Beyond the Walls - Speak Truth to Power 

​This week we explore the theme “Speak Truth to Power” with ministers from Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway. Live from Germany, Kai & Astrid Schwermer bring our message and Mike Botts our Living Church Lesson. Elray Henriksen will teach our Peace Lesson and Kerstin Jeske will offer our Prayer for Peace in Norwegian. Our scriptures will be read in Dutch and Frisian. The choir of Community of Christ in Germany and the Beyond the Walls Choir will join their voices to sing CCS 12 “Herr, du mein Gott” and CCS 377 “Sizohamba Naye.” This multi-language service will be subtitled in English, Spanish, French, and German. 

Beyond the Walls is an online worship service offering live ministry from locations around the world. Our global congregation meets every Sunday at 12:00 pm EST. All are welcome at this inclusive church service.  

Ottawa Congregation - 10:30 Worship. Contact [email protected] for Zoom details.

Windsor Congregation - 10:30 Worship. Contact Jeff Moor for Zoom info.

SLIM (Sharing Love in Mission) - 1:45 p.m Paula Tite will be coordinating the service with Mary Robb sharing a message on the theme: "A Call to Ministry". Contact Don Robb for Zoom details.

Port Elgin Congregation - 9 a.m. . Contact Darrell Belrose for Zoom details. 

La Salle Road Congregation - Social time from 10:15-10:30. Worship 10:30 a.m. Contact Pastor Vonda den Boer for Zoom details.

Reaching Out - Generally meets twice a month. Please sign up for email notices by clicking here.

Kitchener Congregation - Sunday evenings at 7:00 p.m. Contact John & Ruth Black for details.

Cambridge Congregation - 11 a.m. Complete Worship Services are held each Sunday at 11:00 am For details go to www.cofchristcambridge.ca. On the calendar page click on the event for the Zoom link. Social time follows the service.

First People Community of Christ (FPCC) - Reaching out to Native People across North America  and the World! Online Prayer and Testimonies Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. and Worship Sundays at 7 p.m. Contact Larry Buchanan for ZOOM details.

Other Online Ministries are available from many varied places for you to connect with. 

Register Today! 
Confront Unconsciousness, Build Inclusiveness!
 
Join us on
Wednesday, February 16 @ 9pm EST 

for an online mini workshop on "Unconscious Bias", presented by Gwendolyn Hawks-Blue and Cathi Cackler-Veazey.

This 90 minute online workshop was created by Community of Christ Diversity and Inclusion Team whose primary focus is to assist the church in clarifying how we perceive those who are different and embrace attitudes that lead to actions of advocacy and peacemaking endeavours in our congregations and communities.

This workshop will focus on honouring the worth of person and their diversity and what unites us rather than divides us across the international church.

There is no registration fee, however, registration is required to receive Zoom link.
 
For more information please email Lisa Neudorf.

Friends,
This past week a close friend contracted COVID, was hospitalized in serious condition and is now in the care of a convalescent hosputal on a long road to recovery. It appears the virus has affects on people that are very individual, creating unknown vulnerabilities for some. I pray for continued awareness of one another as we enjoy limited personal interactions.
 
In January, none of our Mission Centre congregations were gathering in person. I thank you for your understanding of our current provincial health standards. As we head into Feb, reaching somewhat if a peak in COVID hospitalizations, I ask that every congregation examine their local health authorities' recommendations before choosing to reopen. 
 
We all by now know the protocols of masking, spatial distancing, no singing, limiting social time and how to celebrate sacraments. We have a collective wisdom from experience. We also have individual choice about our own attendance or to continue to be together in the variety of excellent on-line services, fun events and sharing groups that are offered locally or widely across the church.
 
Again I would emphasize there is an unknown vulnerability factor for every person. Some experience minor symptoms and some severe. Age, immunity and health are all factors. 
 
If a congregation chooses to reopen under extreme caution, please let me know by emailing me at [email protected]. This allows us to be aware of gatherings, perhaps what we can learn from your experience and who we can contact if further cautionary developments emerge with this dynamic virus.
 
I pray with deep passion for a final conclusion to this devastating virus. How we all desire to resume our lives albeit with the wisdom of new insights. Through our journey we have new understandings of "what matters most". May we discover the blessings that transform us through these times. In the Spirit that abides always.....
 
With Meaning,

Kerry Richards

CEM President

The people who contribute the least to environmental crises and high carbon emissions are often the ones who suffer the most from climate catastrophes. It is true in U.S. cities as well as in developing nations worldwide. Racial justice is deeply entangled in climate mitigation issues, from distribution of green zones to availability of subsidies to transition from fossil fuels to electricity in homes and businesses. Learn how racial justice and climate justice intersect, in this intriguing presentation of poetry and storytelling by Ashia Ajani.

Ashia Ajani (they/she) is an environmental justice educator and storyteller hailing from Denver, CO, Queen City of the Plains and the unceded territory of the Cheyenne, Ute, Arapahoe and Comanche peoples. They are an environmental studies doctoral student at University of Oregon and an environmental justice educator with Mycelium Youth Network. Her work seeks to address underlying anti-Blackness and anti-Indigeneity in contemporary environmental policy and ecology research while working towards bold, Black ecologically justice futures. Her words have been published in Sierra Magazine, Them., Frontier Poetry, Lumiere Review and EcoTheo Review, among others. They are, above all else, a dreamer. 
 
NOTE: Is your congregation addressing climate change? If you want to record a video of what you are doing, contact Susan Oxley.

If you registered for a past webinar or conversation, you do not need to register again.
 
Open to people of all faiths and traditions.

 
This is an online ministry sponsored by the Greater Pacific Northwest USA Mission Center for Community of Christ. The North American Climate Justice Team are the planners, with members from GPNWMC, Canada East, Canada West, IWMC, SPMC, and SPIMC.
 
Watch previous webinars, conversations, and Steve Veazey’s sermon by clicking the button below.

Karen Elizabeth Hager (McLean)
January 16, 1965 – December 31, 2021

Our much loved wife, daughter, sister and auntie has transitioned from her earthly life to heaven, after a fiercely fought 2 year battle with cancer. With the support of family and friends, she lived valiantly and fully, with often invisible effects of Multiple Sclerosis and her latest medical challenges.

Karen was born in Etobicoke, to Rod and June McLean (Kurtz), during a ferocious blizzard. Perhaps that gave her the tenacity for life. She and her husband Darren have lived in the Clarkson area of Mississauga for many years, in a home with the most beautiful gardens they built. Many a fun gathering has taken place around their pool

Karen’s careers encompassed leadership positions in various corporations. Since 2007 she has been Director of Science Engagement at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto. She was a Fellow and featured speaker at the NOYCE Leadership Institute.

Karen earned her BA in Vocal Performance at Graceland University in Lamoni, IA, as a gifted soprano. She furthered her education at Harris Institute in Music Business, thereby obtaining a position with the Canadian Country Music Association. She thoroughly enjoyed her time in the entertainment industry.

Karen leaves memories of her love to her husband Darren Hager, parents Rod and June McLean (Kurtz), sister Kimberley McLean (Charles Kaiser), sister-in-law Karie McLean(Mark, pre-deceased), nieces and nephews Korbyn McLean(Amanda Buchnea), Stacia Tizzard (Lucas), Rileigh McLean (Abe Martin), and Carsten McLean. She will also be missed by Carl and Madeline Hager , Lydia (Wence) and Christine. Karen had a rich multitude of close aunts, uncles and cousins. Her friends list reached far and wide throughout the world.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations to The Canada Cancer Society, MS Society of Canada or World Accord.

Click here if you would like to share your memories and/or condolences.

Beyond the Walls - "Light and Truth"
​
Evan Sharley of Boise, Idaho, brings our message on the theme “Light and Truth,” exploring the effects of dissent throughout the history of our tradition up to our days. Parker Johnson, the president of Harmony, will teach our Peace Lesson from Calgary, Alberta. Noelle Gaffka of Mount Pleasant, Michigan, will teach our Living Church Lesson. Wanda Mercer of Georgetown, Indiana, will offer our Invocation. From Chatham, Ontario, our Call to Worship will be read by Anthony Smith of the “Sharing Love in Mission” congregation and our Lectionary scripture (Doctrine and Covenants 149:5) will be read by Claire Cropper of Anchorage, Alaska. The Beyond the Walls Choir will premier hymn CCS-341 “Arabs, Romans, Jews, and Gentiles.” 

​

Ottawa Congregation - 10:30 Worship. Contact [email protected] for Zoom details.

Windsor Congregation - 10:30 Worship. Contact Jeff Moor for Zoom info.

SLIM (Sharing Love in Mission) - 1:45 p.m Presider, Steve Lamoure and speaker, Pat Lewis. Please bring pen/pencil and paper. Contact Don Robb for Zoom details.

Port Elgin Congregation - 9 a.m. . Contact Darrell Belrose for Zoom details. 

La Salle Road Congregation - Social time from 10:15-10:30. Worship 10:30 a.m. Contact Pastor Vonda den Boer for Zoom details.

Reaching Out - Generally meets twice a month. Please sign up for email notices by clicking here.

Kitchener Congregation - Sunday evenings at 7:00 p.m. Contact John & Ruth Black for details.

Cambridge Congregation - 11 a.m. Complete Worship Services are held each Sunday at 11:00 am For details go to www.cofchristcambridge.ca. On the calendar page click on the event for the Zoom link. Social time follows the service.

First People Community of Christ (FPCC) - Reaching out to Native People across North America  and the World! Online Prayer and Testimonies Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. and Worship Sundays at 7 p.m. Contact Larry Buchanan for ZOOM details.

Other Online Ministries are available from many varied places for you to connect with. 

"Living Grace and Generosity" 

April 25-29, 7:30pm Eastern

Live on ZOOM

Instructor: Lew Sheperson

Cost:  $30

Send cheque to: 
Melissa Freer
Community of Christ
355 Elmira Road North, Unit 129
Guelph, ON  
N1K 1S5

Syllabus and book requirement will be sent in March

The Canada East Mission Centre continues to seek ordained members with a strong personal testimony of Jesus Christ to join the Volunteer MC Presidency Team. The team collaborates with the field apostle, the communications team, and the mission centre financial officer and staff to offer pastoral, spiritual, and administrative leadership to the mission centre. No single team member must do it all. Team members will serve according to their giftedness, calling, and availability.  
This recruitment effort is a matter of prayer. Would you join me in prayer through this process? We pray that motivated and inspired leaders will respond to this call, and we pray that they will be blessed with discernment and strength to lead Christ’s mission. 
In Canada West, the Mission Centre Volunteer Presidency Team began serving officially on November 1st of 2021 and their ministry has already been a great blessing. Find out more about their inspiring work on our website’s blog.  
Please send your applications and suggestions to [email protected].  
For details about the responsibilities, functions, and desired qualifications for this position please read the CEM Volunteer Mission Centre Presidency position description.  
Thank you for your consideration and for your prayerful support, 
Apostle Art Smith 

This is the time of year when I become very excited. And why you might ask? 

This is the time of year when we anticipate new beginnings. In the ancient days, it was the time when we were waiting and anticipating the birth of Christ. In this day and age, we celebrate the birthday of Christ and the event that surrounded his birth as a new beginning of God’s great love and his wish to be able to interact with his children. God fulfilled his promise to give us the great gifts he could give...Hope, Love, and Peace; the birth of his son to be a light onto us to show the way, just like the great star of Bethlehem.

With the coming of the New Year marks a new start of not just a new year but for ourselves to start new dreams, start with a clean slate, and try to be a better child of God. This is the goal of Blessing Seeds Ministries - to bring words of Hope and Love, bring some Peace to troubled souls, share words of inspiration; and be a guiding light in the darkness of our culture.

We need to be our brother’s keepers, holding each other up with love and encouragement to help lighten the loads we carry. We don’t need to carry a cross if we are in the hands of God. His love, grace, and his forgiveness are enough to unburden any soul. God will show us how to make our burden’s light and so easy to carry. They melt away if we work with him.

So many around us have need to hear the good news in a way that is enlightening to their hearts and souls. This is what the hug letters of the Blessing Seeds Ministries is trying to do. And so, I leave you with this poem that I hope will inspire you this new year to be a better child of God.

Love and blessings,

Margaret Arland Baker Wickse

Please share the following announcement
with your members and community!
​
Annual World Religion Day Gathering

Each year on the 3rd Sunday in January, religions of the world and the community gather in an observance of unity, celebrating the shared values and principles common among diverse faith traditions.

Once again this year’s event takes place
via ZOOM and Facebook Live
​
1:00 PM
Sunday, January 16th

The global community continues to seek ways to create pathways in the world for peace, and with your help, this event promises to bring greater awareness to the common goals, principles and values shared across all faith traditions, while fostering closer bonds of unity, cooperation and understanding amongst such diversity.

The theme for this year is “Justice Through Compassion & Resilience” and will include the participation and attendance of many faith traditions from the Barrie area, united in these three virtues through the common trait of Courage.

Representatives from each religion will share how their tradition understands and embraces this year’s theme, followed by a sacred reading or prayer. Moments of music videos, interactive chat, on-screen engagement, and a closing Q&A will also be part of the program.

Presented by the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’í Community of Barrie