Topeka EDITION includes Lawrence, Manhattan, Emporia & Holton FREE! NE! The Area’s Most Complete Event Guide TAKE O Refresh ! Planning your church retreat? Let us SEE help! PAGE 8 GARDEN SHOW AT EXPOCENTRE Page 13 CELEBRATING FAITH, FAMILY AND COMMUNITY IN NORTHEAST KANSAS facebook /metrovoicenews Celebrating our 12th year! VISIT US AT or metrovoicenews.com VOLUME 12 • NUMBER 6 February 2018 TO ADVERTISE, CONTRIBUTE, SUBSCRIBE OR RECEIVE BULK COPIES, CALL 785-235-3340 OR EMAIL [email protected] NEW RESIDENT Kansas Prayer church guide Amber Waves of Grain Breakfast to feature Wanamaker Road Baptist Church the Chiefs’ man behind the mask This time every year, no matter the weather, about a thousand peo - ple show up for a very early break - fast at the Ramada Inn in down - town Topeka. See inside The occasion is the annual Kansas Prayer Breakfast, sponsored back cover! by Topeka Fellowship, Inc. Statewide leaders in government, Fifth Annual Easter business, education and industry BRINGING BIG CHURCH OPPORTUNITIES TO SMALL COMMUNITIES will be on hand as usual as the pro - Parade and Fun Fest to gram begins at about 6:45 a.m. on Wednesday, March 14th, for the be back at N. Kansas 54th celebration of the annual Avenue, Garfield Park event. As several buffet lines open Multisite Church Planting in Rural North America for serving at 6:00 a.m., the ban - Andy Addis | Christianity Today conversation, he had been giving me store to deal with overflow issues quet hall will be filled with Kansans a hard time about moving back to from our little neighborhood from all walks of life. “Honestly, I think you’re crazy.” rural with several statements begin - church. And now we were consider - That was the conversation stopper ning with, “Why would you…?” ing taking our ministry to other offered by a friend and colleague. We Driving through the redwoods communities, reaching smaller and had gone to seminary together in the area of northern California where more distant parts of our state. Dallas – Fort Worth metro area, Matt had asked me to speak, the con - It was part of a growing passion served on staff at the same church, versation in the car was about an for reaching rural places. and now lived halfway across the idea I was working on back in the I was born in a suburb of Los country from each other in two dif - heartland. Angeles and went to seminary in the ferent worlds. We had grown substantially in the large Bible Belt Buckle City of Fort Food Trucks, entertainment Matt chose a more urban ministry four years I had been back in Kansas. Worth, but my heart is where I was & games will add to the fun setting in northern California, and I We even started a second location raised: in the middle of nowhere. After a larger-than-ever crowd last had returned home to the wheat across town (a full 3.5 minutes away) I love knowing what it means to year, EasterFest 2018 will return to N. fields of Kansas. Even before this in an abandoned Big A auto parts n Please see CHURCH PLANTING page 2 Kansas Avenue and Garfield Park this year on Saturday, March 31, the day This year’s featured speaker will before Easter. be Dan Meers, who goes to work Over three thousand people attend - each day like many other men, ed last year to watch the parade, visit Kansas Has a New Governor dressed in a suit. The only differ - the Fun Fair, listen to live music, visit Governor Jeff Colyer was sworn in ence is that instead of wearing a tie over 70 vendor booths and take part in as the 47th governor of Kansas at 3 with his suit, Dan wears a tail. You the big egg hunt or other activities. p.m. January 31 in the Capitol see, Dan is a professional mascot. Each year, dozens of churches, busi - rotunda in Topeka, accompanied by Dan began his career in 1986 at nesses and non-profit organizations First Lady Ruth Colyer and their the University of Missouri – take part in the parade, and dozens daughters, Serena and Dominique. Columbia. Dressed as the school more set up vendor booths and kids' Governor Colyer attended mass in mascot, Truman Tiger, it didn’t take games as part of the family fun fair. Hays that morning with his class - long for Dan to establish himself as There have been lots of floats with a mates from Thomas More Prep- one of the top college mascots in variety of themes, and all shapes and Marian High School. He then visited the nation. After finishing second sizes of other vehicles, as well as walk - West Side Alternative School, which in 1988, Dan was selected the ing entries such as schools, military is also in Hays. nation’s #1 college mascot at the groups, marching bands and more. Governor Colyer said, “This pub - 1989 National Collegiate Mascot The event is coordinated by C5Alive, a lic school is a unique partnership GateHouse Championships. As graduation Christian leadership offshoot of the with the High Plains Mental Health Kansas approached, Dan began to receive Capital City Christian Chamber of Center that ensures special needs Jeff Colyer was sworn in on January 31st, after Sam Brownback was finally approved by offers to use his talents at the pro - n Please see EASTERFEST page 3 n Please see GOVERNOR page 4 the U.S. Senate as Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom.. n Please see PRAYER BREAKFAST page 4 2 • February 2018 ______________________ MetroVoiceNews.com _________________________ Facebook/MetroVoiceNews ________________________ Topeka Metro Voice teaching series, joint mission work, thousand other pieces instead of CHURCH PLANTING print and video pieces, use of tech - reinventing the wheel again and continued from page 1 nology, and many other things again wherever the church has a dif - Marchers Celebrate Life; sing “amber waves of grain.” I love afforded by a connected network ferent roof? the fact that traffic jams only happen give a multisite church unique Understand this is no argument Praise Brownback’s Record around the co-op during harvest opportunities. for video or multisite models. It’s not Rain, snow and wind didn’t time. I love the reality that rural jun - Video works for farmers. Our first a statement that these are better stop hundreds of pro-life ior high kids singing “dated” songs video-only campus in Sterling, ways. advocates from gathering like Shout to the North turn and face Kansas, is a community of 2,600 I do believe it’s evidence that video January 22, at the Kansas the right direction because they people, at least when and multisite do have relevance in Statehouse to mark the 45th know North. the Presbyterian col - reaching rurality. anniversary of the U.S. God has been more than faithful lege is in session. We Are you thinking about reaching Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade in the 15 years I’ve been privileged to were unsure if video rural this way? Let me encourage you decision. teaching would work with some final thoughts: The crowd marched from serve in Kansas. In a combination of KFL Executive church plants, re-plants, and revital - in that environment. Don’t fear video. Video is not too the Topeka Performing Arts Director Mary Kay izations, CrossPoint Church has But, as they have hard or expensive anymore. You can Center to the steps of the Culp welcomes Gov. Addis grown from a single church with 127 recently celebrated spend as much as you want, but you Capitol carrying signs reading, Sam Brownback. people in a 40-year-old established their 10th anniversary with atten - don’t have to. Remember, you’re not “Choose Life” and “Stop church to a multisite church network dance reaching just 10% of the com - trying to produce a network televi - Abortion Now.” The Topeka Knights of 17,000 fewer abortions in Kansas with nine campuses, additional loca - munity, I think they’re doing okay. sion special. You just want a high- Columbus led the marchers along the because of what you have done. Keep tions, and around 3,000 in atten - And how do we know we are reach - quality image and audio that will route. doing it. This is important.” dance. ing rurality there? Annually, the reproduce well at another location, Father Mark Lovett of Our “You are winning the hearts and Our model is to bring big church offering plate receives something and that is more than doable. Redeemer Lutheran Church in minds of Americans,” he went on to say. opportunity to small communities other than cash and checks: wheat Relationships matter. The beauty Herington, described abortion as mur - “You have won the hearts and minds of by establishing CrossPoint churches shares from the co-op. of multisite is that you have built-in der. Kansans. Don’t quit! We are so close. that are tied together by vision, mis - Full-time focused pastors. It’s relationships for planters and pas - “This is a march for the protection Lean in, pray like never before, walk and sion, and video teaching. often difficult to find seminary- tors. But, initially, it may be a lonely and the sanctity of life, and it seems to talk like never before. We will win! God The dual concepts of multisite and trained, vibrant preachers who want place. Joining a conversation with me kind of obvious that we want to bless you all!” video teaching often invite a deluge to give their lives in small out-of-the- those in groups like the Rural march in support of not ending the life Mary Kay Culp, Executive Director of arguments ranging from personal way places.