Kaw Prairie Community Church

Kaw Prairie's a Christ-first community church with biblically faithful Christian theology in the mainline Protestant tradition (Lutheran and Presbyterian strains, specifically),  enlivened by the evangelical passion, strengthened by strong leadership development, and blessed by an apostolic Christian spirit of welcome and grace. 

This church body is an amalgam of three older Lutheran church bodies, and attempts to present the best of the original Protestant Reformation theology to a world that needs it so badly. Many Johnson County churches graciously supported Kaw Prairie in its early years (most particularly Atonement, Overland Park; Holy Cross, Overland Park; Advent Olathe; and Resurrection, Prairie Village) and two older ones were benefactors with their assets, helping advance our building project by many years.

Traditional Lutheran concepts important at Kaw Prairie include...

• the theology of the cross over a theology of glory
• the exclusivity of Christ for the salvation of humankind,
• the centrality of Scripture
• the foundational role of the family
• worship and Scripture in the language (and musical genre) of the people
• the priesthood of all believers
• a balance of Law & Gospel through which we view ethics and theology
• we're simultaneously saints and sinners
• commitment to justice and stewardship of creation as part of living out the Gospel

Kaw Prairie was also hugely blessed by a gift of land from the Heartland Presbytery, which offered us their 18-acres of interchange property at K7 Hwy & Prairie Star Parkway for our campus. The gift was made possible by a strong mission and ecumenical commitment from the Presbytery, and the original generosity of members of  Village Presbyterian in Prairie Village, in particular.  The Presbytery also blessed us with the right to negotiate a win-win real estate deal with a neighboring developer, which gained us extra egress from our property, free roads & stormwater construction, and significant mission dollars for the Presbytery--as well as, eventually, a much more attractive and viable 'neighborhood-commercial' district for the City of Lenexa.

Presbyterian concepts important to Kaw Prairie include...

• the connectionalism of churches for accountability and mission impact
• the ordination of elders, not just pastors
• the value of decency and good order in the business of the church
• a clear articulation of the Six Great Ends of the Church:

1. the shelter, nurture and spiritual fellowship of the children of God
2. the maintenance of divine worship
3. the preservation of the Truth
4. the promotion of social righteousness, and
5. the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world!

 

 

Kaw Prairie is also a member of the groundbreaking trans-denominational Willow Creek Association, which provides leadership training and resources for our church in many and various ways. Willow Creek Community Church was one of the very first churches in the nation to use contemporary worship to reach 'seekers' with the age-old truth of God in a new way.

Holy Hybrids, Batman!

Kaw Prairie occupies an unusual niche in the neighborhood. Some of the first questions folks ask about Kaw Prairie is, “What are you, anyway?” Non-denominational or denomination? Evangelical or mainline? Contemporary or traditional?

If you’ve already worshipped with us, you know the answer might take a minute: Style-wise, we may
appear to be ‘non-denominational,’ with powerful music and topical but Bible-based message series. In fact, we’re a Christ-first community church affiliated with two historically faithful denominations (Lutheran & Presbyterian) for accountability and mission, and with the innovative non-denominational Willow Creek Association for training and resources.  But fewer than half of Kaw Prairie worshippers have any prior connection to either denomination - and many of us to no church at all.

Our worship is multi-media and contemporary, but with ancient echoes like sacramental Communion to keep us humble, remembering that we aren’t the first Christians to worship God in spirit and in truth. Our goal is ‘evangelical’ in that we share the love of Jesus and study God’s word eagerly. But unlike some uses of the word, we’re passionate for less popular things that matter deeply to God: caring for God’s creation, showing mercy to the poor and unpopular, we listen & love more than lecture & judge, and we try to be the face of Christ to families of all kinds.

So what are we? We’re inter-denominational and probably different than what you're expecting.  Individually, we're saints and sinners, humbled hypocrites, and chastened idolaters.  And as a church, we’re kind of a holy hybrid. But mostly we say we’re just Christ-followers: casual on the outside, serious on the inside changing lives with Jesus’ love!