The Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council is honoring an individual and an organization that have made major contributions to Kansas City’s interfaith community.
Denise Ellen Tebbenkamp Hill, the individual honoree, will receive The Steve Jeffers Leadership Service Award. The Calvary Community Outreach Network, the institutional honoree, will receive the Table of Faiths Award.
The awards will be presented tonight, Sept. 23, during the 15th annual Table of Faiths, which has the theme, “From the Front Lines: Spirituality in Times of Crisis.” The Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council hosts the annual to celebrate diversity and inclusion.
Denise Hill, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and a member of Spiritual Directors international, retired last fall from serving as trainer of chaplains, certified by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education Certified Educator, working in Kansas City’s St. Luke’s Health System. Prior to that she was a hospice chaplain and an associate conference minister in Missouri.
The nomination letter for Denise noted that she has taught chaplains how to be spiritual touchstones to people of all faiths or no faith. “Denise has devoted her life to knowing people where they are, as they are and as they believe,” the nomination said. “One of her students went on to be the first ordained chaplain at Crittenton’s Children’s Center in KC who dedicated a chapel there to honor all faiths of struggling youth.”
Receiving the Table of Faiths Award is the Calvary Community Outreach Network. CCON serves individuals and families that reside in Kansas City’s urban core who lack access to safe, affordable fitness opportunities. It encourages the practice of healthy lifestyles and access to accurate information. CCON works to eliminate disparities and enhance dignity while improving the length and quality of life of urban core residents through ongoing innovative education, empowerment, and partnerships. CCON promotes wellness through youth development, health and wellness, and HIV/AIDS.
“Throughout the COVID pandemic, CCON utilized and increased its network to help residents of the inner core of Kansas City receive the services and information they needed to be safe and healthy,” the organization’s nomination letter said. .
Table of Faiths Honors Workers on the COVID Frontlines
This year’s Table of Faiths, a virtual event on Thursday, September 23, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.,
honors chaplains, health care workers, first responders and the many others in our community who have played such a critical role in our lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The program will feature a combination of live streaming and pre-recorded videos, in which faith communities share their experiences for how spirituality helped them meet the challenges in their lives — a virtual pilgrimage of sorts.
Registration and sponsorship information is on the Council’s website: kcinterfaith.org/2021-table-of-faiths/ Proceeds from ticket sales and sponsorships fund the Council’s educational programs that are designed to break down cultural barriers among religious traditions.
“Interfaith cooperation is the key to transforming this religiously diverse society into a more just, kind, and pluralistic nation, and world,” said GKCIC chair Cindy McDavitt. “It’s why we are so passionate about the work we do, and why we are inviting you to support us financially through your sponsorship.”
Silent Auction
Another feature of this year’s Table of Faiths will be a virtual silent auction. Auction items include: Chiefs memorabilia, jewelry and personal items, art works, books, restaurant gift cards and certificates for personal services. To view items and enter bids, visit: https://gkcic.betterworld.org/auctions/2021-table-faiths.
Past Award Winners
| Year | Steve Jeffers Leadership Service Award | Table of Faiths Award |
| 2005 | Rev Dr Vern Barnet | |
| 2006 | Donald and Adele Hall | Ed Chasteen |
| 2007 | The Hon. Alvin Brooks | The Kansas City Star |
| 2008 | Dr. Robert Hill | Shawnee Mission Medical Center |
| 2009 | Ahmed El-Sherif | All Souls Unitarian Universalist |
| 2010 | Queen Mother Maxine McFarlane | Notre Dame de Sion |
| 2011 | Donna Ziegenhorn | Kansas City Public Library System |
| 2012 | Mayor Sly James | Unity Church of Overland Park |
| 2014 | Bambi Shen | Lisa Barth Interfaith Chapel @Children’s Mercy Hospital |
| 2015 | Rev. Dr. Wallace Hartsfield, Sr. | The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art |
| 2016 | Shakil Haider | Blue Valley School District |
| 2017 | Dr. Sofia Khan | Dialogue Institute of the Southwest – Kansas City |
| 2018 | Mindy & Malinda Corporon | Jewish Vocational Services |
| 2019 | Bill Tammeus | Crescent Peace |