Category: Organization News

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Atheist Holiday Billboard Debuts in Kansas City

A new billboard wishing drivers “happy holidays” will run through January 2020

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There’s a new billboard running for the upcoming holiday season, and it’s wishing everyone happy holidays from their friendly Kansas City atheists. Running in rotation on a digital billboard near the Armour Road exit from I-35 south, it’s here to convey season’s greetings to drivers on their travels along I-35. The billboard is running for three months, from Nov. 1, 2019, through Jan. 31, 2020.

“The holidays, for many people, are steeped in religious tradition,” Jordan McKinney, president of the Kansas City Atheist Coalition, explains, “and, for many atheists, that means they don’t really have a place they feel like they fit in during these winter months. That’s part of our message here – that there’s a community where they can make friends and build families of their choosing during this holiday season.”

Mr. McKinney acknowledges that some may see the billboard as an attack on those religious traditions, but that is not the intent. “It’s quite the opposite, in fact. We’re trying to raise awareness that atheists also enjoy spending time with friends and family over hot drinks and tasty food.”

He also pointed to the Kansas City Atheist Coalition’s tradition of collecting gifts each year for a family adopted through local charity programs. “We’re not only trying to break the misconception that atheists are steeped in a Scrooge-esque resentment of the holidays,” Mr. McKinney explained, “but also providing opportunities for atheists to give back to their local community and participate in that ‘season of giving’ that everyone enjoys this time of year.”

For media inquiries: contact@kcatheists.org

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2019 Officer Elections

KCAC’s 2019 Officer Elections are complete! We are proud to announce the results:

-Melissa Leytem was reelected as Vice President
-Michael Leytem was reelected as Treasurer
-Rowan Stewart was reelected as Director of Activism
-Joshua Hyde was elected to Secretary to the Board
-Jordan McKinney was elected as President of the Board

We would like to thank everyone who voted for their participation, and we are very excited about another year of creating a welcoming secular community in Kansas City!

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2019 Elections Begin Today!

If you are up-to-date on your membership, you will be receiving a notification of your ability to participate in this year’s officer elections. Elections will be open starting today through 11:59 PM on October 16.

Please be aware that there is an issue with our election provider’s (BallotBin’s) SSL certificate. If you are using a browser like Chrome, you will be prompted with a warning, but you can navigate past these by clicking the “Advanced” button:

…and then selecting “Proceed to ballotbin.com”:

We will be evaluating our usage of this system for future elections.

If you feel you should have received a notification about the election and have not by the end of today, please message us at our Facebook page or contact us at contact@kcatheists.org.

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Nomination Announcement: Jordan McKinney for President

Jordan McKinney has been nominated for election as president. He describes himself below:

Jordan McKinney was born in Lindsborg, Kansas. As a youth, he delighted in learning about paleontology and other sciences. Meeting Robert T. Bakker at a young age was a highlight. He earned a Bachelor degree in Religious Studies from the University of Kansas. While primarily focused on East Asian contemporary Buddhist developments, Jordan studied biblical texts and the Dead Sea Scrolls under the then-controversial atheist professor Dr. Paul Mirecki (Mirecki served as a direct assistant for Dr. John Strugnell, a lead researcher on the Dead Sea Scrolls project). 

After completing fieldwork in Taiwan at the Fo Guang Shan monastery, Jordan transitioned from “questioning skeptic” to “agnostic atheist”, supported by his wife, Mandy, and numerous friends from the KC secular community. In 2015, he was awarded a Doniphan Fellowship for successful completion of the Doniphan Leadership Institute. He has performed leadership work with multiple secular groups in Kansas City, as well as leadership work for multiple progressive, female-led political campaigns. At present, he serves as Secretary to the Board of Directors of Kansas City Atheist Coalition. Jordan currently resides in Liberty, MO with his wife, daughter Olivia, two dogs, and two fish.


He says:


“It’s my goal to serve Kansas City by making this a place where nonbelievers, skeptics, and atheists can be known as such without stigma. I’m a firm believer in the separation of church and state and I have a strong appreciation for the years of dedicated work by KCAC to carve out space for atheists to be recognized in the positive manner they deserve. I also believe very strongly in the work the entire secular community of KC has done to welcome and support the LGBTQIA community. My leadership style is empowerment of all my constituents through a servant approach. If elected President of KCAC, it will be my job to clear the way for the leaders and membership of KCAC to be amazing and do their best work.”

If you would like to submit a nomination, please refer to the details for how to do so here.

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Announcing New Facebook Group

We are happy to announce that we are creating a space for KC atheists to socialize and connect via Facebook. This option is limited to dues-paying members and all participants are bound by the rules as described here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kjzJbP7aviQD9tkaoKju2ipHYkW9XgxK5dabGUUF5R8/

When you join the group, you will be asked two questions: what email address is associated with your membership (which is the address at which you are receiving this email address) and to confirm that you have read and agree to abide by our rules.

We have sent out emails to all of our members who are up on their dues. If you have not received your invitation to the group and feel that you should have received one, please feel free to contact us either via email at contact@kcatheists.org or via our Facebook page.

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2018 Election Results Are In

The election results are in, and the incumbents have been unanimously re-elected! We want to thank everyone for their participation and look forward to elections next year in 2019 after a year of serving the community!

As a note: the duplication of some options in the report are a result of adding the qualifier of “(incumbant)” after some votes had been cast.

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Friendly Freethought Resuming in 2019

I know what you’re thinking: didn’t we just start doing these? You’re right – however, between the high number of end-of-month holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, various December religious holidays, New Year’s) between now and the end of the year ON TOP OF our white elephant holiday party (which we’ll be announcing details of soon!), we’re going to be pausing these social events until January 28. We’re hoping to see you still at our events like Trunk or Treat!

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2018 Officer Elections Are Open!

The ballot for our 2018 officer elections is now available. You should have received an email from BallotBin.com if you are a dues-paying member. The ballot will be open and available through the end of the day on October 20, 2018.

If you believe you should have received a ballot and did not, please email us at contact@kcatheists.org so that we can make sure you have your opportunity to cast your vote.

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Looking for Nominations!

Our officer elections for 2018 are coming up in October, and we’re looking for nominations! If you think there is someone who could bring a helpful perspective, toolset, or experience to the board, we want to hear from you! You can your nomination to us via email at contact@kcatheists.org. The positions for which someone can be nominated are:

  • President
  • Vice President
  • Treasurer
  • Secretary

If you are nominating someone other than yourself, please send contact information for the individual you are nominating so that we can reach out them and confirm they wish to accept the nomination.

You do not have to be a dues-paying member to submit a nomination or be nominated. Nominations will be accepted through end of day on October 6, 2018.

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Facebook Events Will Hide Guest List

In an effort to help protect our community members from being outed to others, we are taking advantage of Facebook’s ability to hide the guest list on events. This means that, if you RSVP to one of our events on Facebook, friends, family, and the general public will not be able to see that you have RSVPed (admins of our Facebook page will, however, be able to see the guest list).

One caveat to bear in mind is that, from our informal testing, it would appear that, if a friend has RSVPed to one of our events and you RSVP to that same event, then they will see an event in their Facebook feed indicating that you have RSVPed to the event, so please keep this in mind – the privacy does not appear, at this time, to be 100% hidden from friends and family.

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