of the fire-damaged church was blown down by the storm around 2 a.m.
“The front facade came off the building and blocked Eddy Street,” Mark McCoy, who is on the parish committee that is working on the rebuild project, said.
“Eddy Street, in front of the church, will be blocked off until further notice,” he said. “I estimate the demo will take approximately three weeks.”
The church parish committee is in the beginning stages of the design and architecture phase of the church rebuild, he said.
“It will be approximately six months until construction can begin,” McCoy said.
They are anticipating a 12 month construction period, he said.
“The cost to rebuild will be in excess of $5 million,” McCoy said. “The building standards have changed since the building of the church in 1872, at a cost of $20,000.
Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church, 705 S. Holbrook, Fort Scott suffered extensive damage in a fire that started in late evening on August 29, 2022.
When the the Fort Scott Fire Department and FS Police Department units arrived the church was on fire with heavy smoke and flames emitting from the southeast corner of the structure.
The fire was later determined to be from a lightning strike.
Simpson Construction Services, Wichita, is doing the demolition of the church building, and also the construction.
Friday Evening Lenten Fish Fry Begins Tonight
This evening is the first of six Lenten Fish Dinners that the Knights of Columbus prepare for the community as a fund raiser.
From Feb. 24 until March 31 the community is invited to join the people of Mary Queen of Angels Church for a fish dinner each Friday evening. The event is located in the Kennedy Gym at 7th and Eddy Street.
“Everyone is welcome, there is a free will offering,” Joe (Calvin) Barr, a Knight, said. “We do ask for a minimum of $8 for a to-go dinner. We generally do 75 to-go dinners each week.”
“We’ve had as high as 514 at one time in attendance,” Barr said. “400 is the average. During the COVID Pandemic there was a drive-through meal.”
The Menu
“It’s the same great fish: Southern-fried catfish, baked white fish, baked potato or french fries, coleslaw, drinks and all the wonderful desserts from the women of the church,” Mark McCoy one of the Knights, said. “For those who don’t like fish, we have spaghetti.”
The event starts at 5 p.m. and goes to 7 p.m. and is each Friday until March 31. Good Friday is April 7 in 2023.
This year all funds go to rebuilding of the church, which was destroyed by fire in August 2022.
