A Welcome That Means YOU
The first words that meet a visitor walking up to Woods Chapel Church on any given Sunday are not a name or a logo. They are a three-line statement that has become the congregation's shorthand: Included, accepted, loved. That means YOU. Seriously. That sentence is the practical restatement of a longer mission: connecting people to Jesus Christ by building a movement where all are included, accepted, and loved. The church has put it on the homepage and on its signs because, in a part of eastern Jackson County where old Woods Chapel Road meets newer Lakewood Way, the team wants first-time visitors to know they are not walking into a stranger's house.
Woods Chapel serves the Lee's Summit area from a single wood-framed campus at 4725 NE Lakewood Way, and a second campus a short drive west in Raytown on Blue Ridge Cutoff. Both sites keep the same Lee's Summit phone number, 816-795-8848, and the same mission. From the Sanctuary to the Worship Center, from CLEARR Nights on Tuesdays to the Warming Shelter that opens in December, the same idea runs underneath everything - that no one should have to walk through any of these doors wondering whether they will be welcomed.
From a Parsonage on Woods Chapel Road to a Lee's Summit Hub
The story of Woods Chapel is the story of a church that began as one persistent idea in 1974 and grew past three different buildings to keep its focus outward.
In November 1974, a small group of people gathered for the first worship service of Woods Chapel Church. That first congregation was, as the church likes to remember, a church without walls - meeting on Sundays at the founding parsonage and gathering during the week in members' homes for small group fellowship. Two years later, in 1976, the congregation officially organized as the Woods Chapel United Methodist Church with 23 charter families. By 1977, the first permanent building went up on Woods Chapel Road, the road that still gives the church its name. That building was expanded in 1983.
By the mid-1990s, the church was already preparing for another move. In February 1998, the congregation broke ground on Lakewood Way, and the building that opened there has been the church's home ever since. Two decades later, Woods Chapel made its first deliberate attempt to send a campus out into the wider Kansas City area: a new site planted in Raytown in 2014 (initially launched in December 2018 as Raytown Chapel Church), followed by another in Blue Springs in 2016. In 2024, the Raytown campus was renamed Woods Chapel Raytown, and the Blue Springs campus no longer operates under the Woods Chapel banner. The current shape of the ministry is a two-campus church with the main office and primary Sunday services on Lakewood Way, and a recovery-rooted, community-outreach presence in Raytown.
Three Sunday Mornings Under One Roof
Sunday morning at Woods Chapel runs on three different rhythms. All three share the same teaching, preached by the same pastor, but each room has its own feel.
At 10:00 AM in the Sanctuary, the Traditional Service gathers for classical United Methodist worship. Music is led by a choir and director, with hymns sung from the hymnal, choral and orchestral music, and historic practices of the faith such as the recitation of the Apostles' Creed. The Sanctuary itself is, in the church's own description, a beautiful reminder of the timeless tradition that still inspires meaningful worship today. Communion is typically served as a congregation on the first Sunday of the month, and the service is broadcast online.
In the Worship Center, two Modern Services offer a guitar-driven worship band, lighting and projection used to set a worshipful tone, and an energy meant to draw people into a connecting time with God. The first Modern Service begins at 9:00 AM and is in-person only. The second Modern Service begins at 10:30 AM and is in-person and online, also carried live on YouTube and Facebook. A short distance from the Worship Center, the Gathering Space plays the same 10:30 AM Modern Service on a 10-foot by 20-foot LED screen paired with an immersive sound system. That room, with comfortable seating and room to talk, was designed for people who want the energy of the modern service alongside conversation, community, and connection.
Visitors are asked to arrive in whatever they are comfortable wearing. Come expecting pastors and staff to do the same, says the church's New Here page. If you like to dress up, you can dress up. Woods Chapel is about seeking a real relationship with God and with one another; what people wear is, in the church's words, secondary.
The Gathering Space, the Gym, and the Student Ministry Building
The Lee's Summit campus has grown into a building with several distinct rooms. The Sanctuary is reserved for the traditional service. The Worship Center is the home base for Modern Services, and the Lecture Hall (Room 330 in some references), an obvious reference to its educational history, doubles as a Sunday large-group meeting room for some small groups and as a meeting room for community programs like The Hard Stuff series.
The Gathering Space, anchored by the giant LED screen, is also where Watch Parties are held when the church gathers around recent seasons of The Chosen and where large fellowship meals are served. There is a coffee bar near the Student Banner that has become the rallying point on Sunday mornings for WC Students before their 10:30 AM small group. The Student Ministry Building, or SMB, sits across the parking lot and houses the youth ministry office space, worship room, and gym area for everything from pickleball to Costumed Scavenger Hunts.
Pickleball at the WCC Gym on Wednesday nights (6:30-8:30 PM) and Backboard for the Lord pickup basketball (Tuesdays, 6:30-8:30 PM, ages 16 and up) are two of the easier on-ramps into church life for people who are not yet ready for a small group. Volunteers who want to keep their bodies moving and their friendships growing bring a friend and a willingness to lose gracefully.
WC Kids: Birth through Fifth Grade
Kiddos have a full place in every Woods Chapel service. WC Kids programming is offered during every Sunday worship service for children from newborn through fifth grade, and the leaders have set up a Family Ministry Pathway with milestones that lead families from those earliest weeks into the elementary years.
One of those milestones is the annual Backpack Blessings, held during the 9:00 AM Modern Service on a Sunday in late August. Children entering kindergarten bring their backpacks to worship, receive a special backpack tag, and are prayed over as they start school. Another milestone is the 3rd Grade Bible Adventure, a pizza-and-scavenger-hunt evening designed for third graders (and any fourth or fifth grader who missed it the previous year). Each child teams up with a guardian to search the Bible for answers, embarking on an adventure to different locations throughout Woods Chapel Church.
During the school year, families in the elementary years can also look forward to Treats on the Trail, a free candy-collecting afternoon along the campus trail where costumes, face painting, popcorn, music, and inflatables are rolled into one event. Family Skate Night, hosted by WC Kids at a local skating rink in Blue Springs, is the other big annual evening out. Vacation Bible Camp, the church's annual Vacation Bible School, runs three summer evenings in mid-July around a themed program; the 2026 series is called Kingdom Quest, with a Friday Family Fun Night closing the week out.
The We Care Children's Ministries preschool and daycare program, which shares the Lee's Summit address, is a related arm of the ministry. We Care runs Monday through Friday from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM under Executive Director Laura Barnes, with Beth Horridge as Director, Donna Flandermeyer as Operational Director, Nancy Woody as Curriculum Director, Candace Green as Staff Development Coordinator, and Peggee Schwartz as Mentor.
WC Students: A Middle and High School Pipeline
WC Students is the umbrella ministry for all sixth through twelfth graders and has its own flavor of programming built around a few steady weekly rhythms.
On Sunday mornings during the school year, students meet at 10:30 AM in the Coffee Bar by the Student Banner for WC Students Small Groups. While the older students gather for that hour, parents of middle and high school students are invited at the same time to discuss the morning's sermon in the Gathering Space. Sunday evenings are reserved for Youth Group, which runs from 5:00 to 6:30 PM in the Student Ministry Building with snacks, games, friends, and worship.
On Wednesdays during the school year, small groups split by grade and meet in the Student Ministry Building. The Middle School Small Group (sixth through eighth grade) meets from 6:00 to 7:00 PM, and the High School Small Group (ninth through twelfth grade) follows from 7:00 to 8:15 PM. Students who play instruments or sing are invited to put their gifts to use in the Student Ministry Band.
Outside the weekly calendar, WC Students has built a strong identity around a few recurring experiences. Color War opens the school year with a color-powder fight, lawn games, and food trucks. Costumed Scavenger Hunt and Underground Church (a Friday-night gathering in the lobby) are fall favorites. The annual Logos Fall Retreat, held at LifeChange Camp in Clinton, Missouri, is the marquee weekend of the year. Other staple events include a Royals game outing at Kauffman Stadium, a corn-maze night in September, a Lake Party at Lakewood Beach, and a Christmas Party complete with white-elephant gift exchange. There is also a Middle School Mission Trip each summer, with the most recent trip heading to Des Moines, Iowa, and a partner visit to Guatemala planned for February.
CLEARR Nights and Recovery Ministry
CLEARR Ministries is the recovery arm of Woods Chapel and, in many ways, the church's most distinctive outreach. CLEARR Nights gathers every Tuesday from 6:00 to 8:00 PM in the Worship Center. It is described by the church as a faith-based community for people affected by and/or who want to overcome addiction, built around worship, discussion, and service. The tagline that goes with it has become a favorite saying across the campus: Addiction takes one... recovery takes everyone.
Around CLEARR Nights, the ministry has built a year-round rhythm. The first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM, volunteers meet at Woods Chapel to assemble sack lunches as a community and then deliver them to those in need around the Kansas City area, an effort called S.O.S. The first Monday of every month from 5:00 to 7:00 PM, Sisters of Strength gathers in Room 323 to support women who love someone struggling with addiction. On occasional Tuesday nights, the CLEARR Nights community hears from guest speakers; one recent guest was Bobbi Jo Reed, founder and CEO of Healing House Kansas City. There is a yearly Mission: Ispossible Trivia Night fundraiser, with teams of up to eight competing in a Big 5 Trivia-hosted evening complete with mulligans and a 50/50 raffle.
Adam Dean leads CLEARR Ministries and is the contact for anyone wanting to get involved. The team also welcomes anyone with a sweet tooth to sign up to bring two dozen treats to share on CLEARR nights.
WC Raytown: Dinner Church, Showers, and a Warming Shelter
Woods Chapel Raytown, at 5413 Blue Ridge Cutoff in Raytown, is the church's only other remaining campus and the home of its deepest investments in community outreach. In some materials the Raytown address is given as 5431 Blue Ridge Cutoff; both refer to the same campus.
The weekly gathering point on the Raytown side is The Table, a Wednesday Dinner Church at 5:30 PM. Dinner Church blends a shared meal with a worship gathering and has become the connective tissue for everything else that happens in Raytown. WC Students carpool over for service nights, the wider congregation shows up to support the food pantry and clothing closet called Grace Place, and outside groups find a steady welcome.
Three seasons-old but still maturing is the Shower Ministry, launched on Wednesdays. Each Wednesday at WC Raytown, unhoused individuals are provided with a warm shower, clean clothing, and essential hygiene items. Volunteers help with check-in, help guests select clothing, direct them to the showers, organize shower caddies and hygiene supplies, and launder towels. The ministry also keeps a resource room stocked with donated hygiene items.
For the coldest months of the year, Woods Chapel operates a Warming Shelter at the Raytown campus from December 1 through March 1, opening only when temperatures are forecast to reach 10 degrees Fahrenheit or colder. The shelter welcomes up to 25 guests each winter night. Volunteers can sign up to serve overnight, prepare the space, welcome guests, prepare food, or simply learn more at the November training and launch event.
Adjacent to those long-running ministries, the Raytown campus also hosts the monthly Grace Place Food Pantry (1st and 3rd Wednesdays, 4:30-6:30 PM) and Clothing Closet (2nd Tuesday, 10:00 AM-12:00 PM), and the Back 2 School Night each August, complete with bouncy houses, face painting, games, school supplies, and book giveaways.
Grace Place, Blood Drives, and Community Work
Grace Place is the church's combined food pantry and clothing closet. The Lee's Summit pantry runs every Tuesday from 10:00 to 12:00 PM and every Thursday from 3:00 to 5:00 PM. The Raytown pantry runs on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday from 4:30 to 6:30 PM. The clothing closet opens in Raytown on the second Tuesday of each month from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM.
The pantry schedule dovetails with two other long-running community efforts. The Thanksgiving Food Drive runs for three weeks each fall, with the congregation taking home empty bags and lists of Thanksgiving meal ingredients to fill. Completed bags are returned to the church and distributed through both Lee's Summit and Raytown food pantries in late November. The Blood Drive, hosted in the Lecture Hall roughly twice a year in partnership with the American Red Cross, keeps the focus on a different kind of giving.
A few smaller annual efforts round out the church's community calendar. Adopt a Street Clean-Up Day takes volunteers to Bowlin Road, between Lakewood Way and Campground Road, to pick up trash on a Sunday afternoon each fall. The MPACT Men's Tailgate BBQ gathers men of the church (and their friends and neighbors) in the East Parking Lot for a grill-out, a friendly BBQ competition with cash prizes and a WCC Grill Master trophy, and a Sunday afternoon of football on the big screen.
Small Groups for Every Season
If Sunday morning is the front door, small groups are the kitchen table. The Woods Chapel small-group directory lists well over two dozen active groups, organized loosely around demographics, study focus, life season, and affinity.
Several Bible-study groups meet during the week. Wednesday Morning Women's Bible Study in Room 330 works through seasonal studies. Wednesday Morning Men's Bible Study in Room 323 looks at a different topic each week with stand-alone sessions. John Study meets Thursday evenings in Room 323 with discussion leaders Pam and Bill Carpenter. Common Hearts Women's Group meets Thursday evenings at the Fulson House. Sunday Women's Bible Study meets in Room 312. Life Lessons is a Sunday morning class in Room 311. Pathways meets in Room 322, and Deeper meets in Room 323. Contemporary Believers meets at 9:00 AM Sundays in the Lecture Hall.
Several groups are built around a stage of life. Moms of Littles, meeting the second and fourth Thursdays at 6:00 PM in the Gathering Space, includes free childcare. Young Professionals meets at 9:00 AM on Sundays in Room 323. Young Adults gathers at 5:30 PM on Tuesdays in the Gathering Space for fellowship, faith, and serving at CLEARR. The Brunch Bunch is a 50-and-up fellowship that meets at varying times and locations for breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and the occasional theater outing. MPACT: Men Making Impact for Jesus Christ gathers at 6:30 AM on Tuesdays in Room 330 for men looking to grow in the likeness of Christ. The Young Men's Group meets Thursday afternoons at the Coffee Bar, the Women's Group gathers every other Tuesday at 7:45 AM in the lobby, and Raby Small Group meets in a member's home Thursday evenings for friendship, dessert, and conversation.
Several small groups run seasonally. Divorce & Break-Up Recovery is an eight-week class on Monday evenings in Room 301 led by Kathy Christenson, with a focus on endings and letting go of the past. Divorce and Rebuilding, meeting on the second Thursday of the month in Room 306 (with childcare and separate men and women conversation groups), is for the longer road of recovery. Financial Peace University, the Dave Ramsey-based money course, runs nine weeks each fall on Sunday evenings in Room 322; the September-through-November FPU session is a typical rhythm. Journey, meeting biweekly on Sunday afternoons in the Lecture Hall, is a faith-filled study and life group that prioritizes authentic sharing and mutual support. Life & Family Enrichment works through Lysa TerKeurst's Forgiving What You Can't Forget on Sunday mornings in Room 301.
Two special-purpose groups round out the directory. Love Y'all, meeting on the first Sunday at noon in the Lecture Hall, is a support group for allies and members of the LGBTQ+ community. The group talks about the current sermon series and applies it to the lives and experiences of those present. Al-Anon meets at 6:45 PM on Tuesdays in Room 301. There is no formal sign-up, and no personal information is required to attend.
Grief, End-of-Life Planning, and Care
Care Ministry at Woods Chapel is half-listening, half-organizing. A standing prayer request form is online, and the Care Team fields individual needs. Three recurring programs have grown into something larger.
Hope for the Heart: Grief Support Group meets Tuesdays at 10:00 AM in Room 311. Led by a certified grief educator, the group works through the book It's OK That I'm Not OK and incorporates grief movement as a way to process and release emotions. The seasonal fall session runs from late September through mid-November; contact Carol Quiring for questions.
The Hard Stuff, a two-session series held in September in the Lecture Hall, tackles two of the most important conversations families avoid. Putting Your House in Order, presented by Rev. Laura Murphy of the Missouri Methodist Foundation, covers the practical steps of organizing documents, instructions, and wishes in case of serious illness or death. The Conversation, presented by Carol Quiring, a certified grief educator and retired CEO of Saint Luke's Home Care and Hospice, follows up with the more difficult conversation about medical wishes, life support, cremation, and burial. Both sessions use a $10 binder that covers the entire series and is meant to be kept as a reference.
Memorial Services for Woods Chapel members and constituents are livestreamed; recordings are kept online. Nathan Harkins is the staff contact for anyone looking for a service prior to August 2024.
Beliefs and Open Doors
Woods Chapel describes itself as a United Methodist congregation that follows the Book of Discipline to help direct its doctrine, sitting within the global United Methodist Church's emphasis on what John Wesley called practical divinity - putting faith and love into action. The United Methodist Church, the church explains, opens hearts, opens minds, and opens doors through active engagement with the world.
Two sacramental practices shape the rhythm. Communion is open to everyone and is typically served as a congregation on the first Sunday of the month. The United Methodist Church believes in infant baptism as an illustration of the grace God freely gives to those created in God's image, while also offering adult baptism by pouring, sprinkling, or immersion for those who were not baptized as infants or who would like a public commitment. The church observes a single baptism and does not re-baptize, but offers opportunities to remember or reaffirm baptism through sprinkling or immersion. Each September, the church gathers at Lakewood Beach for a Lake Baptism service.
The congregation's most clearly stated position is one of inclusion. As stated in the mission, Woods Chapel strives to be inclusive and believes all are welcome and deeply loved in God's eyes. The church wants to be known, in its own language, as who it is for, not who it is against.
Getting Connected: Growth Track and Serving
For those ready to put down roots, the congregation points newcomers to Growth Track, a one-time two-hour experience held in Room 306 with childcare available. During Growth Track, visitors meet church leaders, share their own story, learn about the church's vision, and have the chance to become an official Partner. The class runs several Sundays a year, including summer and fall dates.
After Growth Track, the church practices a concept it calls Worship +2: in addition to worship, the congregation asks every member to find both a small group to belong to and a serving opportunity to participate in. Put Me In, Coach cards are left on the backs of chairs in both the Sanctuary and the Worship Center HUBs, with easy-to-start serving options printed on them. The Point is to remove the friction between wanting to serve and finding a place to do it.
Other routine entry points include Baptism Class, a one-hour Sunday morning primer in Room 305 for anyone exploring baptism; Meet The Pastors, an after-service drop-in on select Sundays in Room 306 with light snacks and optional RSVP; and a free New Here greeter system where visitors can ask for someone to meet them at the HUB, give them a tour, answer questions, or sit with them during their first visit.
For ongoing support, the church operates with office hours Monday through Thursday, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, at the Lakewood Way address. Giving is available online through Pushpay, and the church can also be followed on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. The weekly email list and WC Live login (through the church's CCB portal) keep members plugged into sermon notes, weekly resources, and forms.