​2023 Mission Centre Conference Recap

Written by Shannon McAdam
Canada West Mission Centre Co-President

Thank you to everyone who was able to join us for this year’s mission centre conference either online or from one of our in-person sites! All four of us on the Mission Centre President team were warmly hosted by the congregations we were in: Becky in Edmonton, Kat in Calgary, Gwyn in Chilliwack, and myself, Shannon, in Regina. It was so good to see many of you “in the flesh” and to share meals and conversation.
 
Our business meeting went very smoothly and quickly! Many thanks to all those who attended our pre-legislative sessions on Sunday and Wednesday before conference to ask your great questions. Also thanks to Dar for the financial update and Q&A session provided Saturday morning. We did have some discussion as to whether we should move our mission centre conference to another time of year so we have more financial information for our decision-making.
 
A highlight of the morning was a call-to-action video from Caitlin about our camping programs. Thank you to those who have already raised their hand to say they wish to support this important ministry with their time and talents.
 
In the afternoon we heard from a few folks who had attended Community of Christ World Conference about their experiences, and also heard an update from Art Smith about the Canada Church.

The highlights of our business meeting included:

• Adding Becky to our Mission Centre President Team
• Acknowledging Linda Klughart’s service as our Mission Centre Recorder and supporting Bob Riley as our new Mission Centre Recorder.
• The appointment of Bishop David Snell from the Canada East Mission Centre to be our auditor for our 2023 financials.

We passed our 2024 budget with no amendments. You can view all the details by downloading the program in our Conference Hub website here.
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I highly recommend you take some time to review the full program as you will find not only our business meeting and financial information, but also reports from congregations, from our Mission Centre staff, and about the programs like the Seventies Project that your donations are supporting.
 
And of course we had wonderful experiences of worship and fun. Each morning an Evangelist led us in spiritual practices before starting our day. Kat hosted a rousing virtual campfire with song leaders from all over the mission centre. Chilliwack hosted our Sunday morning communion service where our Apostle Art Smith offered a stirring message.
 
We look forward to doing it all again next year!