Bourbon County, Church news

Local Ministry Receives Grant to Support Small Churches

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Carl Ellis. Submitted photo.

“In the United States around 4,000 churches close each year and 2.7 million Christians become inactive,” said local Methodist pastor, Reverend Dr. Carl Ellis.

Ellis is executive director for the Academy for Small Membership Church Ministries, and lives in rural Hiattville, southwest of Fort Scott.

The academy received  a $30,000 grant this year from the Guy and Ruby Casebourn Murphy Charitable Trust to continue  training of lay pastors and develop innovative programs which support small membership churches.

This trust has supported the Academy’s ministries for over 20 years, beginning in 1999 when Ellis met Ruby Murphy and trustee Thomas Henderson, and the trust began supporting local church ministries.

The Academy has trained over 400 lay persons from 15 different states to serve small membership churches in leadership roles and has held continuing education classes to teach pastoral care skills such as how to plan and lead a funeral for the first time and how to help people dealing with grief. The Academy has also led workshops on church growth in Kansas, Missouri, and Texas.

The Guy and Ruby Casebourn Murphy Charitable Trust has announced The Academy will receive a gift of $75,000 in 2024, he said.

“The Academy plans to invest this gift to perpetuate Guy and Ruby’s values and belief in helping others,” Ellis said. “The grant will help  expand ministries and strengthen small membership churches to help their communities.”

The Academy began in 1999 when Ellis taught the first lay pastor’s class with 22 students. It was incorporated in 2015.

The current board of directors has 12 members from Kansas, Nebraska, and Ohio. The board met in June 2022 to refine the mission and vision and start strategic planning for future benefits for the small membership church including scholarships for lay people to participate, and training on all aspects of pastoral care.

The Board is working with the help of consultant Rev. George Cooper from Florida and is developing a 5-10 year plan for helping small membership churches grow and thrive.

Ellis understands the need for strong community-based churches to reach the under-served rural and urban areas in the United States and throughout the world.

“Small membership churches are able, with God’s love, to help bridge the divide between those of differing opinions, give support to those dealing with mental illness, and help those dealing with poverty, as they live out Christ’s call to discipleship,” Ellis said.

Ellis “sees the work as a call from God,” he said.

The small membership church is where he was welcomed into the family of God and experienced God’s love, forgiveness, and grace, he said.

“Without small membership churches many people would feel lost,” says Ellis, “because small membership churches are a place where children of all ages discover they are part of God’s loving community.”

The Academy for Small Membership Church Ministries will be hosting focus groups for small membership churches this fall asking three questions: What are the strengths of small membership churches; What are the challenges small membership churches face; and What programs can The Academy offer to help the small membership church meet future needs and challenges.

For more information, visit https://www.tasmcm.org/ or contact Rev. Dr. Carl K. Ellis at [email protected]

 

Entertainment, Fort Scott, Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce

Friday Night Free Concert: St. Martin’s Academy

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Ralph Carlson introduces the Friday Night Concert musicians May 2019.

Students of Saint Martin’s Academy, 1950 Indian Road, will be the featured entertainment at this week’s Friday Night Concert. The school currently has a healthy and growing enrollment of boys. The music department is under the direction of Dave Agee and Daniel Kerr. The lads will perform vocal solos, duets, and ensemble numbers plus instrumental accompaniment.

 

“This lively group of young men will warm your heart with their endearing performances   of folk, country, and gospel songs,“ concert-series organizer Ralph Carlson said. “In addition to their musical talent, these students have proven to be an asset to the community with their willingness to help out in various areas. We are pleased to welcome Saint Martin’s Academy back to perform in our downtown pavilion. Bring a friend and join us for an enjoyable evening of music.”

 

The one-hour concert begins at 7 p.m. at the Heritage Park Pavilion at First and Main streets. The shows are free and open to the public. Due to limited seating, attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs. Dave Oas and Jim Butler provide the sound each week.

 

In the event of inclement weather, the concert will be moved to the Common Ground Coffee Co., 12 E. Wall Street.

Fort Scott National Historic Site, Government

Special Naturalization Ceremony in Fort Scott, Kansas

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Photo credit: NPS Naturatization Ceremony, 2019.

Fort Scott Kan. – The United States District Court for the District of Kansas will hold a special naturalization ceremony at the Fort Scott National Historic Site in Fort Scott, Kansas on Friday, September 23, 2022, at 10:30 a.m. The Honorable Teresa J. James, United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Kansas, will preside over the ceremony on the historic grounds of the Fort. The ceremony features musical performances from the Fort Scott High School orchestra and choir, and an address from Mark McCoy, former city manager for the City of Fort Scott.

 

Approximately 120 applicants will be naturalized at the ceremony, which is open to the public. There will be seating for the applicants, but other seating will be limited. Friends, family, and guests are highly encouraged to bring lawn chairs or picnic blankets for seating. In case of rain or other inclement weather, the ceremony will be held at Fort Scott Memorial Hall.

Government, Kansas, Youth

Governor: Kansas Welfare System Improves

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First Report Shows Kansas Child Welfare System Making Significant Progress

McIntyre settlement agreement requires yearly reports from neutral party

TOPEKA – Kansas foster children have stable placements and are experiencing fewer moves while in care, according to the first report from the Neutral Third Party in the McIntyre class action lawsuit settlement.

“My administration inherited a broken child welfare system that had an unacceptable number of children in care, a lack of placement stability, and limited prevention services,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “Under my Administration, we now have 1,300 fewer children in the system, and the Neutral Report shows we have made substantial progress in making sure kids are in stable placements and experience fewer moves. There’s more work to be done, but this report shows we are headed in the right direction.”

The McIntyre class action lawsuit was filed in 2018 under the Colyer Administration by Kansas Appleseed, Children’s Rights, and the National Center for Youth Law against the Governor, Kansas Department for Children and Families, Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The Governor was later dismissed from the case.

The parties agreed to a settlement in 2020. The settlement was structured to ensure Kansas would achieve substantial progress and compliance in key performance areas over a multi-year period. Performance areas include accountability, reporting and implementation, practice improvements and outcomes. The settlement recognizes that the outcomes and practice improvements will not all be accomplished in one year. Outcome goals were set for a three-to-four-year period.

Judith Meltzer, President of the Center for the Study of Social Policy serves as the Neutral Third Party responsible for assessing the State’s first year progress.   This first report covers calendar year 2021.

“Reforming a child welfare system is a complex and multi-year endeavor,” Meltzer said. “During this first year, Kansas has made considerable progress in addressing some fundamental problems and has started down a path that we anticipate will lead to further improvements in the years ahead and to sustainable and meaningful improvements for Kansas children and families.”

Kansas made significant progress in placement stability. The Neutral validated that Kansas achieved its first-year benchmarks for placement stability and placement moves. Children in care experienced a rate of 5.84 moves per 1,000 days – more than meeting the benchmark of seven moves per 1,000 days. The report also shows that 86% of Kansas kids were in stable placements during CY 21, surpassing the benchmark of 80%.

“The report affirms our commitment to Kansas children by continuing efforts to build an effective child welfare system,” DCF Secretary Laura Howard said. “Using tools like kinship placements, partnerships with community agencies to provide trauma-informed support to foster parents and prioritizing families over facilities, these have all had a positive impact on this issue.”

The state does have more work to do in both temporary overnight placements and night-to-night or short-term placements. Children who experience a failure to place often have complex developmental, medical, behavioral or safety needs.

DCF is working to build capacity through several new initiatives. The agency has created the Failure to Place Prevention Network with the goal of creating stand-by service beds and other ways for family foster home to serve one child at a time. DCF also is addressing gaps with the addition of Therapeutic Foster Homes that launched in 2022.

The report also shows Kansas achieved several accountability benchmarks mandated by the agreement. Those include:

  • Amending case management provider contracts to clarify responsibilities arising from the settlement
  • Creating an independent advisory group to inform planning and program improvement
  • Collecting and reporting data on Class Members placed in a jail, correctional or detention facility

State agencies also are making significant progress in mental health practice improvements and outcomes despite not reaching the CY 21 benchmarks.

  • DCF approved a contract with Beacon Health Options to create the Mobile Family Crisis Helpline which launched in Oct. of 2021.
  • Unvalidated period 2 data shows significant improvement in addressing mental and behavioral health needs with nearly 80% of Class Members having their needs met.

“Addressing mental and behavioral health needs is vital if we are to have a strong child and family well-being system,” Howard said. “We know there is more work to do to strengthen the timely and consistent access to mental health assessments and reviews.”

DCF and its partner agencies will continue to collaborate with the Center for the Study of Social Policy to ensure valid data and look forward to showing more progress in the Period 2 report in 2023.

Those interested in the full CY 21 report can access it via the Center for the Study of Social Policy website.

Obituary

Obituary of Paul D. Perry

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Paul David Perry, age 72, resident of Ft. Scott, KS, died Monday, September 19, 2022, at his home.  He was born July 10, 1950, in Ft Scott, the son of Homer and Ruth Morrison Perry.

Paul attended school in Pawnee and graduated from Ft. Scott High School.  He served as reporter for FFA.

Paul married Jeanette Kellstadt on March 22, 1969, in Ft. Scott.  He was Co-Owner of Golden City Meat Company in Golden City, MO.

He Farmed most of his life in the Pawnee area and owned and operated Country Style Meats in Ft. Scott.  He purchased his son Josh’s lawn mowing business and continued that for 25 years until his health declined.

Paul’s strong faith kept him going during his health issues.  He is one of the charter leaders of the Gathering, a non-denominational spirit filled church in Ft. Scott.  His church family held a special spot in his heart.

He enjoyed fishing, hunting, and skeet shooting.  Paul loved feeding and watching wildlife.

Survivors include his wife of 53 years Jeanette of the home; 3 sons, Paul Christian Perry, and wife Rozemma, Ft. Scott, Joshua Paul Perry, Republic, MO, and David Andrew Perry, Joplin, MO; 3 grandchildren, Kyle Christian Perry, Mia Christian Perry, and David Dean Perry; and 2 step-grandchildren, Josh Woolsey, and Millie Woolsey.

He was preceded in death by his parents, grandparents, and daughter-in-law Amy Anne.

 

There was cremation.   A private family memorial will be held later.  Memorials are suggested to Care to Share and may be left in care of the Cheney Witt Chapel, PO Box 347, 201 S. Main St., Ft. Scott, KS 66701.  Words of remembrance may be summited to the online guestbook at cheneywitt.com.

Fort Scott, Government

Eddy Street At Clairmont Closed Sept. 20-27

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The City of Fort Scott Water Distribution Department in conjunction with J. Richardson Company will be closing the intersection of Eddy Street at Clairmont.  This will begin on Tuesday, September 20th through September 27th.  17th and Eddy will also be closed periodically for daytime closures.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. If you have any questions or concerns, please call 620-223-0550 and ask for Water Distribution.

 

 

Bourbon County, Elections, Food

Bo Co Dems Serve Breakfast at Farmers Market Sept. 24

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The Bourbon County Democrats are serving biscuits and gravy at the Farmers Market this Saturday, September 24th from 8 – noon.  Please come for a full helping, a half order, or just a biscuit and home made jelly!
For information, text 620 215 1505
Submitted by
Carol MacArthur
Chair, Bourbon Co. Democrats
620 215 1505
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Bourbon County, Youth

“Uniontown 4-H Members Win State”

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Uniontown 4-H Club

September Report

by Marley Sutton

Weeks of preparation and hard work paid off for several Uniontown 4-H Club members on August 21st in Manhattan, Kansas. The Southwind 4-H Intermediate Meat Evaluation team was named the state winner at the awards ceremony held on the campus of Kansas State University. Although they competed underneath the umbrella of the Southwind 4-H district, all of the team members hailed from the Uniontown 4-H Club!

Leading the way was Hailey Shadden and Kendyl Bloesser as they tied for the High Individual honors at the contest. Shadden was named the High Individual after utilizing tie breakers. Also ranking in the top ten individually were Makinlee Bloesser (5th) and Marley Sutton (7th).

Uniontown 4-H also had several members participate in the Kansas State Fair this past week. Austin Maycumber competed in photography judging and his team ended up ranking 8th in the state. Marley and McKinley Sutton exhibited hogs at the event with their biggest success coming in the market hog show where McKinley’s barrow was named the Reserve Champion Berkshire Market Hog. Seth Shadden received a purple ribbon on his Small Engine Display and Hailey Shadden received a blue on her Forestry Notebook and a red ribbon on her food project. Kendyl and MaKinlee Bloesser both participated in foods and received red ribbons on their entries. Makiah Woods received a purple ribbon on her garment entry.

Opinion

Keys to the Kingdom By Carolyn Hayward Tucker

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Nose to the Grindstone
Most of us have heard the following expressions: “He‘s not afraid of hard work.” “Put some elbow grease on it.” “You‘re burnin‘ daylight.” “If you don‘t work, you don‘t eat.“ “Make hay while the sun shines.” “If you choose a career you love, you’ll never work a
day in your life.“

Work is a big part of life and, if we want to amount to anything, we
have to work in some fashion. It may not be punching a time clock on the production line, or working in the office 9 to 5, driving a big rig, or pushing cattle, but we all have some type of work to accomplish. Honestly, there’s no paycheck for a lot of the work we do — just the satisfaction of a job well done. Anybody can start a chore, but you have to put your nose to the grindstone to finish it with excellence.

In the Bible, we refer to Nehemiah as the weeping prophet, for when he was told that the remnant of Jews were in great trouble and shame, the wall of Jerusalem was broken down and the gates burned, he sat down and wept and mourned for days. He knew his people were defenseless against their enemies with no wall for protection. King Artaxerxes sent Nehemiah to Jerusalem as Governor of Judah and also Chief Construction Officer.
Nehemiah maintained a close relationship with God, and God gave him wisdom on how to accomplish the huge task of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem.

After Nehemiah inspected the wall, he called the men together and basically told them, “Don’t be afraid, trust God and work like crazy.“ Before the construction began, the scripture tells us, “the people had a mind to work” (Nehemiah 4:6 ESV). A stouthearted
decision must be made before we start something or there’s a strong possibility we won’t stick with it when the going gets tough.

Nehemiah and the people prayed and partnered with God, therefore, He set a guard as a protection against their enemies day and night. Nehemiah writes, “I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people,
‘Do not be afraid of them [enemies]. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.’ When our enemies heard that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work. From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such
a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out“ (Nehemiah 4:13-18,21 ESV). This formidable half-warrior/half-worker team was committed to build with a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other.

There are times when a believer’s job is to pray, trust, and wait. But the building of Jerusalem’s wall was not one of those times to kick back and see what God would do.

This was a time for God to see His people use their elbow grease. If they were determined to work, then He would take care of them. This construction was no walk in the park, but it was possible with God’s favor on His valiant crew. He protected them as they labored, and everyone had a part to play in this huge project which was completed in just 52 days.

The Key: Put your nose to the grindstone and God will protect it from getting skinned.

Bourbon County Local News