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.
Despite being fast-growing and self-sufficient now, Kaw Prairie was greatly blessed by our denominational founding partners, and is grateful they welcomed us to stand on their shoulders to proclaim the Gospel in Johnson County, KS:
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Kaw Prairie was hugely blessed by an early overture by the Heartland Presbytery, PC(USA), which not only welcomed us as a partner in ministry, but 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 Great Ends of the Church:
- the shelter, nurture and spiritual fellowship of the children of God
- the maintenance of divine worship
- the preservation of the Truth
- the promotion of social righteousness, and
- the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world!
Willow Creek Association (WCA)
Kaw Prairie has also been a beneficiary of the Willow CreekAssociation (WCA), a non-denominational training and resourcing organization which sprang from the visionary Willow Creek Community Church of South Barrington, IL. Kaw Prairie leaders and staff train regularly at Willow Creek workshops, and are indebted to the WCA for their groundbreaking work in evangelism, leadership development, and seeker-sensitive worship. Willow Creek, like Kaw Prairie, strives to be a community of faith combining low barriers to people finding their way back to God with high expectations of those who want to follow Christ. And like Kaw Prairie, Willow Creek pushes the envelope of religious norms and conventions in order to be more faithful to Christ, and obedient to God's desire to change lives with Jesus' love!
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
The ELCA is a twenty-year-old 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 ELCA 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 Trinity, Lawrence) 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
- 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
- balance of Law & Gospel as the perspective with which to view ethics and theology
- we're simultaneously saints and sinners
- commitment to justice and creation-care as part of living out the Gospel