Lamont Wesleyan
On Sunday, Lamont Wesleyan Church will welcome the Rev. Jess Allen as the new pastor of discipleship and connections. He will lead the LWC small group and welcoming ministries, along with assisting the Rev. Steve McVey with congregational care, preaching and teaching and various other duties.
After the 10:30 a.m. worship service, the church will be the host for a “Welcome to the Wild, Wild West” party for the Allen family with horse rides for children, games and lunch, a culmination of the church VBS program, “Avalanche Ranch.” The community is invited to participate in the day’s festivities which will begin about noon. The church is one block south of Kansas Highway 58 in Lamont.
The Allen family, which includes Jess Allen and his wife, Tammy Allen, and their children, Julia, 9, and Joshua, 7, will live in Burlington. He previously was the church planter-pastor of the Summit Wesleyan Church of Calgary in Alberta, Canada since 2002. From 1989 to 2002, he was the pastor of outreach and discipleship at Faith Wesleyan Church in Lansing, Mich., where he developed small group, discipleship and “kindness” ministries. He was the director of training for Kingdom Building Ministries in Denver, Colo., from 1995 through 1998.
St. Joseph & St. Mary
The Rev. Anthony Williams will become pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Olpe and St. Mary Parish in Hartford, according to the news release from Archbishop Joseph Naumann of the Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.
Williams has been pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Paxico and Holy Family Parish in Alma since 2004.
He was ordained in May 1983. His first assignment as a priest was as associate pastor for Blessed Sacrament Parish and associate chaplain at Ward High School in Kansas City, Kan. He next was associate pastor at Assumption Parish and Most Pure Heart of Mary in Topeka, where he also was chaplain for Hayden High School. In 1987, Williams entered military service as a chaplain. He returned from service in 1999 when he became pastor of St. Paul Parish in Olathe. He also was administrator for Holy Angels Parish in Basehor.