By John Hamer, President of Sionito

When faced with the scale of seemingly intractable problems in our country and our world, we sometimes can’t help but ask the question, what can a little church like ours do in the face of human suffering?  Wherever we live in Canada, we cannot help but be aware of the housing crisis: from basic affordability to lack of sufficient housing and ultimately the problem of homelessness.  

But for the past half century church members in Toronto and London have worked to be a part of the solution in their communities, founding our social housing charitable affiliates, Sionito and Zerin.  The Sionito Group of Charities broke ground earlier this year on a new development located on Finch Avenue in Toronto that will provide affordable housing to 158 people who might otherwise be in danger of homelessness.

Last month, the Federal government recognized the project as a model and singled out Sionito as a trusted partner.  At a media event held at the construction site, two members of the Federal Parliament announced the launch of the government’s new “Build Canada Homes” program.  Adam van Koeverden, MP for Burlington North/Milton West, and Ali Ehsassi, MP for Willowdale, also share the news that the government would devote an additional $1.5 billion to support projects like the one Sionito is currently building.  The event illustrated the trust and goodwill church members like Bryce Taylor, CEO of Sionito, have built over the years with all levels of government partners, as we have fought together for housing justice.  

The teams at Sionito and Zerin are to be congratulated for continuing to build on the good work started decades ago, addressing one of the greatest challenges our country faces.  When we ask ourselves, “what can a little church like ours do in the face of human suffering?”  Let’s always answer, “we can do our part!”

This Sunday, members and friends of Community of Christ will gather to partake in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, also known as Communion. When we think of this sacred meal, we immediately recall the scene of the Last Supper. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus offers bread and wine to the disciples, saying, "This is my body," and, "This is my blood" (Mark 14:22–24). In Luke, he adds, "Do this in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19).

Christians continue to share in this meal in remembrance of Jesus—but why? Is it simply a symbolic ritual that keeps the church connected as we reenact what Christians have done for two millennia? Or does something miraculous happen when the minister speaks those familiar words over the emblems?

What really happens during the Lord's Supper—and, consequently, the meaning of this sacrament—became a source of bitter controversy during the Protestant Reformation. The Catholic Church maintained that the bread and wine, while retaining their material appearance, become in substance the body and blood of Christ. This is transubstantiation: the outward form remains bread and wine, but their inner reality is changed. In the Eucharist, these simple elements participate in divine reality, just as Jesus—though fully human—shared the same divine substance with God.

Protestant reformers rejected this doctrine. Ulrich Zwingli went so far as to say that the Lord’s Supper is purely symbolic—a remembrance of the Last Supper. Martin Luther, on the other hand, taught that the body and blood of Christ are truly present in the bread and wine, not because the elements are transformed, but because God is omnipresent. John Calvin proposed a more moderate view: Christ is not bodily present in the elements, but through the Holy Spirit, believers are lifted up to participate in Christ’s divine life.

In Community of Christ, we bless the emblems, saying that we will “eat and drink in remembrance of the body and blood” of Christ, so that we may keep the commandments Jesus gave us and that the Spirit may be with us. Our Communion prayers express a theology of spiritual presence and transformation through remembrance—not transformation of the elements themselves. It is therefore Calvinian in character, emphasizing communion with Christ through the Spirit—not a merely symbolic act, nor a bodily presence. Communion is not about the metaphysics of the emblems; it’s about the real presence of Christ, recognized by the Spirit when the community gathers, remembers, and is nourished together.

Interestingly, our church’s understanding of the Lord’s Supper is reflected not in the scene of the Last Supper, but in a miraculous story from the final chapter of the Gospel of John. After the Resurrection, the disciples are back at the Sea of Galilee. They go fishing at night, “but that night they caught nothing.” How often do we embark on our ministry, struggling to see through the darkness of our own challenges? We sail at night without direction, casting our nets in the wrong places. We try hard, yet we haul in empty nets—our sanctuaries remain empty.

At sunrise, a stranger stands on the shore and calls out, asking if they have any food. They have nothing to offer. Then the stranger tells them to try once more, and a miracle happens. The catch is so abundant that they can hardly believe the net is not torn. The stranger invites them to eat and they share a meal. They recognize they are in the presence of the Lord.

This is an epiphany—a moment of sudden revelation—and it happens as they gather at the table. The Spirit fills their hearts with remembrance: the feeding of the five thousand had taken place on these same shores. The meal reveals that Christ is present in mission—when the impossible becomes possible, when abundance arises from scarcity, when souls are nourished through forgiveness and reconciliation, when the worth of all is affirmed.

The shared meal reveals a Christ who is here and now, not an elusive figure from a distant past. Christ is the Light of the World, piercing the darkness of uncertainty and guiding us toward new waters where we can cast our nets once more. Through the Spirit, we find the courage to keep inviting others to Christ even after failure, and the strength to gather the blessings of a heavy catch, even when we feel overwhelmed by the demands of discipleship.

As we partake in the Lord’s Supper this Sunday, let us open ourselves to the presence of the Spirit, so that the body and blood are not merely remembered, but that Christ may be revealed among us as we share this sacred meal. Where is the Christ who asks for food—the one we so often fail to recognize? Where is the Spirit inviting us to cast the net? And how are we preparing to haul the heavy catch that will follow?

By Leandro Palacios, Master of Arts in Religion, Community of Christ Seminary at Graceland University

​By John Hamer, Canada East Mission Centre Historian
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A tour bus loaded with 30 church heritage enthusiasts spent Thanksgiving weekend in Toronto as part of the 2025 Drawn from the Nations of the World Community of Christ Historic Sites Foundation (CCHSF) tour. Canada was the first country where the church was established after its 1830 organization in the United States, and a congregation was first organized in Toronto in 1836. Apostle Heber C. Kimball predicted by revelation that fellow Apostle Parley P. Pratt would “go to Upper Canada, even to the city of Toronto, the capital,” where he would “find a people prepared for the gospel.”

During a missionary trip to the city, Pratt and five companions met John and Leonora Taylor, who were part of a small group of religious seekers dissenting from the Methodist church. After a good deal of preaching and discussions, the Taylors and many members of their group were baptized into our church, forming the nucleus of the original Toronto Congregation. The Taylors lived on Duchess Street (now renamed Richmond Street), just two blocks west of the present-day Centre Place church.

The CCHSF tour group also visited the sites of St. Andrew’s Market, where the Toronto Congregation rented a meeting space in the 1890s, and the sites of the former Camden Street Church (1900–1906) and the former Soho Street Church (1906–1926). At the turn of the 20th century, Toronto was home to R.C. Evans, perhaps the greatest orator in the history of our church. Beginning in 1905, the congregation leveraged Evans’ talents by renting out the largest theatres in the city, filling them to capacity — including Massey Hall, one of the sites visited by the tour.

The tour also visited Nathan Phillips Square, Sankofa (formerly Dundas) Square, the historic Distillery District, Polson Pier, and went on a walking tour of historic sites in Toronto’s Old Town neighbourhood (where Centre Place is located).

The visit to Centre Place included viewing historic books, photographs, documents, and artifacts preserved in the Doris Hillyard Library, including the Dale & Judy Luffman first edition Inspired Version of the Bible (1867) and the Clair Shepherdson Saints’ Harp hymnal (1871). On Sunday morning, the tour took part in a special hybrid Beyond the Walls service, getting to see firsthand everything that goes into producing the livestream.

In addition to stops at Toronto and Niagara Falls, the tour visited heritage sites in Independence, Missouri; Omaha, Nebraska; Lamoni, Iowa; Nauvoo and Plano, Illinois; and Kirtland, Ohio. CCHSF is a church affiliate charged with supporting historic sites including Heritage Plaza in Independence, Liberty Hall in Lamoni, and the Stone Church in Plano. In addition to raising funds and supporting historic tours, the foundation has created a wealth of resources including the Children in Church History lesson plan series. You can learn more and access these resources on their website.

References
[1] Terryl L. Givens and Matthew J. Grow, Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism (Oxford: 2011), 83.