This Saturday, January 17, we will gather to bless the framework that will guide and support our shared ministry and mission in Canada. Following a time of worship and prayer—when we will renew our commitment to discipleship as we enter a new era—we will move into the business portion of the meeting. 

​The agenda includes several items, including sustaining the Mission Centre President Team, Financial Officer, Mission Centre Council, and other appointments, along with approving the Canada-wide mission budget that unites the CEM and CWM budgets previously approved in September.

We have gathered here the most common questions and concerns raised during this week’s pre-legislative sessions. Please take a moment to review these responses as we prepare for the Canada Mission Centre Organizational Meeting.

Who can vote at this Organizational Meeting?
All members of Community of Christ in Canada who have completed registration will have voice and vote at the business meeting.

Who will preside, and why?
Because the terms of the previous mission centre presidents concluded on December 31, Apostle Shannon McAdam will preside over this organizational meeting.

Will all members vote to approve the minutes from the CEM and CWM conferences?
Yes. The minutes from the most recent Canada East and Canada West Mission Centre conferences will be considered together in a single motion. This means all members will vote to approve the minutes of both conferences. As with any item, members may choose to abstain if that feels appropriate.

How will quorum and voting work?
Standard Community of Christ conference procedures will apply. No new or special rules are being introduced.

What is the Mission Centre Council, and how were members selected?
The Mission Centre Council will support the Canadian leadership team by offering counsel, providing accountability, and helping guide the mission centre’s direction. The proposed members have been carefully selected to reflect the geographic, age, gender, and experiential diversity of Community of Christ in Canada.

Are there changes to budgets or assessments?
There are no changes to budget amounts for 2026. The Canada East and Canada West budgets, both approved in September, are being combined for administrative purposes only. Existing assessment models will remain in place for 2026. Any future changes would require broad consultation and a mission conference decision, with 2027 being the earliest possible implementation.

Will future mission centre conferences be online or in person?
All future conferences will provide the option to participate online. Congregations may also choose to host local gatherings during conferences using a remote location model. In addition, the Canadian leadership team and the Mission Centre Council will consider opportunities to gather in person when possible. We recognize the importance of maintaining the tradition of in-person Mission Centre conferences.

Join us on Saturday, January 17, 2026, beginning at 12:00 p.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. MT / 2:00 p.m. CT / 3:00 p.m. ET.

We look forward to sharing this historical moment with you as we take this crucial step onward together as one Canada Mission Centre.

The agenda, registration link, and important documents—including budgets, previous conference minutes, and information about the proposed Mission Centre Council—are available on the conference webpage.

By Leandro Palacios, Director of Communications
​
Imagine yourself in a quiet room, watching a video of a Christmas song with the words on screen. Through your earpiece, you hear the lead singer, and you simply sing along. Then imagine your voice blended together with the voices of others from across Canada, the USA, and beyond, singing together as if you all were in the same room, beautiful harmonies emerging as the voices of altos, tenors, and basses interlace with the main tune carried by the sopranos.

And imagine people around the world, literally around the world, coming together for worship, or perhaps in moments of personal reflection or spiritual need, clicking “play” and being able to listen to the gift you offered the day you simply sang to your phone in a quiet room at home, a ministry that keeps on giving week after week, and year after year. That is the ministry of the Beyond the Walls Choir.

Do you love to sing? Do you know someone who does? Are you ready to add your voice to this ministry? We invite you to give it a try.

This Christmas season, our choir invites you to participate in this ministry, singing CCS 437 – “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” and CCS 422 – “In the Bleak Midwinter”, which we will premiere on Christmas Eve.
​

• You DO NOT need to know how to read music
• You DO NOT need special recording equipment
• You DO NOT need to be a Maria Callas or a Luciano Pavarotti
• All you need is:
• Two devices, for example, a phone and a laptop, or two phones
• A quiet room at home or at work (maybe even your car, but not when you’re driving!)
• Time to practice a few times before you record

Please find the step-by-step instructions to get you started by clicking on the buttons below. Our team is happy to help you with any questions about the music and to figure out any technical obstacles.

We are looking forward to singing together with you!

Giving Tuesday 2025 was a success. Together, 761 donors from Canada, the USA, the UK, and Europe raised $858,738 USD, including a $375,000 USD matching fund. In Canada alone, 101 donors contributed $54,280 CAD.

This remarkable display of generosity from members and friends across Canada shows the whole world that here in Canada we are committed to moving onward together as a worldwide church dedicated to promoting joy, hope, love, and peace, and to sharing Christ’s mission globally.

We are deeply moved by your incredible generosity. Thank you for sharing hope and compassion this season and for continuing to imagine a world shaped by generosity and peace!

Visit our Giving Tuesday page to learn more about this year’s theme and how your gift makes a difference.

Apostles Shannon McAdam and Lachlan Mackay share their Advent and Christmas greetings in this short video, reflecting on the many people they connected with this year and looking toward the year ahead with gratitude. They also offer a special blessing for the season.

Last Saturday, November 22, more than 30 members from across Canada participated in our first Communications Town Hall—including eight from the Chilliwack congregation. This was an opportunity to meet face to face with the members of the Communications Team and learn more about what we do and what our priorities are for 2026. We also had a chance to hear questions and insights from attendees across the country, helping us better understand how our team can support ministries and programs at the local level as we move onward together.

In this article, we share key takeaways from this event, including highlights from the presentation and answers to some of the questions we heard from attendees from across Canada.

Who We Are

The Communications Team is currently composed of Jeanny Jakobsen from Saskatoon, SK, serving as Operations Specialist; Quinlan Stevenson from Stratford, ON, serving as Communications Coordinator; and Leandro Palacios from Toronto, ON, serving as Director. We are hoping to add a Graphic Designer to the team (if you are interested, you can find more details here).

What We Do

• We work to keep members and seekers up to date with what’s happening in the church. 
• We create and distribute media resources for outreach, worship, and learning. 
• We work to strengthen public awareness of Community of Christ in the Canadian context and to invite new people to participate in our online and in-person communities and ministries.

To do that, we aim to clearly express who we are, what we do, and what we believe. This is why we uphold visual standards and communicate our identity, mission, message, and beliefs as stated in Sharing in Community of Christ, while reflecting the Canadian cultural context.

Our Priorities for 2026

Key priorities include:

• Strengthening church identity and connection across Canada: our community does not end at the physical walls of our buildings, let’s create ministries with participants from coast to coast and celebrate missions together.
• Creating digital libraries of sermons, prayers, meditations, lectures, podcasts, and music that feature Canadian ministries and voices—to complement the resources published by the World Church.
• Telling the story of Community of Christ in Canada to invite people to Christ: learning together to invite by sharing meaningful, inspiring stories.
• Strengthening communication at the congregational level by connecting with current Communications Officers and inviting others to serve in this role: 16 congregations have already appointed a Communications Officer! 

Feedback and Questions from the Town Hall

1. How do we develop and maintain relationships with local members who can no longer attend in person?

The local community is unique and we want to continue to support this type of gathering. However, connecting with those who cannot attend in person does not have to be centered around the Sunday service (by adding more cameras and microphones), but by trying something new. For example, the Scarborough congregation holds their regular in-person service some Sundays but gathers every Thursday for a fully online service. That allows people who can no longer attend in person to participate fully, and “quality” becomes less about production and more about community.

Our team is hoping to create and nurture connections with people across Canada, no matter what congregation they come from. Onward Together does not only mean that two mission centres are becoming one. It also means that to fully take advantage of the opportunities ahead of us, we must let go of thinking that our church community is only the people who used to come in person to our building. Identity based on a building has not helped us invite people to church in the last few decades. Instead, we want to promote Canada-wide communities that share common passion and vocation.

This question was related to how to run a successful hybrid service. While IT recommendations and support are not functions of the Communications Team, we remind everyone that a guideline for online and hybrid services is available on our website.

2. Can you blur faces in photos we share with the Communications Team?

No. Before sharing photos with us, you need to ask permission from anyone whose face is clearly visible.

3. What are the minimum communications channels a congregation should manage?

We heard questions like: Can someone help us update our website? Should we be on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X? How much time should we dedicate to these things?

You don’t have to be on every social media platform and you don’t need to have your own website. But of course, you can. However, the more channels the more time it will take to manage them. Here's what we suggest:

Appoint a Communications Officer if you haven’t yet. This way we can ensure that all the information about your events, ministries, and contact information are up to date on the website of Community of Christ in Canada. This is more important than managing your own website because communityofchrist.ca will normally rank higher on Google searches. 

If someone in the congregation uses Facebook regularly, they can dedicate one hour per week to manage your congregation’s Facebook page.

If someone in the congregation uses Instagram regularly, they can dedicate one hour per week to share photos on a church account. Instagram posts can be automatically shared on Facebook.

What about TikTok, X, YouTube? These platforms require more content creation. Content has to be about a topic, not about promotion or invitation to a church event, the algorithms don’t like promotional content unless you pay for it.

Online channels are not the only way to promote your activities. For example, in Toronto, a small note in a free magazine brought hundreds of people to our in-person lectures. Think of what might work in your area, like a bulletin board at the library or community centre. 

4. Are you creating media content that we can post on social media?

We encourage you to share in your congregation’s social media channels all the content that we publish online as Community of Christ in Canada. But we do not create content tailored for your local events and ministries. We can work with your Communications Officer to build templates so that you can create quality graphics and video that will look professional and follow current social media trends. 

5. Are we developing guidelines for congregations to effectively and safely promote their work on social media?

We are. Once those become available early next year, we will publish them on the website and announce them in our newsletters and social media.

I want to thank all those who participated in the first of many Communications Town Halls. I am looking forward to seeing you at our next session (the date will be published shortly). In the meantime, should you have any questions, concerns, or feedback, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Leandro Palacios
Director of Communications – Community of Christ in Canada
[email protected]

As the Generosity Cycle draws to a close, we carry its spirit of daily and spiritual generosity into Giving Tuesday on 2 December—a time to extend that same spirit through financial giving. Together, we can help the church’s global ministries continue to support life-changing work through Worldwide Mission Tithes.

​This week, we’re focusing on Empowering People and Communities. Imagine barriers being lifted as people gain access to education, training, and opportunity. Across Canada and around the world, your generosity helps create spaces where people can grow, gain confidence, and build sustainable futures rooted in dignity and hope. From community food programs to youth leadership initiatives, every contribution supports efforts that strengthen resilience and open doors to a better future.

On December 2, join us for Giving Tuesday, a global day of generosity that supports ministries of compassion, justice, and peace. A generous $250,000 USD matching contribution will double every gift—amplifying your impact. Visit our Giving Tuesday page to learn more about this year’s theme and how your gift makes a difference: