 This past Sunday, May 23, was celebrated as Pentecost in the Christian calendar. You may know that Pentecost, as a Christian event, originates with the story in Acts 2 of the gift of the Holy Spirit to Christ’s followers in the form of wind and of fire and of speaking in tongues (people speaking in foreign languages but being understood by all those around them). The event gains further emphasis from the sermon of the apostle Peter addressed to the large crowd that had gathered, apparently numbering in the thousands, following which about 3,000 persons believed what they heard and were reportedly baptized. This mass conversion is sometimes recognized as the actual beginning of the Christian Church. As both an event and a word, “Pentecost” has some fascinating history behind it. Much of it that is directly related to its Christian significance is easily found from many sources. For example, the word “Pentecost” literally means “fifty” or “fifty days.” It marks fifty days since Easter. (Actually, it is seven weeks since Easter, so technically only 49 days – but that may be quibbling.) I found an article titled, What is Pentecost and Where Did it Come From? that explains the Jewish heritage of the day in a clear and concise a manner. I encourage you to read the article. Among other interesting facts is that, although it was also known as “Pentecost” in the Jewish tradition, it also had an alternate name of the Festival of Weeks: seven weeks of seven days (a “week of weeks”) since the feast of the Passover. As you will recall, it was the celebration of Passover that had brought people into Jerusalem in the week before Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. The Festival of Weeks had brought people into Jerusalem from many nations of the known world – thus the opportunity for the miracle or gift of “speaking in tongues” that was a manifestation of the Holy Spirit for Christ’s followers. On Sunday, the Beyond the Walls online service from the Toronto congregation took on a very interesting challenge to mark Pentecost. The planners set out to have 50 languages spoken during the service, taking that cue from Pentecost’s meaning of “fifty” as well as the cacophony of languages reported in Acts 2. They fell slightly short with “only” about 40 languages represented in the service. It was still quite remarkable. A person speaking each language read a portion of scripture related to Christ’s ministry. The screen showed the language – often in its own script rather than the Arabic-based script of English writing – as the person read the few verses of scripture, along with its translation into English, French, and Spanish. If you have not seen the service, it can be found here: Testify in 50 Languages. The story of Pentecost in Acts 2 is a representation of the impact of faith in the public square. Peter had to assure those watching that the people speaking in strange languages were not drunk. (It was apparently too early in the morning for that!) Then, having defended the language (and sobriety) of his friends, Peter preached the good news of Jesus Christ to the assembled crowd and, according to the record, convinced a good portion of these unbelievers to believe and to respond by being baptized. The lesson for us is to not be ashamed when some element of our faith becomes visible to those around us, and that to then confidently share what that faith is all about may have more positive influence on those people than we might expect. It is a call to courageously share our faith more often. As always, I pray for you God’s blessings of joy, hope, love, and peace in these challenging times. Steve Thompson Canada West Mission Centre President [email protected]
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A Moment with the Mission Centre President–All Voices Canada and Samish Fundraiser Concert5/19/2021  The first event of the “All Voices Canada” conference occurred on Saturday, May 15. It brought together over 140 people from across Canada to share with each other what Community of Christ means to them. We heard recorded “testimonies” from seven people in response to two questions:
Then everyone was invited to discuss their own responses in break-out sessions of smaller numbers of participants. These sessions enabled people from Canada East and Canada West mission centres to gain understanding and appreciation of what the church means to each of them from all areas of the country. The next day, on Sunday morning, the Beyond the Walls online church service, originating from the Toronto congregation, provided the opportunity for seven more testimonies to be shared. A recording of this service is available here: Beyond the Walls May 16. You may note a majority of voices from Canada West in this service. The reverse was the situation for the Saturday conference. A recording of the Saturday conference is not available. About 40 testimonies have been received in writing and many of them have been recorded. You can watch for those recorded testimonies (including those shared at the Saturday conference and the Sunday service) to be posted to the website: www.AllVoices.ca. As of today (May 18) the recordings have not yet been posted. However, if you scroll down to the “Testimony Tapestry” area of that page, you will find the invitation for you to write your own contribution and forward it to Apostle Art Smith. I invite and urge you to take advantage of this opportunity to include your story in this growing “Testimony Tapestry.” A second major online event also occurred on Saturday. This was a fundraiser organized to benefit the Samish Island Campground as it makes its way through a second year of hosting no church or community events and therefore realizing no rental income. The event featured sharing by people with long histories with Samish and what the campground has meant to them. This included church members as well as representatives of organizations who have rented the grounds for their events for many years. The sharing of these individuals was interspersed with professional musical entertainment from church members and from other artists who responded to the invitations of friends to perform for the benefit of the Samish Campground. The stated goal of the event was to raise $30,000 for the campground. The two co-hosts for the event (Alexis Beer from Canada West Mission Centre and Sean Langdon from Greater Pacific Northwest Mission Center) did a marvelous and entertaining job. Besides enthusiastically introducing the program participants and musicians, they regularly reminded all viewers/listeners of the purpose of the event and provided invitations to donate and instructions on how to donate – plus tactful and entertaining requests to donate MORE! By the end of the evening, they announced that the total raised had exceeded $50,000! Congratulations to everyone involved in this very successful event! There are too many individuals to name here. By categories they include the organizers and planners who did their work for the last few months, Alexis and Sean for their skillful hosting work, the people who provided the supportive testimonies of what Samish means to them, the behind-the-scenes people who made sure the program and videos all ran on schedule and that donation updates could be provided throughout the evening, all the artists who contributed so generously of their musical talents, and, finally, all of those who generously financially supported this event. Thank you to all! Both of these events are examples of “community in action.” All Voices Canada brought members and friends of Community of Christ together to discuss what is important to them about the church in Canada. The Samish Campground fundraiser brought together a diverse set of people from western Canada (mainly BC) and the U.S. Northwest – all friends of the campground regardless of their connection to the church – who recognize the importance of a place of spiritual and social significance to them and to so many others. Well done, everybody! Well done! As always, I pray for you God’s blessings of joy, hope, love, and peace in these challenging times. Steve Thompson Canada West Mission Centre President [email protected] By Apostle Art Smith |
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