About our Worship

Congregation Kol Ami holds regular and many holiday services at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church — 4501 Walnut Street (in the V between the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and the Kansas City Art Institute). We hold Shabbat services most Friday nights; one Saturday morning service is scheduled each month, sometimes at an alternate location. Specific times and places for services are included in our calendar.

What to Expect

Scheduling and programming for services are managed by our Worship Committee. One Shabbat a month, we give Rabbi Doug the night off and have a service led by members of the congregation. In prior consultation with the rabbi, these can take diverse forms, sometimes being built around poetry, music, readings or meditation.

If you’d like to volunteer to lead a service or serve on the Worship Committee, please contact our board members at office@kolamikc.org.

Oneg Shabbat

Oneg Shabbat provides an opportunity for our congregation to socialize and to share in the blessings of Kiddush and Motzi. We have Community Onegs following our Friday evening Shabbat services, in which we request attendees to bring something sweet or savory to share. People often bring a dessert or an appetizer. The Worship Committee provides the challah and grape juice.

In keeping with the spirit of Kol Ami, food items should be vegetarian, as members include those who keep kosher or are vegetarian.

You are welcome to host an Oneg for special occasions, such as a birth, baby naming, engagement, wedding, anniversary, graduation, bar/bat mitzvah, etc. If you would like to host such an event following a Shabbat service, please contact Ray Berger, worship chair, at ray.berger1@gmail.com.

The Mi Shebeirach

The Mi Shebeirach prayer provides comforting words that are recited on behalf of those who are ill. When we, our friends or our loved ones are struggling with challenges — physical, emotional or spiritual — this prayer speaks to the desire for healing. We recite or sing this prayer each Shabbat service and ask that the names of those who need to be remembered be called out as we pray.  

We also include a list in our newsletter of the congregants, friends and family members we wish to keep in our thoughts when we recite the Mi Shebeirach. To add a person to this Mi Shebeirach list, send an email to healing@kolamikc.org. Names that are submitted will be included in the newsletter for one month. For long-term inclusion on the newsletter list, please submit emails monthly. 

May we all be blessed with a healing of body and spirit during this difficult time.