Welcome to Congregation Kol Ami!
We are a small, nonaffiliated, progressive, warm, eclectic, and LGBTQ-friendly synagogue located in Kansas City's urban core. Kol Ami aims to become a hub for Jewish activity in the city’s center. We focus on music, lively discussion and social justice, and we welcome people of all levels of Jewish observance and experience. Interfaith families, singles and searchers find Kol Ami a safe and welcoming place to explore their Jewish journeys.
Mission
Kol Ami is an inclusive kehilah (community) that offers vibrant worship and modern Jewish experiences in and for the urban core.
About Our Services
After restrictions on physical gatherings are lifted post-COVID-19, we look forward to once again holding services and events in the modern Bragg Sanctuary at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church in midtown Kansas City, across from the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and the Kansas City Art Institute.
Our worship is informal, warm and open to everyone regardless of where you happen to be on your Jewish journey. We use the Mishkan T’filah for Travelers, the new prayer book from the Reform Movement, but we’re open to new voices in the Jewish world and regularly draw from other sources. Music is a focal point of our worship … we like to sing! Our music director, Lara Steinel, leads a diverse ensemble of musicians. Rabbi Alpert weaves discussion into each service, explaining the intent and varying interpretations of prayers, texts and rituals. A brief period of meditation is usually included, along with the opportunity to greet visitors and each other. We also offer a healing blessing, the Mi Shebeirach, for those who are ill in our community.
Periodically, Kol Ami invites a speaker to participate and briefly address the congregation on a topic relevant to our vision and mission.
At the conclusion of our Friday-night services, we gather around the table for Oneg Shabbat, which to some means “the sweetness of the Sabbath.” To others, it means “munchies and conversation.” However you interpret it, it’s better when we share it with you.
Our Prayer Book
While we convene on Zoom, the Kol Ami worship siddur Mishkan T'filah for Travelers is available on Kindle through Amazon for $4.99 or at ccarpress.org for purchase. The CCAR Press phone number is 212-972-3636, ext. 241. When we are back together at All Souls, copies will be available.
Kol Ami Shabbat Speaker Series
Kol Ami Shabbat services include a monthly guest speaker, with both guest speakers and congregation members discussing issues of importance to our community.
In 2019, the programs included such topics as “Economic Development in the Troost Corridor,” “White Supremacy and Hate,” “Challenges of Immigrants Today — Both Successes and Challenges,” “Jewish Market Research,” “Early Childhood Education,” “Community Gardening,” “Animal Welfare” and “The Rise of Anti-Semitism in America.” In 2020, we have continued the program with a virtual tour of “The History of Jews in Portugal,” and in May, on Zoom, “Holocaust Education.”
Our Upcoming Events