Pineridge Blog

For the last two years people of all ages in our Presbytery (Heartland) have gathered in the LAMP Center, 3210 N. Michi-gan, KCMO on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day for a Day of Service. This year MLK Day is on January 20th. The project will be packing lunches to be distributed by Harvesters. In the afternoon the youth who register separately will join others from the Presbytery to go snow tubing at Snow Creek, but all are invited to join in the service project in the morning. If you want more infor-mation or if you are willing to bring items to share, please refer to the article on the front page of the eTidings.

For those familiar with Kansas City I’m sure while driving south Bruce R. Watkins/71 highway over the years you noticed the once abandoned brick church building on Linwood Boulevard which has been transformed. That was the old Linwood Avenue Presbyterian Church built in 1929 when the congregation topped 2000. As late as 1954 over 800 people attended the funeral Rus-sell Stover, founder of the famous candy company, and an Elder of Linwood Pres. In the late 50’s and early 60’s the neighborhood underwent great change and turmoil. By 1975 the church had dwindled to less than 200 members who merged with the Meth-odists down the street and boarded up their building. It soon fell into disrepair and was abandoned for 40 years.

The building was resurrected in 2015 to become LAMP, the Lin-wood Avenue Ministry Place. It is filled with programs that serve the Ivanhoe neighborhood around it, which is now the most eco-nomically challenged in the city. It also houses the offices for Heartland Presbytery. As someone says of LAMP, “It is no longer a church, it is ‘the’ church.”

To gather with so many of all ages to serve the community in this place that is a real resurrection story makes Dr. King’s dream a little more true. I hope you will join us for all or part of the morning. You are invited to stay for the short program and to have a slice of pizza if you like.