Temporary Office Hours

Starting Tuesday, March 21, the College Avenue UMC offices will be open from 8:00 a.m. until noon and will be closed in the afternoon until further notice while our Administrative Assistant, Anna Kozak, continues to recover from knee surgery. The phones will be forwarded to her, as she will be working from home and will also still be accessible via email at caumc.info@gmail.com. In case of emergency, you may reach Pastor John at 620-252-9622. Thank you for your understanding.

Lenten Soup Luncheon/Baby Shower

March 26, 2023, will be our Lenten Soup Luncheon. Please bring a crockpot of soup to share. If you are not a soup maker, bring crackers, cheese, bread, or any other side that will complement the meal! During our Luncheon, we will also celebrate Catherine Troy’s baby boy, due April 22. Catherine is registered at Target if you would like to bring a gift.

I Want for Nought

My plan, this Sunday (March 19, 2022), is to preach on Psalm 23. Sometimes a new translation can help me see an old, familiar scripture in a fresh light. Frederick Buechner put a rough translation in the mouth of a monk named Elric in his novel Godric:

“God keeps me as a shepherd keeps his flock. I want for nought,” he said. “I bleat with hunger, and he pastures me in meadows green. I’m thirsty, and he leads me forth to water cool and deep and still. He hoists me to my feet when I am weak. Down goodly ways he guides me with his crook, for he himself is good. Yea, even when I lose my way in shadows dark as death, I will not fear, for he is ever close at hand with rod and staff to succor me.” [1]


[1] Frederick Buechner, Godric: a Novel (HarperSanFrancisco, 1980), 114

Mission Trip to Panama

Sandy Procter and Susie Shaw will be traveling to Panama March 10-19 to work alongside United Methodist missionaries David and Cindy Ceballos as part of a team with eight others from Ohio. The Ceballos have dedicated their lives to serving the poor in rural areas of Panama, who have little or no access to medical, dental, or optical health care. Government-sponsored medical clinics in rural Panama are rare and generally ill-equipped to meet their medical needs, and even less the stress and suffering resulting from poverty and social marginalization. More important than the medical benefits our week-long clinic provides is building friendships with the people we serve and their children. We share coloring books, crafts, and games with the children, treating them and their families with respect and love. After receiving medical care and medications (from a small pharmacy of U.S.-donated medications we bring with us each day), their first question is, “when are you coming back?” They understand that God has sent us to serve them as brothers and sisters in Christ.

David and Cindy have requested that we bring certain items that are greatly needed there: hydrocortisone cream, muscle rub cream, wrist splints, knee braces, compression stockings, ball caps, sunglasses (non-prescription), reading glasses (1, 1+, 2, 2+, etc.), gently used bras no larger than “C”, children’s summer clothing, adult summer clothing no larger than “L”, and infant vitamins. If you can donate any of these items, it would be greatly appreciated. Susie will pick them up, or you can leave them on her porch at 2917 Roma Terrace, just a few blocks north and west of the intersection of Kimball & Browning. To get everything packed and ready, she needs to have all donations by March 7. 

Thank you!
Sandy and Susie