Kingdom Class Awards honor Newton faithful

The Missional Church Network honored three award recipients at its annual Kingdom Class Awards Banquet May 3.

Each year, the awards celebrate individuals and organizations whose work improves the community, is accomplished through broad cooperation and reflects the character of God, a news release said.

Awards in three categories include: church, ministry and individual.

In the church category, RockeTown Youth Center was honored.

RockeTown is a collaborative effort between Grace Community Church, Hillcrest Community Church and the Newton Recreation Commission, which aims to provide game nights at the Newton Activity Center with games, snacks, music nd encouragement in a positive, mentoring atmosphere.

When the weather is cold outside and the kids that gather at the skate park and activity center playground have no where to go, RockeTown is there, the news release said.

Receiving the Kingdom Class Award in the ministry category, was Weekday Bible School, celebrating its 85th year of ministry to elementary school children as a cooperative project of many local congregations and businesses in cooperation with USD 373.

Newton’s Weekday Bible School is one of only an estimated 1,000 Released Time Programs in the United States.

Making a difference in the lives of kids and the community one lunch period at a time, Weekday Bible School is now impacting kids whose great, great, great grandparents were impacted in 1924 – when the ministry first started, a news release said.

Five years ago, the National Council on Crime and Delinquency studied Released Time programs like Weekday Bible School and found kids who take part in released time perform better academically than their peers.

It also found the program reinforced positive moral and character development in schools where teachers often struggle to control disruptive students.

Receiving the award in the individual category, Tina Payne, director of Health Ministries, was honored.

Her work to bring together a broad coalition of support has led to the ongoing expansion of Health Ministries services to provide a broad range of medical and dental care for the uninsured and underinsured, a news release said.

Health Ministries of Harvey County is one of only 11 community health centers in Kansas.

Checks of $120 were donated to each recipient by the Missional Church Network. Master of ceremonies for the evening was Rep. Marc Rhoades, R-Newton. A time of praise was led by worship leaders from six area congregations and a keynote speech was given by Steve Kelly, CEO of Newton Medical Center.