Why one Canada mission centre?

By Shannon McAdam, Canada West Mission Centre Co-President

I have been working closely for the past three months with some amazing people from across Canada on the project of designing a new mission centre for all of Canada. I always find it a good practice, when I have been deeply immersed in something, to pause and remember the “why” behind what I am doing. So I thought I might take you along as I pause and ask “why” for this project.

We have been on quite a journey over the years as Community of Christ in Canada, navigating both being a part of an international church and being accountable to the regulations for being a charitable organization in Canada. It has been interesting to hear some stories about the history of this during our Mission Design Team meetings! Many things have stayed constant through the organizational changes that have had to take place though—two that stand out to me are: our desire to be part of something much bigger than ourselves, and our longing for and work towards deep connection and community with each other.

As the larger culture has changed, we have seen participation in church life across many denominations waning—not just in our own. And we have had to adjust to that waning participation. One of the things I noticed when I stepped onto the Canada West Mission Centre President Team was that a key to freeing our leaders to do mission in today’s world was having solid administrative support. People who are involved in things like making sure the books balance, the website stays up to date, and campgrounds have the cashflow to keep operating, are essential to allowing our volunteers to do the work of Christ’s mission of community building.

As our Mission Centre President Team became more acquainted with our friends in Canada East, we noticed some places where duplicate work was happening and where sharing resources could be effective. This is why I think a very important “why” to this work of making one Canada mission centre is the streamlining of administration. Duplication of work is an inefficient use of our resources. In becoming one mission centre, the streamlined administration would allow our resources of money, time, and people to be freed up to do more missional work.

Another “why” is the ability to speak as one Canadian voice on issues that matter. Just like our World Conference passes resolutions to make statements about important issues in the world, we will have the opportunity at our conferences to make statements about issues particular to Canada. These statements can be important in the work of social justice as we address the root causes of issues like homelessness in our society.

Yet another “why” is the sense of connection. One of the unexpected results I saw of the COVID-19 pandemic was that online events hosted by the two mission centres extended invitations “across the boundary” of East and West, meaning that many members became acquainted with one another through these events. A sense of curiosity, connection, and learning from each other’s experiences began to emerge. This sense of connection can be deepened and extended if we join together as one.

Will it be easy? Not at first. I suspect some misunderstandings and disagreements await us, but, as Doctrine and Covenants 161:3c says:

“Be patient with one another, for creating sacred community is arduous and even painful. But it is to loving community such as this that each is called.”

I had a manager at work who used to say, “we don’t not do things because they are hard”—in other words, something being difficult is not a good enough reason not to do it. The beauty of this concept of one mission centre for all of Canada is that in the end, I believe it will make things much easier for us, not harder.