New Community Connection – September 2026
We Do Not Despair
"I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living."
— Psalm 27:13
Some summers leave you sun-soaked and rested. Some leave you tired. As this summer gives way to fall, I think it’s only fair to name: The summer was a hard season for many in our community.
We've watched people carry diagnoses that don't have quick answers. We’ve walked the agonizing road of uncertainty and hope, only to find death waiting at the end. We've witnessed relationships fracture. We've sat with those who have felt abandoned by family and friends. We’ve cared for loved ones with profound and changing needs, amid exhaustion and uncertainty. We've experienced stress and loss, only to have more piled on before we've had time to recover.
Some of us have walked through disappointments that words can't quite capture.
Perhaps seeing that the worst was yet to come, Darryl shared these words from Paul at our gathering in May: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair... struck down, but not destroyed" (2 Corinthians 4:8–9).
I appreciate that Paul doesn't skip over the affliction or the perplexity. He doesn't pretend suffering is less painful than it is. Afflicted. Not crushed. Perplexed. (Oh, goodness—the very real agony of being so confused by the pain and loss that you don’t even know what to do!) And yet, NOT driven to despair.
Because the temptation to despair is real.
And there is plenty to despair about. The headlines can leave us feeling powerless. Unjust policies harm our neighbors. Leaders and institutions that should offer some measure of stability can instead deepen our uncertainty. And all of this arrives while we are carrying our own private griefs.
Recently, in my Spiritual Family, we talked about a different question: Who might God be making us?
That question feels especially poignant in seasons of grief. Who are you becoming in this season? What is grief doing in you? What are you learning to release? What are you learning to carry? And can suffering, which can so easily turn us inward, somehow make us more able to recognize the suffering of someone else?
I want to be careful here. I don't believe every terrible thing happens because God needed to teach us something… but I will admit, my own instinct is often to search for the lesson: What is God trying to teach me? Why did this have to happen? What am I supposed to become because of it? I think there is something comforting about believing suffering has been specifically assigned to us for a purpose. It gives pain an explanation.
Apparently, the disciples wanted an explanation too.
When Jesus and his disciples encountered a man who had been blind since birth, their first question was whose sin had caused it. They wanted to make the suffering make sense. Jesus refused their simple cause-and-effect answer. The book of Job warns us against explaining someone's suffering too neatly. And Paul describes a creation that is groaning—a world that is not yet as it should be.
So I want to resist turning every painful thing into a lesson God decided I needed. Some things happen because we live in a broken world. Some things happen because people make choices that hurt other people. Some things are unjust. Trauma is trauma. And grief deserves to be grief.
And yet, we are not finished. Somehow, we are still…becoming.
By Hephzibah Dutt
Life Together
Stories and updates from our Spiritual Families and ministry groups.
In June, the teens at NCC launched an 18-month kids program based on the Justice Journey for Kids. In this program, kids learn how social justice is part of the gospel of Jesus. The teens have been meeting together to plan the twice-monthly kids sessions. Kids meet during our 2nd Sunday gathering at Ivanhoe Community Center, as well as on the 4th Sunday at Jacque & the Brewers' Spiritual Family.
We had 11 kids for the launch on June 14, with four teens helping. Kids learned about the diversity of creation, made a favorite plant or animal, and each got to pot a plant from Young Family Farms. It was great! For our second gathering on June 28, a neighbor friend joined our Spiritual Family as we talked about how God made us diverse and in His image.
Over the summer, Scripture memorization has also been part of the program. We began with Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The kids also learned Genesis 1:27: “So, God created human beings in his own likeness. He created them to be like himself. He created them as male and female.”
In July and August, the Justice Journey for Kids also became part of our 2nd Sunday large gatherings, giving us the opportunity to learn together across generations! Kids were able to see the larger New Community participate alongside them and affirm that the things they are learning about justice, faith, and following Jesus matter to all of us. It has been meaningful to watch kids, teens, and adults learn and participate together—and to remind ourselves that this journey belongs to our whole community.
We are excited to continue growing together as our teens lead and our kids walk through this program. Please pray for both our young leaders and our kids as they continue learning and growing together.
Kids and teens at the launch of Justice Journey for Kids
Myles and their family are part of the Answer Spiritual Family. While home in Kansas City this summer, Myles took some time to write this reflection for us before heading back to the University of Southern California, where they are beginning their sophomore year.
Why We’re Here
Real stories of how God is working in and through our community.
What is “Community”?
A lot of my life, I’ve struggled to find places and people that feel safe. Inclusivity and comfortability can be difficult to come by. This country, especially right now, doesn’t have a great track record for treating anyone in any sort of minority category with kindness. But along with that, typical “religious” gatherings and spaces didn’t feel welcoming either. I mean, I grew up going to a primarily white, middle to upper class church that began to grow into something eerily similar to a mega church. It was alienating to me, from the huge worship halls to the incentive-based teen programs to the teachings that echoed problematic misinterpretations of the Bible in a reaffirmation of pre-existing bad behavior.
I owe my relationship to New Community to the curiosity of my parents. They, feeling similarly to myself, continually sought out smaller, more genuine gatherings of people to spiritually connect with. I kinda just followed along for the ride one day. And I was blown away. Seeing so many people of color in a room, witnessing the grace and kindness the members of this community showed each other and each other’s kids, and feeling immediately welcomed by the spiritual family was unlike any experience I’d ever felt in a “religious” space.
Every time I enter a New Community gathering, I get this beautiful sense that there’s so much love to spare. I know that it’s a free exchange, and that you all do good with your lives and it’s from a place of deep passion for justice and redistribution and opportunities. It never feels like there are strings attached. That’s the type of community that doesn’t exist enough in this day and age, and I don’t really know how it came to be here, but I’m grateful. I commend you all on your dedication, compassion, perseverance, and generosity, even if that generosity is incorporeal. The simple act of sharing what you all have in your hearts is substance enough.
So what is community? I say, it’s all love, baby.
Peace, Myles
In and Around Neighborhood:
Upcoming events, gatherings, and opportunities to connect with others and serve our community.
Community Forum
Tuesday, Oct 27th 5:30pm, Westport Presbytarian Church (201 Westport Rd,KCMO)
We had to reschedule this a couple times, but it’s finally happening!! The New Community Church COMMUNITY FORUM! This is your community. Come be part of the conversation!
