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by Apostle Art Smith  At our recent mission centre conference I announced that we’re planning to move to a “volunteer mission centre president team” leadership model in the near future for Canada East Mission.
Much of the USA church moved to a volunteer leadership model for mission centres a few years ago. At that time declining world church budgets led to the withdrawal of funding for mission centre presidents and financial officers in the worldwide mission budget. We didn’t immediately make that transition in Canada. Initially, in both Canada East and Canada West, we began funding our mission centre presidents out of our mission centre budgets. But our income was not sufficient to sustain this long term. In Canada West, we spent down a significant percentage of our reserves trying to maintain the fulltime paid mission centre president as long as we could. In Canada East, we recognized that much of Kerry’s leadership was focused on the innovative revitalization project funded in partnership with the Shaw Family Foundation. So we were able to fund a significant part of Kerry’s position from the project budget. Meanwhile, in other places, we’ve seen how positive and effective volunteer leadership teams have been for mission centres. Our volunteer mission centre president teams have brought fresh vision and a grassroots energy. The new team in Canada West Mission officially assumes responsibility for their mission centre on November 1st and I’m very excited for how that is going already. Here in Canada East, conversations with Kerry have led us to realize that it is time to focus his position on planting new expressions of the church. I’ll have more to announce about his new role soon. Based on our current income projections, hiring a new fulltime mission centre president would lead to the same depletion of reserves that we experienced in Canada West. In addition, as we have embarked together on our All Voices: Discerning Across Canada journey, we have sought to be entirely open to where the Spirit leads. The All Voices process will ultimately result in a new strategic plan for Community of Christ in Canada. But the details of that plan are not preconceived. Committing to a new fulltime hire in this moment would limit our flexibility and our potential for creative innovation. We will still have staff support. The Canadian church office will continue to operate with the excellent support that they provide. Melissa Freer will provide support to the new team and will keep working on camping support. The communications team will continue keeping us informed and sharing about our mission with the world. The projects supported in partnership with the Shaw Family Foundation will continue, including Troy’s work on Creating Connection and David Lloyd’s work on leadership development. Next week, I plan to share with you the position description for the Canada East Mission Centre President Team. We’ll be looking to identify a team of three to five leaders from around the mission centre to serve on a volunteer, part time basis, alongside our staff, to bring leadership to our mission centre. You are invited to prayerfully consider this opportunity. Do you feel a nudge of the Holy Spirit to get involved as a team member? Is there someone you might encourage to consider taking this on for a time? The new MCP Team will not only bring important leadership to the mission centre in this pivotal moment, but will work with me and the entire Canada leadership as we continue our discernment journey towards a new strategic plan for Canada. Community of Christ in Canada has so much to offer to the world. Wonderful things are emerging. It’s an exciting time to get involved.
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 This is my last weekly message as the Canada West Mission Centre President. (My apologies that it is a bit long!)
On November 1 the new Mission Centre President Team will assume their responsibilities – and among those responsibilities will be this column for next week and for each week thereafter. Watch for it! The focus of this column is to express to all readers how much I have enjoyed being your mission centre president since July 2014. It has been a wonderful seven years for me with many blessings of God’s spirit to assist me. This ministry has given me many fulfilling opportunities to interact with members from across the mission centre. I have worked with and supported Pastors, Financial Officers, and other leaders from all our congregations from Winnipeg to Victoria. Let me affirm the welcoming and accepting congregations that comprise the Canada West Mission Centre. It has been a privilege to meet with members in all congregations multiple times over the years. Similarly, the chance to enjoy the fellowship of our annual reunions and family camps at Hills of Peace and Samish Campgrounds have been true highlights. Let me also affirm the beauty of God’s creation exhibited in the Canadian landscape from the prairies to the mountains to the ocean coast. I need to express my sincere appreciation to the staff of the Canada West Mission Centre for their work and accomplishments over the years, for their true professionalism, and for their enthusiasm for the mission of Community of Christ. If it were not for the work of Lisa Neudorf, Debra Donohue, and Sandra Rodriguez, we would not enjoy the quality of programming, communications, and creative expressions of the church that we might take for granted. If not for Sam Smalldon as mission centre financial officer our finances might not be in good order, and they would not be in the strong position they are now. If not for the work of Linda Klughart as our recorder and inputting contribution data, our membership rolls would not be up to date and our tax receipts would not arrive on time. I also want to acknowledge our now-retired mission historian, Anita Bates, who promoted the significance of maintaining congregational and mission histories each year and developed a truly positive impression for the mission centre in the eyes of the World Church Archivist and Librarian. Let me also acknowledge the significant role of Parker Johnson for his five years of service to the mission centre and the Calgary congregation in so many different ways. The support from our Apostle, Art Smith, and the Bishop of Canada, Dar Shepherdson, has been fully appreciated and accepted in more ways than can be adequately stated. And thanks to John Glaser, our President of Seventy, for his enthusiastic support and encouragement. My thanks to the members of the Mission Centre Advisory Council for serving in that role (Carl Bolger, Shannon McAdam, Caitlyn D’Esterre, Denise Esch, Corleen McLean, and Stan Freer). I am only sorry that I did not use their skills more frequently. That is my loss. There are many other volunteers who I cannot adequately recognize here who contribute their time, expertise, and enthusiasm as event directors and staff to ensure that camps, retreats, and reunions are planned and operate effectively and safely. Others work in congregations doing work that is somewhat invisible, even to the rest of their members, that keep buildings operating, ensure worship and other programs happen, and undertake communications methods to keep members informed about what is happening from week to week and month to month. The same appreciation must be expressed to our campground board members and staff who ensure that those facilities are available for our use and enjoyment. My prayer for the Canada West Mission Centre is multi-faceted. I pray that congregations can find ways to strengthen themselves, to be of true service to their surrounding communities, and to avoid further decline in membership or participation. I pray that the next seven years will show growth in the church in western Canada. I pray that we can find relevancy in the lives of young adults and young families and enjoy the vibrancy that they can bring to congregations and camps and reunions. I pray that the lessons learned during the pandemic of the usefulness of technology in our congregational and mission centre operations will be reinforced and continue to be implemented. Mostly I pray that each of you will find meaningful ways to support your new Mission Centre President Team: Shannon McAdam, Kat Goheen, and Gwyn Beer. They have taken on the role in a truly experimental manner: trying to divide the MCP role between them as volunteers while carrying on other commitments to their employers, families and home congregations at the same time. Please watch for ways to support these energetic and creative people as they begin to lead the Canada West Mission Centre in new and exciting ways. My friends, with the strength and assistance of God’s Holy Spirit, it has been my pleasure and my privilege to serve with you in pursuit of the mission of Jesus Christ. I look forward to continuing my relationship with many of you in the years to come. I may be retiring as Mission Centre President, but I am not going away! 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 (Retired) [email protected]  Last week I discussed the importance of symbols in our lives. Here is a potent symbol in Community of Christ: Zion.
In our “Virtual Visiting Fellowship” groups this week we have discussed Zion, with a focus on four hymns from Community of Christ Sings. These included (with selected lines): #386, “The Cause of Zion Summons Us,” by Geoffrey Spencer “The cause of Zion prophecies the future yet to be, When men and women everywhere shall walk in dignity. We now anticipate the day when pain and tears shall cease, When humankind shall live as one in righteousness and peace.” #622, “Send Forth Your Light, O Zion,” by Roy A. Cheville “Send forth your life, O Zion! Not for yourself alone Have come life-giving powers by which the soul has grown. Your promise builds a people well-skilled in mind and hand. Your life is like a leaven of hope in every land.” We also looked at these two hymns: #381, “Come Now, Sound the Call of Zion,” written by Eric Selden #390, “Onward to Zion,” by Frederick M. Smith Other hymns with Zionic themes were referenced by members of the groups. The idea of Zion has been a beacon and a guiding light through most of the church’s existence. Joseph Smith, Jr., first identified Zion as a city in the prophet Enoch’s time in section 36 of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. It was described as the “city of holiness” and was said to have been taken up into heaven in its entirety. Thus, it became a goal to recreate Zion on earth. What has been your experience with the notion of Zion? Is this actually a new term for you? Or might you have family members who “gathered to Zion” (i.e., Independence, Missouri – the “Centre Place of Zion”) at some point in the past? Perhaps you are old enough to remember the rare references to Zion in the 1980s and 1990s. (No particular reason for that – it just seemed to happen.) Perhaps you have been pleased to see a somewhat renewed emphasis on Zion as a concept and goal, but something that represents community wherever it can be established, not a limited location. Room does not permit a greater discussion of Zion. Let me just encourage you to consider what it might mean to you. There are many resources published by the church – some current, some rather old and historic. Let me know if you would like to be pointed in the direction of anything specific. I will close with these two comparatively recent references to Zion from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. This compelling and motivational verse is often missed as it is the closing verse of section 156, which authorized both the ordination of women and the planning for construction of the Temple: Dear Saints, have courage for the task which is yours in bringing to pass the cause of Zion. Prepare yourselves through much study and earnest prayer. Then, as you go forth to witness of my love and my concern for all persons, you will know the joy which comes from devoting yourselves completely to the work of the kingdom. To this end will my Spirit be with you. Amen. Section 156:11:a,b; given through Wallace B. Smith, President of the Church Independence, Missouri, April 3, 1984 And this verse is possibly responsible for the “rebirth” of the concept of Zion as a prominent feature in Community of Christ: Heed the urgent call to become a global family united in the name of the Christ, committed in love to one another, seeking the kingdom for which you yearn and to which you have always been summoned. That kingdom shall be a peaceable one and it shall be known as Zion. Section 161:6b; given through President W. Grant McMurray, April 2000. It is my prayer that our movement may always look towards developing the “spiritual conditions” (see D.&C. section 140:5c) that will bring the ideals of Zion closer. 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]  Symbols are amazing things in our society. Words can be symbols. Pictures can be symbols. Corporate logos are symbols. Names of people – famous or infamous, successful or not-so-much – can be symbols. Even geographic names can be symbols that evoke some imagery in our mind. Religion is full of symbols. I have not yet named any examples and yet I am sure that you have been thinking of examples in your own mind of each one of these categories. As you have thought of those symbols, what related thoughts have come to mind? What emotions have you felt? What memories have come back to you? That is the entire point of symbols: they mean much more than what appears on paper (or on our TV or computer screens or on signs along our streets and highways or on products in our homes).
Earlier today I accepted a phone call from a person conducting a survey. He would not tell me for whom the survey was being done. I suspect it was for either a political party or a media organization. The questions were all about issues and politicians in Alberta. I was surprised at how emotionally charged I felt by the end of the 8-minute interview. The questions were framed as neutral. But the images that the terms evoked in my mind brought on more strong feelings than such questionnaires usually do. Immediately after the survey I was listening to a program on CBC radio. It included an interview with an Indigenous artist who had been commissioned by her city to design an art installation to take the place of a now-removed statue of a prominent Canadian politician with historic connections to the design of Indian Residential Schools. I was struck by the depth of negative emotion that the artist had felt in the presence of the statue – for her it was a symbol of oppression and racism. I was further struck by the assumption by the city that an indigenous art installation would be received more positively by the community at large – as a symbol of reconciliation and cultural understanding. I hope and believe that the city is right. It is likely that the artist’s work will be recognized and positively celebrated for much longer than the politician’s statue existed in that space. What symbols are truly important to you? Which ones evoke positive emotions, perhaps happiness or commitment? Which ones evoke negative emotions, perhaps anger or shame? I am going to name and briefly discuss two potent symbols. I need to clearly acknowledge that these symbols will mean different things to different people – as symbols often do. Please consider your own emotions and beliefs that are either sustained or challenged by these symbols. The cross. What image is first evoked by that word? Do you see Jesus nailed to an imperial symbol of punishment, torture, and death? Do you see a crucifix intended to symbolize Christ’s death as atonement for the sins of all humans? Do you see an empty cross intended to symbolize the risen Christ as the promise and potential of eternal life for all humans? Do you, perhaps, see another one of many representations of the cross that has been used through the centuries to symbolize things we still consider good and honourable or things we have come to regard as evil and regrettable? If you are a “church member of a certain age,” do you remember debates about including a cross in a sanctuary or on the exterior of a new church building? The Community of Christ logo of the lamb laying down with the lion with a child standing comfortably with them. What thoughts or feelings does that image bring to you? Does it realistically symbolize peace for you? Do you connect it to prophetic scripture from the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament? Do you have memories related to our “church seal?” Do you have any negative associations with this image? I have asked many questions in these few paragraphs. There are no right or wrong answers to any of them. They are simply your answers. In another set of circumstances, the questions and answers would lead to some very interesting discussion. If you feel inclined, please respond to me at my email address which you can find below. Meanwhile, I simply encourage your awareness of the symbols that surround us in our 21st century lives. Understand why you recognize them. Understand your responses to them. 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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