As Alice Koech settles into her new role as pastor at Eudora United Methodist Church, she wants to spread the word of the church’s welcoming and open nature.
“We don’t discriminate against anybody, and we don’t look down upon anybody. You’re welcome as you are,” she said.
She started in her position about a month ago to replace the Rev. Ross Baker, who moved to Emporia. She feels like the transition has been good so far, she said.
“I know that this church is pretty open, but I just want to say that I’m grateful to be here, especially being a woman of color, being from another country, speaking with a different accent. I just want to say that I’m really grateful that this community has been welcoming to me,” said Koech, who is originally from Kenya.
She wants to provide that same openness to others in the community. Koech hopes to bring more diversity to the church, she said.
“I want to see more people of color. I want to see people from every background come here because this is the house of God,” she said.
Koech said she wants people to know they can come to church with any clothes they want, and to not be deterred if they don’t have formal attire.
Before coming to Eudora, Koech was the pastor at Easton United Methodist Church for about three years. She was the associate pastor and youth pastor at Hays First United Methodist Church before that. She’d also worked at churches in Nebraska and Colorado.
Koech is also pastor at Edgerton United Methodist Church. Her husband, Ezekiel, is serving as the pastor at Baldwin First United Methodist Church. They live in Lenexa and have three kids.
When Koech completed high school in Kenya, she started to feel called to work as a pastor. At first, she wasn’t sure what that meant or how to make it happen.
With guidance from her then local church pastor, she went on to a bible college and graduated with a bachelor of theology degree. Afterwards, she moved to the States to pursue two master’s degrees, one in Christian science and another in counseling at Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky.
Koech then went on to the University of Kentucky to receive a Ph.D. in family science. She graduated in 2010.
In her new role in Eudora, she is still working on learning all the goals of the community, but she’s heard a desire to reach more young people, young families and children.
She knows families have a lot on their plates, meaning weekends can be busy times. She hopes to have more offerings on weekdays like Wednesday night meetings, summer events and other events to draw new members.
It’s important to Koech to keep the church’s involvement with Harvesters and Feeding Eudora, as well as continue to be a part of other community events.
Her previous church was not close to schools and didn’t have a lot of young people in the community, so Eudora offers more opportunity for involvement with the schools for things like school supply drives or other partnerships, she said.
“My hope is that we can have more connection with the local schools, and see how our church can be part of what the school is doing, and support the school in one way or another,” she said.
She continues to look forward to getting to know more people, learn church member names and attend events like Chamber of Commerce meetings to get involved.
Her role as pastor is to be someone who brings healing, hope and comfort to those going through a hard time, she said.
“The role of a pastor is to be a leader in the community, the church, also shepherd God’s servant in the community, and someone that brings the Word of God,” she said.
Carol Schmidt, a church member for over 20 years, has loved Koech’s sermons so far, and said she has a warm energy. She brings worldly experience, along with new ideas.
Schmidt appreciates her commitment to community outreach and helping out with things like Harvesters and Feeding Eudora.
“She’s very easy to talk to. I know she’s always open to conversations of maybe somebody who wants to know more about who we are, what we believe or whatever the case may be,” she said.
Janet Gabriel, a member of the finance committee and a liaison for the day school, has been a lifelong member of the church and is looking forward to a fresh perspective to offer new ideas for potential mission work.
Koech’s already shown commitment to the community by getting involved with the church’s booth at the Main Street Market and other projects, she said.
“We just have found her very welcoming,” Gabriel said.
Reach reporter Sara Maloney at [email protected].
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