Showing today’s youth that religion does not come in a one-size-fits-all mold is what the Rev. Trudy Kenyon Anderson believes is helping bring a younger generation into Wesley United Methodist Church.
“This is not your mom or dad’s faith,” Kenyon Anderson tells teens. “You make the decision to become a disciple of Jesus Christ.”
The message must be working. On Wednesdays the church is swarming with kids from 3 to 9 p.m. as the various grades gather for youth group activities.
“It’s alive!” Kenyon Anderson describes the bustling midweek schedule that includes a 5:30 p.m. meal at which many families enjoy together.
The goal, of course, is “to teach at an early age how to live out one’s faith,” she said.
The next step is to keep that faith active or else it can become stale.
“For some, their faith has become a passive activity; and church is a place they come with almost the expectation to be entertained and not be directly involved.”
Just to shake things up, the church sometimes has a “backwards Sunday,” where the service begins with the benediction.
Kenyon Anderson is not afraid to don a clown costume for a “Holy Humor Sunday” or other such fanciful attire if it helps prove the message that serving God is a joyous task.
In her study sits one of her favorite pictures depicting a laughing Jesus. “You don’t see Jesus that way very often, do you?” she asked. “Surely Jesus laughed.”
At 52, Kenyon Anderson is beginning her 10th year as a minister. Before that she worked as an accountant and eventually the director of operations for a charter airline company.
“I went from counting beans to sheep,” she said.
She attended St. Paul’s School of Theology in Kansas City.
She and her husband, Russell Anderson, also a Methodist minister, arrived in Iola in 2006, just one year before the flood that affected many Wesley United parishioners.
Only six months later a fire caused extensive damage to their church at 301 E. Madison Ave.
While she’s not wishing catastrophe on anyone, she did say it put the congregation at a crossroads: Could the members dig deep enough to rebuild the church, or would it be the last straw.
The answer came not only in a magnificent renovation but also a renewed congregation.
“The fire served as a spiritual awakening,” she said. “Not that things weren’t happening here, but it increased the depth of their spirituality.”
“We have intentional Christians here,” she said, pointing to a wide diversity in the congregation. “We have a strong influx of people with no experience with a Methodist Church or with any church at all,” she said.
Sunday services “typically float about 110,” she said.
The congregation works hard to make newcomers feel welcome. “It’s a place where you can come and there not be expectations of behavior or dress code.”
The downturn in the economy has had its impact on the congregation, Kenyon Anderson said.
“A lot here lost their jobs when Haldex closed and they’re still looking for work,” she said of the brake plant’s demise last fall.
“They remain hopeful, but their resources are finite.”
Kenyon Anderson said she’s not a follower of the “prosperity gospel,” which preaches good works are rewarded by riches.
“That implies if you do things the right way, good things will come to you,” she said. “Hey, people suffer. God suffers.”
“I marvel at how radical Jesus’ teachings are even for today. In Biblical times, there were the very poor and the very rich. Jesus said to take care of each other — no matter your station in life.”
Kenyon Anderson points to an ever widening gap between today’s haves and have-nots.
“And we’re still not doing a good job of taking care of each other.”
THE THRILL Kenyon Anderson feels from being a pastor is fueled much like that of a teacher.
“When I see people grasp the significance of the Holy Spirit for the first time, it’s wonderful,” she said.
For the last three years Kenyon Anderson has directed long-term Bible study classes at which more than one-third of the congregation participate.
“You have to be intentional about faith in your life,” she says of the role the group study classes play. “The Bible isn’t so scary if you understand its role in society. The challenge is to find relevancy and understand your call to action.”
Wesley United has heeded several such calls in recent years. Every week a group assembles 50 packs of food distributed to low-income youths attending Lincoln Elementary and Iola Middle School. Wesley works in conjunction with St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in this “Backpack” mission project that ensures students have nutritious food over the weekend.
Wesley United is also the host of Narcotics Anonymous meetings twice a week as well as the Girl Scouts once a month.
Regarding Narcotics Anonymous, Kenyon Anderson said, “We’d been in prayer about how to help people suffering addictions, and it became clear this is what we could do as a church.”
Kenyon Anderson said the book “Celebrate Recovery” by Rick Warren and John Baker was a helpful guide.
AS METHODIST ministers Trudy and Russell face an unknown future.
“When we became ordained it was with the understanding we are to be itinerant ministers,” she said. “It’s part of the structure.”
Until last year Trudy also preached at Neosho Falls. Now Russell has the congregations at Neosho Falls and Yates Center under his wing.
In her 10 years, half have been in Iola. As for her next appointment, she shrugs.
“I believe a congregation knows when it’s ready for someone new and at the same time a minister can feel when her gifts and graces could best be used somewhere else.
“It requires prayerful discernment among our Conference leaders. When that time comes, we’ll be ready.”
