Reverend Scott, as he preferred to be called, became pastor of the church in November of 1994. The worship services he designed and preached each week were graced by choral and solo music which complimented the scripture passages for the day, enhanced by his collaboration with the music staff. In 2005, he won the coveted Lily Endowment Sabbatical grant to study arts and spirituality, which allowed him to refine his unique style of using visual images to enhance his services.
Besides all these projects, Rev. Scott provided pastoral care for shut-ins, led Bible Study groups and Sunday School classes, and created an authentic Seder which welcomed community participation. He and Marian Thomas created a booklet to encourage the spiritual growth and practice of church members and collaborated on creating powerpoint presentations highlighting different cultures, eras, and countries.
He was also skillful at working with church administrative assistants, custodians, and members of Session who oversaw activities that were part of the church’s mission: Mission and Outreach, Stewardship & Finance, Building and Ground, Christian Education, and Worship.
He continued the church’s active role in the Westport community, launching new programs including a computer center for kids, an investment club, a youth chess club, and a peacemaking program for elementary students. Rev. Scott strongly supported community efforts to force a nearby nightclub which kept on breaking city ordinances to close and worked with police to improve security in the area around the church.
While he spearheaded many renovations in the aging buildings, Rev. Scott persuaded Westport Cooperative Services to move their offices to the church, and the church’s kitchen began preparing meals for the Meals on Wheels program.
In 2006, he encouraged the formation of the non-profit Westport Center for the Arts (WCA), focused on using the arts to create community. WCA built upon a noontime concert series he had encouraged church organist Marian Thomas to create, offering free musical programs to the community and the children of the Willow Woods Child Development Center. Over the years, WCA has also provided arts programs for children, visual arts shows, staged readings and performances of local theatrical productions, and more recently “dancing word,” a combination of dance and poetry. It continues to grow and flourish.
Disaster struck the church on Dec. 29, 2011 when a fire destroyed all upstairs offices and contents of the church. Since its founding in 1835, the church had risen from the ashes of three different fires. Rev. Scott with the help of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, good insurance coverage and an experienced lawyer, along with a fine architect, construction company, acoustician and organ builder, keep up the spirits of the congregation as the church was again rebuilt. Many community organizations and churches offered space and assistance during the four-and-one-half years it took, and in 2016 the congregation and community returned to 201 Westport Road with great rejoicing!
The fire caused what he called an outburst of creative activity in Rev. Scott, and he began writing plays. Over the next seven years, he wrote ten of them, some of which were given staged readings and some were given full productions with local actors and actresses. Of “JFK: A Ghostly Evening,” The Kansas City Star critic, Robert Trussell wrote, “The show is buoyed by serious intent and a provocative view of history. Too many playwrights have only theater as a frame of reference. Myers comes at the art form from the real world.”
The Covid 19 pandemic beginning in March 2020 provided new challenges for the church and congregation, but the services were live-streamed, Emily Davidson and the four paid soloists provided beautiful music without a break, and a new ministry blossomed. Under Rev. Scott’s leadership, Sunday morning showers, clean clothes, and a bountiful breakfast began to be provided for a growing number of unhoused members of the community. During the week, church members prepare sack lunches for those in need.
In his twenties, Scott Myers had been an activist and community organizer against social injustices and ignorance, and that passion never disappeared. In 2023 he, along with Stan Morgan and a few others, organized #goodtroubleKC, aiming to get the Kansas City Police Department to engage in ongoing dialogue on police reform. In the week before his death, Rev. Scott led other members of that group in a silent protest at the monthly Board of Police Commissioners meeting at Police Headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. He was also a founding member and generous participant in a coalition called Steptoe Lives, focused on commemorating the former African American Penn School and nearby community.
Myers died in 2023.