Woods Memorial Blesses Community as Doors Close

*Wood Memorial Christian Church (Amanda Hawkins).*

The Woods Memorial Christian Church (417 Concourse Ave) is no longer meeting as a congregation and their building has been sold, but that hasn’t stopped them from blessing Excelsior Springs with over $300,000 in donations to local organizations before they completely disband. Established in the 1890s Woods Memorial Christian Church made the difficult decision to close its doors for good this past year. The church was sold to a private investor earlier this summer leaving the remaining members the task of identifying how they can best use the funds from the sale to make a lasting impact in the community.

So far, Woods Memorial’s most significant contribution has been to the Excelsior Springs Educational Foundation with a whopping total of $125,000 going to help students in Excelsior Springs. $100,000 of those funds will be used to create an annual Woods Memorial Christian Church scholarship for graduating seniors. The remaining $25,000 will be applied to the “students in need fund,” which is utilized to help provide clothing, shoes, food or other necessities for students and families in the school district.

Members of Woods Memorial are still meeting with other local groups to identify needs. A representative for the church, Joyce McKown said the members have set aside $80,000 for the Good Samaritan Center and $40,000 for the Elks Lodge and will meet with those organizations in the coming weeks to specify how they’d like to see the contributions spent.

*Stained glass adorns the peaceful sanctuary of Woods Memorial Christian Church (photos Amanda Hawkins).*

The church has already made some additional financial contributions to the Barbee Memorial Church’s “Wash Program,” ($5,000), Synergy Services (formerly Synergy House) in North Kansas City ($20,000), and a donation back to the Disciples of Christ Regional Organization ($25,000). The wash program, meant to assist families in need with laundry was actually started by Woods Memorial but the program was handed off to Barbee when Woods Memorial no longer had the manpower to help support it. According to their website, Synergy Services, “provides a full continuum of care to assist individuals and families with immediate respite from violence, and services which empower clients to find and choose good options for future safety and success.” McKown said Synergy provides services to many Excelsior Springs residents.

In addition to their generous monetary donations, Woods Memorial is also donating a trove of historical records and artifacts to the Excelsior Springs Museum and Archives, including the large bell that stands out in front of the church. “We’ll also help them with funds to build a structure for the bell, and whatever they need to do that,” said McKown.

*The bell outside of Woods Memorial Christian Church will be moved to a location near the Museum and Archives (photo S Jason Cole).*

Closing the church was not an easy decision, but members had been praying for years for a solution. “We feel like this is God’s will, what he wants to be done,” said McKown. Once the decision was made she said the remaining members were filled with peace knowing they had followed God’s judgment for what was best for their church and the community.

The remaining members have been traveling together to visit other local churches in hopes of finding one where they can stay together. “We hope we can all get the same decision. But then again, everybody’s needs in their life are different. So we’ll see what happens,” said McKown. So far they’ve visited about 10 churches and are going to start going back to some of their favorites to see if they can make a final choice.

Final members of Woods Memorial Christian Church:
Jerri Oliva, Paul Oliva, Amanda Hawkins, Carpio Oliva and his wife Whitney, Joyce McKown, Jeanett and Larry Baxter, Judy Wormsley, Diane Teegarden and her granddaughter Abigail Adam, Sandy Rounkles