 By Leandro Palacios, Director of Communications
It was Lent. We were following the Passion account in the Gospel of John. Steve Thompson, from the Edmonton congregation, was our preacher. Before the sermon, and with a big smile on his face—like that of a child about to do mischief—Steve took a moment to ask: “How often do you think about the Roman Empire?” I’m sure the question surprised at least a few of those gathered for worship that day, but everyone was certainly intrigued by it. During the sermon, Steve explained that we can’t really understand “anything going on during the ministry of Jesus without understanding at least a little bit about the Roman Empire.” In the stories about Jesus that our four evangelists wrote we hear about injustice, marginalization, and suffering caused by the overarching reality of Empire. When theologians speak of Empire—without an article—we do not only refer to the Roman Empire. Rather, Empire refers to systems of power that normalize economic inequality and sustain a status quo in which large segments of the population are marginalized and oppressed. The ministry of Jesus was a direct challenge to Empire 2,000 years ago. And although Empire may not look the same after all these years, it is still a reality in our lives today. This question inspired Apostle Shannon McAdam to talk about Empire during her Easter sermon a few weeks later. What do Holy Week and Easter have to do with Empire? Below is an excerpt from her sermon exploring John 20:1–18, which is the World Church’s suggested lectionary scripture for this Sunday, April 5, 2026. Shannon begins by addressing Steve’s question, “How often do you think about the Roman Empire?” For me, I’d say it is at least weekly. It is Empire that was oppressing the average person in Jesus’ time, Empire that was doing its best to corrupt the Jewish leaders, Empire that was reshaping industry and changing the job market. Sound familiar? It was Empire that crucified Jesus. In the gospels Jesus speaks about the Kingdom of God. In the original Greek this is “Basileia tou Theou.” The word “basileia” is the same word used to refer to an empire, including the Roman Empire. As odd as it may sound to us, Jesus was talking about the “Empire of God”; he was preaching and teaching about a reality in direct opposition to that of the Roman Empire—an upside-down empire in opposition to Empire. Shannon adds: In God’s empire, the last are first, the weak are strong, the Christ kneels and washes the feet of the disciples, and a woman is the first witness of the resurrection. Jesus wanted his followers to “Come and See” that a different kind of empire was possible. And because Jesus was killed by Empire, the resurrection itself is God’s unequivocal “NO” to Empire and the Empire’s forces of death and destruction. The resurrection is God saying “Come and see” that death and empire will not have the final word. Those we hear say “Jesus is Lord” are also saying “the Emperor is not Lord.” The Mary who proclaims “I have seen the Lord” is also saying “but not the Empire’s Lord.” So what could it mean for us, today, to say “I have seen the Lord”? And, radically, what could it mean for us today to say “Come and see”? Can we proclaim that we have been amazed by seeing the risen Christ in a stranger? Can we invite others into God’s empire of love and inclusion by saying “Come and See.”? As we prepare to celebrate the Resurrection this Sunday, I invite you to take a moment each day to meditatively walk the path of the cross with Jesus as told in the Gospel of John, chapters 18 and 19. If you are a fan of classical music, you might enjoy listening to a performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s St John Passion, which closely follows this scripture. Notice how Empire is present, promoting division, discord, and competition—even among the disciples. And notice how, in every action and in every word, Jesus challenges this Empire. What is the meaning of the Resurrection for us today? The Risen Christ stands in opposition to all unjust systems in our world. It is not only a response to Empire, but a declaration that it will not have the final word, and that—as Shannon says—a different kind of empire is possible.
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 By John Hamer, Director of Outreach and Innovative Mission
In the final sessions of the 2025 World Conference, Community of Christ President Stassi Cramm made an exciting announcement: the church would resume hosting International Peace Forums triennially, beginning October 16–19, 2026. The Community of Christ Temple is dedicated to the promotion of world peace, and the Peace Forum has been at the heart of embodying that mission. The Peace Forum is a three-day event that includes addresses, panels, discussion sessions, workshops, hands-on activities, and the presentation of the church’s International Peace Award. The world is in critical need of peace—perhaps this year more than ever. Unfortunately, policies of the United States government have made travel to Independence, Missouri, impossible for some international visitors and have left others questioning whether this is a good time to cross international borders. For this reason, the Council of Twelve Apostles asked Community of Christ in Canada to host two remote locations for the Peace Forum: one in the greater Toronto area and one in Vancouver. The Canadian remote locations will participate with activities in Independence in much the same way that Canada hosted a remote location for the 2025 World Conference. For this year’s Peace Forum, the opening address, awards ceremony, plenary, and keynote speakers will all be livestreamed, and workshops will connect Toronto and Vancouver to Independence via videoconferencing. However, the Canadian sites will not just be places where we are watching something remotely. The Toronto and Vancouver sites will each include local speakers, workshops, and hands-on events in their own right. This will be a chance to meet visionaries and activists from around the world who are unable to travel to the United States to share. It will also give Canadians who are passionate about making the world a better place the opportunity to connect, get updated on current issues, and share strategies to effectively pursue peace. In addition, we want the Peace Forum to serve as an entry point for younger people in our extended church network. Community of Christ in Canada will be inviting youth and young adults participating in the conference to form focus groups to discuss what a peace church should look like. How can we be relevant to people who care about our planet and our place in it? We will also invite seekers who are not members of the church to share in the events. Although we will not be coming together in person this year for our annual Mission Centre Conference (the business meeting will be held online so that everyone across Canada can attend), the Peace Forum will provide a similar venue for sharing fellowship. We hope you’ll choose to find that fellowship by being part of the Peace Forum right here in Canada from Friday, October 16—Sunday, October 18. Save the date and stay tuned for more details as they become available.  By John Hamer, Director of Outreach and Innovation
“Now the Green Blade Rises” is probably my favourite hymn in Community of Christ Sings (#482). Beginning its life as a 15th-century French Christmas carol (Noël Nouvelet), the tune was given new lyrics in the early 20th century by Anglican canon J. M. C. Crum, who transformed it into a celebration of Easter. The lyrics connect the sacred story of Christ’s resurrection to the annual cycle of the seasons, and to the renewal of plant life we experience each year at Easter with the coming of spring: Forth he came at Easter, like the risen grain, he that for three days in the grave had lain; raised from the dead, my living Lord is seen; Love is come again like wheat arising green. The analogy of the life cycle of plants to Christ’s resurrection goes back to the very beginning of our tradition. The Apostle Paul writes: “What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain… So it is with the resurrection of the dead... The body that is sown is perishable; it is raised imperishable… it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body” (1 Corinthians 15:36–37, 42, 44). The idea of resurrection and Easter, then, involves a complete transformation: a spiritual rebirth that follows the death of the material. In our daily lives, we easily get caught up in the material concerns of the present. The chaos of current global events alone has reduced the timeframe of the 24-hour news cycle to the perpetual, instantaneous cycle of social media on our phones. A hymn like “Now the Green Blade Rises,” and words like Paul’s, help me to step back and connect to something larger: the annual cycle of life. And once we step back to contemplate and celebrate spring, we are on the path to step further back to consider ever larger cycles, like the human generational cycle we all experience. As we live our lives within the church, we are connected to a cycle that is still larger: the life of our congregations and the church itself. Many of our congregations in Canada are more than a century old, making us heirs to something much larger than ourselves. Nevertheless, even if they are much longer than the human life cycle, congregations have life cycles of their own. As trends have shifted in North America over the past half century, most of us have been experiencing life in congregations closer to the end of their cycle than the beginning. We are hardly alone; most of Canada’s churches are experiencing significant declines in membership. Some of us have begun to wonder if younger generations will even be interested in “church” in the future. I have actively focused on this question for decades, and for the last ten years outreach and invitation have been my life’s focus. At the beginning, we resolved to operate entirely outside the box. If Canada’s next, diverse generation was uninterested in “church,” perhaps we could translate our mission and our enduring principles into forms that would better resonate. From this period of experimentation, we learned much about effective ways to invite new people into community. Along the way, we also discovered something we did not expect: many young people are, in fact, quite interested in our sacred inheritance as Christians when we approach our distinctives in ways that are authentic and open. We learned this lesson through our Tuesday night lecture ministries, which began ten years ago as an outreach experiment. We started with a wide net, sharing across a broad range of topics in history, theology, and philosophy. Over time, we discovered that the most popular topics ended up being about Christianity: Bible study, Christian history, and theological questions. Last week, our Centre Place YouTube channel crossed a milestone of over 90,000 subscribers—an unprecedented number. As that community has grown, large numbers of seekers have been drawn to the non-dogmatic, inclusive, and authentic way we express Christianity in Community of Christ. Each week, as more people become regular participants in Beyond the Walls services, a sense of identity with our sacred community grows, leading now to requests for formal membership. When we began to plant seeds a decade ago, we had no conception of the crop that would arise. The many new expressions the church will take in the future have not yet fully taken form. But as someone who cares deeply for the body—its roots, heritage, and legacy—I am heartened. We are now experiencing the first fruits of a season of renewal. Remember, then, as the hymn assures us: When our hearts are wint’ry, grieving, or in pain, your touch can call us back to life again, fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been; Love is come again like wheat arising green. |
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