Black Lives Matter
Indigenous Lives Matter Lives of People of Colour Matter I will get back to the “We Share” series next week. There are more pressing issues today. That “Black Lives Matter” part of my banner above unfortunately needs to be highlighted again. I am sure I do not need to repeat much of the news of the last couple of days. Jacob Blake has been shot in the back by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He has survived but may be paralyzed from the waist down. More demonstrations have been held in response. More violence arising from the demonstrations. As a society we need to support and demand good policing. As a society we need to express the need for change when Black people continue to be subject to violence at the hands of police when other options appear to be available. The high-profile incidents seem to occur mostly in the United States. But as we have seen in the Canadian response to these incidents, Black Canadians, Indigenous persons, and people of colour in Canada have very similar and disturbing personal experiences to share. We all must increase our knowledge and awareness of such experiences and do what we can to create a safe society for all of its members. From that rather serious societal issue, I need to move to the much more mundane business of the Canada West Mission Centre. Our annual mission conference will be held online this year. It will consist of a series of events beginning on Thursday evening, September 10, and concluding with a final meeting on Wednesday evening, September 16. A “brief” version of the schedule was released a couple of weeks ago. A more detailed version of the schedule is to be published with this edition of the Weekly Wire. The entire conference brochure will be published electronically this weekend. Please look for that schedule now and watch for the brochure in a few days. It is expected that the different events will appeal to different people across the mission centre. If you are a delegate, or just personally interested in the business of the mission centre, you will need to be a part of the Pre-Legislative Session and the full Business Meeting on Saturday morning and afternoon. If you are interested in knowing more about what “Creating Connection” is all about in Canada West, there will be sessions on Thursday evening and Sunday afternoon that you will not want to miss. On Friday evening there will be a presentation and discussion of current and expected changes in the church as raised in a recent article by President Veazey called, “Metamorphosis.” You will have a chance to get to know our guest minister, Joey Williams, in a session on Saturday evening, and then when he offers ministry as our speaker for our mission-centre-wide worship service on Sunday morning. Finally, members in Alberta and Saskatchewan will want to be a part of the Hills of Peace Campground Association “All-Members Annual General Meeting” on Wednesday evening. And that is your snapshot of this year’s conference. Watch for information about logon information in the week that events get underway. I pray for you God’s blessings of understanding, hope, and peace in these challenging times. Steve Thompson Canada West Mission Centre President [email protected]
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Black Lives Matter
Indigenous Lives Matter Lives of People of Colour Matter This is the second in the series about Sharing in Community of Christ: Exploring Identity, Mission, Message and Beliefs. For background see the August 12 column. “We Share… a Vision for Creation” Into any discussion or experience we all bring our own past experiences, knowledge and opinions. Have you ever noticed that? What do you interpret from the word “vision” in the title above? What do you interpret from the word “creation”? If I could hear responses from all of you who are reading this, I expect that I would hear some ideas in common, but I also expect that I would hear many different ideas as well. “Vision” to different people might mean a powerful dream-like experience in which a message from God is received; or it might mean a guiding idea or principle; or it might mean the ability to see clearly whatever is in front of us. “Creation” might conjure majestic views of mountains or oceans or other landscapes or wildlife; or it might mean the processes through which God brought the universe into being; or it might mean everything around us that is a visible part of God’s universe: land, sea, animals, insects, marine life, all manner of plants and vegetation, humanity in all of its diversity, and all the stars and planets that populate the vastness of space beyond our world. All of those perspectives (and there will undoubtedly be others) are reasonable and valid. So what does it mean to “share a Vision for Creation” in the Community of Christ context? Two significant symbols help with this explanation. First, the empty Christian cross represents the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ who, in all of those manifestations, proclaimed peace for those who followed his teachings and example and for all people in the future reign of God on earth. Second, the church’s “peace seal” represents the lion laying down with the lamb and both being led by a child as described in the book of Isaiah 11:6-9. This symbolizes the church’s faith and belief in a world in which all of creation can exist in a state and attitude of peace. Our text expresses it this way: “The purpose of the church is to form disciples who faithfully share the gospel of peace in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Sharing in…, p. 10) It is that purpose that will be reflected and restated and applied to all of the other “We Share” statements that we will consider in future weeks. May we see ourselves in our own personal, faithful, and action-oriented expression of “We share a vision for creation.” I pray for you God’s blessings of understanding, hope, and peace in these challenging times. Steve Thompson Canada West Mission Centre President [email protected] Black Lives Matter
Indigenous Lives Matter Lives of People of Colour Matter For a continuing theme for my remarks in this column I will write for the next few weeks with a brief discussion of some portion of the book, Sharing in Community of Christ: Exploring Identity, Mission, Message, and Beliefs. If you do not have your own copy of the book, you can download a PDF version from the church website here or you can order a hard copy from Herald House, the church publisher, here. Pricing is in U.S. dollars and there will be a shipping charge. I encourage congregations to order a few copies to have on hand to share with visitors who may be interested in knowing more about the church. I also suggest this is a good resource for congregations to purchase for its active member individuals and families. It is an excellent resource for personal study and for group study and discussion. As other issues of current significance arise, I will write about them and then return to this book the following week. For today, here is an introduction to what the book is about and why you might be interested in it. The book uses the phrase “We Share…” to introduce most of the sections of the book. The phrase is intended to be taken with a double meaning as explained in these quotes:
So, the phrase we share defines both what we generally hold in common and what we generously offer to the world. (We Share, p. 9) This brief book is the best current summary of the faith and beliefs of Community of Christ as a global denomination. It serves as a unifying text to provide the same statements to church members around the world. It is available in English, Spanish, and French (both the free download version and the paid hard copy). As suggested above, it can serve as a multi-week focus for discussions in Sunday school classes or for small groups in home-based situations. The book is also a short, inviting, and non-threatening text to share with those who may be curious about the church. In addition to the book there is a series of brochures available that provide the content of specific portions of the book. You can find them here. Come back over the next few weeks as we consider some highlight portions of the book. I pray for you God’s blessings of understanding, hope, and peace in these challenging times. Steve Thompson Canada West Mission Centre President [email protected] Black Lives Matter
Indigenous Lives Matter Lives of People of Colour Matter How are you doing? How is your summer going? Have you been able to “stretch” just a little beyond the COVID-19 restrictions of the past few months? Or have you continued to feel mostly restricted to your home? What has been a regular joyful thing for you: Family? Friends? Phone calls? Video calls? Reading? Netflix? The return of TV sports? What has been disappointing or even a source of sadness for you: Not getting out of the house? Family? Friends? Netflix? The return of TV sports? Illness? Loss? Sense of personal isolation? My impression is that individual experiences have been different. Some have felt that life has slowed down from its usual pace and this has been seen as a blessing and an opportunity. For others the loss of employment and income have caused new stresses to afford food and shelter and to continue supporting a family. Some, of course, have been directly affected by COVID-19 as a serious life-threatening illness. Some have “tested positive” but experienced no symptoms. The very large majority of us have not been directly affected by the virus, although most of us will likely know someone who has been directly affected. Late in the 4th chapter of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is sleeping in a boat when his disciples woke him up because they were afraid of the storm. “(Jesus) woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’” (Mark 4:39, 40 NRSV) Perhaps we are riding out a “COVID storm.” Perhaps we feel we need Jesus to “wake up” and calm it for us. It is instructive, however, to note that following his “miracle” Jesus essentially chastised his disciples for apparently being afraid and having no faith. Perhaps the lesson for us is that Jesus may or may not be sleeping through this storm along with us, but Jesus most certainly is with us. And, furthermore, given the disciples’ experience, we need to retain our faith and exercise our confidence that this storm will pass. Afterwards we will look back and recognize the places where we benefited from the blessings of God going through the storm, and we will be able to give thanks to God when we have safely come out the other side. Despite our challenges, may we look for the good and positive experiences of the last few months. And if that is in itself a challenge for us, may we look forward with hope to the passing of the storm in the future so we can once again enjoy smoother sailing. I pray for you God’s blessings of guidance, understanding, hope, and peace in these challenging times. Steve Thompson Canada West Mission Centre President [email protected] |
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