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Black Lives Matter
Indigenous Lives Matter Lives of People of Colour Matter Our first weekend-long online mission centre conference was surely a success by any measure. (Full disclosure: I am undoubtedly somewhat biased due to being so close to the organization process.) We started on Thursday evening with Debra Donohue leading a discussion on “Hopes, Ideas, and Concerns for Re-Opening our Doors” in which we talked about going back to church in our COVID-19 world. On Friday evening I lead a discussion on “Metamorphosis,” which meant ongoing change in the church as a result of budget restraints and cultural or societal evolutions. Saturday evening was a true highlight with guest minister Joey Williams leading an hour of “An Unprecedented Musical Event,” that challenged us to make music in ways that “never have I ever” done that before! It was fun! It was music! And it was truly active participation in our Zoom connections across the mission centre and beyond! We conducted the business of the mission centre in our Pre-Legislative Session and our Business Meeting on Saturday. We elected and appointed people to various positions. We approved audit reports and budgets. We remembered those who have passed away since the last time we met. We celebrated significant life events in the lives of many of our members and friends. And we read reports on the activities around the mission centre from the past year – including a special report on our CWM Online Reunion and viewing a video of our online “CWM Virtually Together” Junior, Junior High, and Senior High Camps. On Sunday we enjoyed a communion worship service with the theme, “Our Unprecedented Journey.” It included a beautiful opening ministry of music by the “Vancouver Ensemble,” a truly invigorating sermon by Joey Williams, ministry from Apostle Art Smith and Bishop of Canada, Dar Shepherdson, and all other worship components were provided by members of the Canada West Mission Centre, representing all four of our provinces, including the CWM Choir singing the closing hymn. Special thanks to the “Beyond the Walls” congregation from Toronto who’s organizational and technological support enabled our service to be shared with over 400 persons who logged onto the service through YouTube and many others who watched via Facebook. See the service again here: “Our Unprecedented Journey.” Sunday afternoon concluded with a beautiful “Afternoon of Nurturing Spirit” with a theme of “Satsang: Singing into Silence,” hosted by Debra Donohue and featuring Vickie and Doug MacArthur leading us in singing and meditation. We also enjoyed a brief final appearance of Joey Williams. The conference finally concludes this Wednesday evening with the Hills of Peace Campground Association “All Members Meeting,” involving members from Alberta and Saskatchewan. It was truly a “long” weekend, but it was an exciting and fulfilling weekend. Thank you to all of the people (too many to name in this space) who planned, organized, and in any supported the conference events. And thank you to all of you who attended and lent your support through your presence and participation. I hope you all agree that it was truly a weekend to remember! I pray for you God’s blessings of joy, hope, love, and peace in these challenging times. Steve Thompson Canada West Mission Centre President steve@communityofchrist.ca  Are you missing your weekly congregational gatherings? Are you yearning for a bit fellowship with friends – old friends, perhaps new friends? Then Canada West Mission Centre’s “Virtual Visiting Fellowship” is for you! It is offered twice each week at different times to enable different people to participate each time. The schedule is:
Steve Thompson, Mission Centre President, plans and facilitates these sessions. We share in some introductions and opening comments to set up our time together. We discuss some thought starter questions – or just about what’s happening in our COVID-19 world. We conclude with a prayer for peace, for each other, and for others who need our support. Each session lasts about an hour. This has proven to be an upbeat, positive opportunity to help make up for not being able to visit “live and in person” with our congregation on Sundays. How to participate:
Mark one (or both) of these virtual gatherings on your calendar and plan to attend. We look forward to your participation!  This is one of our VVF groups.
 To the Canada West Mission –
I want to let you know of an exciting opportunity just around the corner to participate in the 2020 European Peace Colloquy Webinar Series. This event takes place over several months from July 8 – October 11, 2020. Each presentation occurs at the same time (11 a.m. PDT/12 p.m. MDT/1 p.m. CDT) to accommodate a broad range of time zones. Registration is free but required to distribute the Zoom meeting details. Register using this form. When a person registers, they will receive the Zoom link, meeting ID, and password for the presentation(s) they have registered for. The colloquy has a wonderful line-up of presenters. You are encouraged to follow the link above, browse the offerings, and register for what interests you. View the poster here. In grace and peace, Steve Thompson Canada West Mission Centre President steve@communityofchrist.ca  3 Day Online Discovery Event: October 14, 21 and 28.
Early Bird Price until September 25! Here's what it includes:
-Summary pages of the class presentations -Pre-class videos to watch. Short clips totaling perhaps 15 mins per class to show ritual, etc. -All sessions recorded and available for a week afterwards to fit your schedule. All sessions will be conducted via Zoom. Have a question? Email Brian Carwana at brian@worldreligions.ca Religions  What: “Notice, Gaze, Cherish, Bless: Holy Attention to Awaken Our Hearts”
When: Sunday, September 20, 3 PM–4:30 PM PDT and Thursday, September 24, 6 PM–7:30 PM PDT Where: Online Ministry Come join us in the third conversation about the Sacredness of Creation as we practice noticing and cherishing nature in its beauty, and as we acknowledge the evidence of creation increasingly out of balance. Share your story of intentional moments you have noticed and gazed upon the sacredness of creation. Share your awareness of the need to courageously “gaze even here,” at the devastation humans have caused to the planet. Invite your friends to join as well. All sessions are free. Participation in previous conversations in the series is not necessary to join in this opportunity. Further conversations in our Phase one series will include “Hope for a New Creation,” during the month of October. In addition, President Steve Veazey will join us for worship on October 11, to share a special message about the climate crises we face and our response as a faith community. During the winter of 2020 and 2021, there will be six more conversations/presentations, which will constitute Phase Two. We will explore the unraveling of God’s sacred creation, the re-weaving of the web of life, climate change and the Community of Christ, and lifestyle practices that foster hope. Dates for these subsequent conversations will be publicized in your mission center news briefs and on on this website. Watch for them! To connect to “Notice, Gaze, Cherish, Bless: Holy Attention to Awaken Our Hearts,” please register at https://www.cofchristclimatejustice.org. Once registered, you will receive a Zoom link a few days before each session of the series. Sacredness of Creation is an online ministry sponsored by the Greater Pacific Northwest USA Mission Center for Community of Christ. The North American Climate Justice Team includes members from GPNWMC, Canada East, Canada West, Inland West, Sierra Pacific Mission Center, and Southwest Pacific International Mission Center. Upcoming Sessions:
Sundays BC Community of Christ Online Gathering Hosted by the Vancouver Congregation Sunday mornings 9:30am Pacific Time - Visiting and gathering 10am Pacific Time - Service Contact Chris Phelps at cphelps@shaw.ca for Zoom links. Inclusive Church Hosted by the Toronto Congregation and Beyond the Walls Community Sundays at 12pm (EDT), 11am (CDT), 10am (MDT), 9am (PDT). For more information please visit their website, Facebook page and YouTube channel to watch the service. Tuesdays Virtual Visiting Fellowship Tuesday mornings at 11am CDT (Manitoba), 10am MDT (Alberta and Saskatchewan), 9am PDT (BC). Please send an email to steve@communityofchrist.ca to participate. For more details click here. Wednesdays Creating Connection presents: An Afternoon of Nurturing Spirit Wednesdays from 3pm to 4:30pm Pacific Time. To join please visit the Creating Connection Meetup group. Thursdays Creating Connection presents: Coffee and Conversation Thursdays from 10:30am to noon Pacific Time. To join please visit the Creating Connection Meetup group. Virtual Visiting Fellowship Thursday evenings at 9pm CDT (Manitoba), 8pm MDT (Alberta and Saskatchewan), 7pm PDT (BC). Please send an email to steve@communityofchrist.ca to participate. For more details click here. For a list of Online Ministries please click here. September 10-13 and 16 Canada West Mission Conference - Online
October 9-11 Climate Change Colloquy - Online October 24 Nurturing Silence Retreat - Online Dates are subject to change. Please register early to avoid cancellation of your event on Reggie. www.cwm.events This occasional feature is intended to ensure that people across the mission centre are aware of the passing of persons in other congregations in a timely manner.
Information provided here is restricted to the name of the deceased person, the city where they lived (or congregation they attended), and the date of death (if it is provided). If an online version of a detailed obituary is available, the name of the person will be underlined indicating that it is a link to that source of information. As we were preparing for our annual “We Remember” presentation for the Mission Conference Online this year, we realized that we were missing persons who have passed away between September and December 2019. In a “catch-up” entry, we highlight the following persons who have died in the time since our last Mission Conference. If you are aware of other church members who have passed away and whose names do not appear here in our archive, please advise sandra@communityofchrist.ca. Please support in thought and prayer the family and friends of the following persons who passed away late last year:
Two recent deaths have also been reported to us:
For a list of persons who have passed away earlier this year, please click here.  Jan Kraybill, Community of Christ organist-in-residence, often enjoys hearing and answering her audience’s questions, especially if she’s playing a demonstration concert at the Temple or Auditorium in Independence, Missouri, USA. But because the world is dealing with a pandemic, her next performances are for online audiences.
Jan Kraybill will take video viewers behind the scenes, inside these massive instruments, to view aspects never seen by live audiences. During free internet premiers at 7:30 p.m. Central Daylight Time on both September 13 at the Temple organ and at the Auditorium organ on September 14, Kraybill will be online to take queries about the instruments or the music she played. The videos were recorded in Independence, but Kraybill’s responses will be live. Watch her concerts on the Community of Christ Facebook page or the Community of Christ YouTube channel. Viewers can ask questions in the comments areas during the premieres. The videos will remain on the church’s YouTube channel for later viewing. Watching the videos is free. Here’s the music Kraybill plays On the Temple Casavant organ in Independence (September 13):
(September 14):
 Theme: “Unprecedented!” The annual Canada West Mission Centre conference will be held online this year. It will consist of a series of events beginning on Thursday evening, September 10, and concluding with a final meeting on Wednesday evening, September 16. Please click on the buttons above to register for Mission Conference and to view the entire program. It is expected that the different events will appeal to different people across the mission centre. If you are a delegate, or just personally interested in the business of the mission centre, you will need to be part of the Pre-Legislative Session and the full Business Meeting on Saturday morning and afternoon. If you are interested in knowing more about what “Creating Connection” is all about in Canada West, there will be sessions on Thursday evening and Sunday afternoon that you will not want to miss. On Friday evening there will be a presentation and discussion of current and expected changes in the church as raised in a recent article by President Veazey called, “Metamorphosis.” You will have a chance to get to know our guest minister, Joey Williams, in a session on Saturday evening, and then when he offers ministry as our speaker for our mission-centre-wide worship service on Sunday morning. Finally, members in Alberta and Saskatchewan will want to be a part of the Hills of Peace Campground Association “All-Members Annual General Meeting” on Wednesday evening. See you there! Canada West Mission Centre Staff Black Lives Matter
Indigenous Lives Matter Lives of People of Colour Matter I have promoted the “Unprecedented” Canada West Mission Centre 2020 Online Conference in my messages for at least the last two weeks. Many of you will have received reminders about the conference as a whole and about specific sessions through your email. Consider this your last reminder from me. Events begin Thursday evening and continue Friday evening, most of Saturday, Sunday morning and afternoon, and concludes with a meeting on the following Wednesday evening. All of the details, including registration details, are available here. Note: Registration is required to ensure you receive log-on information for each event, but there is no fee for registration. This is a free event. Let me just specifically highlight our Sunday morning worship service. Joey Williams will be our guest speaker and participants from across the mission centre will serve in the other roles in the service, including the debut performance of the Canada West Mission Centre Online Choir! We will celebrate communion in this service, so be sure to have your communion emblems (bread and juice) ready in your home or wherever you will be joining the service from. This service will be supported by the “Beyond the Walls” online congregation from Toronto. Access is available through this YouTube Link. The service will begin at 9 a.m. BC time, 10 a.m. AB and SK time, and 11 a.m. MB time. (Raise hand, change topic.) In the midst of preparing for our conference, the world around us just continues to do what the world around us always does. Life happens. Death happens. The miracle of new lives come into the world. The trials and tribulations, as well as the blessings of life continue to form the lives of everyone on the planet. People fall ill. Many recover. Some do not. The amazing experience of our human lives continues to come to a close for many people each and every day. Sometimes that final breath is expected and may even be celebrated for someone who suffered in the last days of their life. Sometimes that final breath comes suddenly, unexpectedly, sometimes accidentally, sometimes violently. Earlier this week Clifford Olson passed away in the town of Porcupine Plain, Saskatchewan, where he had been an active member of the local Community of Christ congregation for many years. He was also well known at camps at Hills of Peace, often because of the inventive things he would bring along for some purpose – sometimes practical, sometimes just for the entertainment and enjoyment factor. I mention Cliff specifically because on February 17 he celebrated his 109th birthday! At the time an article in the local newspaper said he was Saskatchewan’s oldest person and Canada’s second oldest man. Cliff had a good and long life and he will be missed by his family and friends. I invite you to pause as you read this to remember some significant event in your life or in the life of people close to you. Maybe a birth of a child. Maybe a graduation or a new job. Maybe a marriage. Maybe something as worldly as a new home or a new car. Or maybe the challenge of an illness or injury. Offer a prayer for the person(s) involved. As creations of God we are all miraculous manifestations of the divine spirit in our human forms. In the “busy-ness” of life may we always recognize the miracle that life is and appreciate every moment and blessing that we are given – even if we are given 109 and a half years of such moments! I pray for you God’s blessings of understanding, hope, and peace in these challenging times. Steve Thompson Canada West Mission Centre President steve@communityofchrist.ca Black Lives Matter
Indigenous Lives Matter Lives of People of Colour Matter The Canada West Mission Centre 2020 Online Conference will happen in a series of online events from Thursday evening, September 10, through Sunday afternoon, September 13 (plus the Hills of Peace “Members’ Meeting” on Wednesday evening, September 16). The theme for the conference is “Unprecedented!” which, not surprisingly, comes from the over-use of the term to describe almost everything that was happening in the world early in the COVID-19 pandemic. This conference itself is “Unprecedented” in that we are meeting online instead of in-person. It is the first time since the Canada West Mission Centre formed in 2004 that an in-person conference has not been held on the Labour Day Weekend. I want to invite you to register for the event as a whole (there is no fee for this event) and encourage your participation in whatever sessions will be of most interest and benefit to you. The full program is available for you to review or download here. There will be two unique opportunities to gain a better understanding of the Creating Connection initiative in the Canada West Mission Centre. Debra Donohue will host sessions on Thursday evening (modeling her “Coffee and Conversation” meetings) and Sunday afternoon (with “An Afternoon of Nurturing Spirit” featuring Vickie and Doug MacArthur). Steve Thompson will make a presentation and moderate a discussion on Friday evening on the theme of “Metamorphosis,” highlighting an article by President Steve Veazey from the January/February “Herald” magazine. The session will deal with the challenges facing the church and some of the changes that have already occurred and that may happen in the future as we make our way through the first half of the 21st century. On Saturday evening our guest minister, Joey Williams, will present “An Unprecedented Musical Event” for our enjoyment. Anyone who has enjoyed Joey’s ministry in the past will tell you that this should be an energetic and entertaining evening. He has invited us to, “Come ready to sing, compose, play whatever instruments (we) have available, and enjoy a fun-filled musical experience, together!” A primary purpose of our conference weekend is to conduct the business of the Canada West Mission Centre. On Saturday morning we will participate in the “Pre-Legislative Session” to ensure we understand the business that we will conduct at the Business Meeting in the afternoon. Delegates have voice and vote in the Business Meeting. Everyone is invited to attend. A second focal point of our conference weekend is always our Sunday morning worship service. Joey Williams will be our guest speaker and participants from across the mission centre will serve in the other roles in the service. We will celebrate communion in this service, so be sure to have your communion emblems (bread and juice) ready in your home or wherever you will be joining the service from. Our conference will be different. It will be memorable. It will be “Unprecedented!” Please plan on attending! Steve Thompson Canada West Mission Centre President steve@communityofchrist.ca  Learn about religious inclusion at work!
In this webinar, we will explore religion, often the neglected, avoided topic when it comes to diversity and inclusion. For many devotees, religion is not irrelevant but central to their identity. We will learn about a Western bias regarding religion, how this bias leads us to sideline the topic, and how we can begin to correct this sidelining via religious holidays, one area where religion is especially visible at work. Register today and join this webinar led by Brian Carwana, Executive Director of Encounter World Religions, and organized by the Canadian Centre for Diversity & Inclusion. Black Lives Matter
Indigenous Lives Matter Lives of People of Colour Matter I will get back to the “We Share” series next week. There are more pressing issues today. That “Black Lives Matter” part of my banner above unfortunately needs to be highlighted again. I am sure I do not need to repeat much of the news of the last couple of days. Jacob Blake has been shot in the back by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He has survived but may be paralyzed from the waist down. More demonstrations have been held in response. More violence arising from the demonstrations. As a society we need to support and demand good policing. As a society we need to express the need for change when Black people continue to be subject to violence at the hands of police when other options appear to be available. The high-profile incidents seem to occur mostly in the United States. But as we have seen in the Canadian response to these incidents, Black Canadians, Indigenous persons, and people of colour in Canada have very similar and disturbing personal experiences to share. We all must increase our knowledge and awareness of such experiences and do what we can to create a safe society for all of its members. From that rather serious societal issue, I need to move to the much more mundane business of the Canada West Mission Centre. Our annual mission conference will be held online this year. It will consist of a series of events beginning on Thursday evening, September 10, and concluding with a final meeting on Wednesday evening, September 16. A “brief” version of the schedule was released a couple of weeks ago. Please view the entire conference brochure here. It is expected that the different events will appeal to different people across the mission centre. If you are a delegate, or just personally interested in the business of the mission centre, you will need to be a part of the Pre-Legislative Session and the full Business Meeting on Saturday morning and afternoon. If you are interested in knowing more about what “Creating Connection” is all about in Canada West, there will be sessions on Thursday evening and Sunday afternoon that you will not want to miss. On Friday evening there will be a presentation and discussion of current and expected changes in the church as raised in a recent article by President Veazey called, “Metamorphosis.” You will have a chance to get to know our guest minister, Joey Williams, in a session on Saturday evening, and then when he offers ministry as our speaker for our mission-centre-wide worship service on Sunday morning. Finally, members in Alberta and Saskatchewan will want to be a part of the Hills of Peace Campground Association “All-Members Annual General Meeting” on Wednesday evening. And that is your snapshot of this year’s conference. Watch for details about logon information in the week that events get underway. I pray for you God’s blessings of understanding, hope, and peace in these challenging times. Steve Thompson Canada West Mission Centre President steve@communityofchrist.ca  Health Ministries Association, an affiliate of Community of Christ, will offer a live online workshop “Speaking through the Silence: Addressing Issues of Domestic Violence” this Saturday, August 22. Child, elder, and intimate partner abuse, plus sexual assault will be covered by speakers—experts in those fields—during a Zoom conference. Registration is $25.00. Those attending choose one morning topic (child abuse or elder abuse) and one afternoon topic (intimate partner abuse or sexual abuse/assault). All enrolled attend opening and closing speeches. This event is open to the public, with a specific invitation to health professionals and ministers/chaplains. Keynote speaker Catherine Vannier will cover the facets of domestic violence and highlight the challenges of investigating and prosecuting those crimes. Vannier will offer strategies for working with victims seeking safety and care while holding offenders accountable. Vannier is with the Missouri Office of Prosecution Services.
Each topic has two sessions. In the first causes, symptoms, and recognition will be covered. In the second the topics are treatment, outcomes, and resources.
Katie Harmon McLaughlin of Community of Christ’s Spiritual Formation Ministries will close the day’s events with "Hearing Silenced Voices: Spiritual Companionship in Violence and Trauma." Workshop participants have an opportunity to reflect on experiences of the day and process spiritual implications for their lives and communities. Health Ministries Association is an organization within the church of health professionals and others passionate about health and spirituality in the US and other countries. The organization promotes wholeness of body, mind, and spirit. Click here for more information on “Speaking through the Silence: Addressing Issues of Domestic Violence." Black Lives Matter
Indigenous Lives Matter Lives of People of Colour Matter This is the second in the series about Sharing in Community of Christ: Exploring Identity, Mission, Message and Beliefs. For background see the August 12 column. “We Share… a Vision for Creation” Into any discussion or experience we all bring our own past experiences, knowledge and opinions. Have you ever noticed that? What do you interpret from the word “vision” in the title above? What do you interpret from the word “creation”? If I could hear responses from all of you who are reading this, I expect that I would hear some ideas in common, but I also expect that I would hear many different ideas as well. “Vision” to different people might mean a powerful dream-like experience in which a message from God is received; or it might mean a guiding idea or principle; or it might mean the ability to see clearly whatever is in front of us. “Creation” might conjure majestic views of mountains or oceans or other landscapes or wildlife; or it might mean the processes through which God brought the universe into being; or it might mean everything around us that is a visible part of God’s universe: land, sea, animals, insects, marine life, all manner of plants and vegetation, humanity in all of its diversity, and all the stars and planets that populate the vastness of space beyond our world. All of those perspectives (and there will undoubtedly be others) are reasonable and valid. So what does it mean to “share a Vision for Creation” in the Community of Christ context? Two significant symbols help with this explanation. First, the empty Christian cross represents the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ who, in all of those manifestations, proclaimed peace for those who followed his teachings and example and for all people in the future reign of God on earth. Second, the church’s “peace seal” represents the lion laying down with the lamb and both being led by a child as described in the book of Isaiah 11:6-9. This symbolizes the church’s faith and belief in a world in which all of creation can exist in a state and attitude of peace. Our text expresses it this way: “The purpose of the church is to form disciples who faithfully share the gospel of peace in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Sharing in…, p. 10) It is that purpose that will be reflected and restated and applied to all of the other “We Share” statements that we will consider in future weeks. May we see ourselves in our own personal, faithful, and action-oriented expression of “We share a vision for creation.” I pray for you God’s blessings of understanding, hope, and peace in these challenging times. Steve Thompson Canada West Mission Centre President steve@communityofchrist.ca  Dear friends,
Earlier this summer, Canadian church leaders were made aware of a unique opportunity to join with the Canadian Council of Churches (CCC) as a signatory on a joint statement condemning anti-black racism in Canada. While Community of Christ in Canada has not yet been admitted as a full member of the council, our engagement has been highly meaningful, and we have been building good ecumenical relationships. In our June 2020 survey of church members across Canada it was clear that there was a strong degree of support for our denomination’s participation in this effort, and we have been busy following through with this mandate. With 107 responses from across Canada, the results provided us with the feedback we needed to proceed in a way that honoured our tradition of being guided by the wishes of the body. It is worth mentioning that the Intercultural Chair of the CCC praised our democratic and participatory process indicating that he felt we were taking the time to connect with members rather than simply having our leaders sign on to a statement. With the support of the membership, Canada East Mission Centre President Kerry Richards, our designated representative with CCC, formally added Community of Christ in Canada’s support to the joint statement. View the official CCC joint statement here. While we recognize that signing a document in and of itself is not enough, it signals the beginning of a larger ecumenical conversation and actionable steps. By joining this declaration, we are making strides toward fulfilling our call to “…work tirelessly to tear down walls of separation and to build bridges of understanding.” (Doctrine and Covenants 162:6b) We seek reconciliation within our own denomination and through our communities across Canada, and we look forward to hearing from you about the unique ways in which you prioritize to combat anti-Black racism in your congregations. Thank you for your participation in this process. With gratitude, Apostle Art Smith  August 6 and 9 mark the somber 75th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. World Conference Resolution 1178, Nuclear Arms Reduction; and WCR 1303, Action toward Nuclear Weapons Abolition, encourage the church to denounce the violence of nuclear weapons and acknowledge the suffering they cause.
We are grateful for the global hibakusha (survivors) who have courageously borne witness, often amid great difficulty. As a people dedicated to peace, reconciliation, and healing of the spirit, Community of Christ joined 189 organizations that signed a statement in opposition to nuclear weapons, making it one of the largest and most diverse interfaith proclamations against nuclear weapons to date. The signatories, coordinated by Faith Communities Concerned About Nuclear Weapons, remind us that we can act together from a place of determination, resilience and joy to make the world a different place. Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Jain and indigenous voices came together on this statement. Doctrine and Covenants 161:2a reminds us to: “Become a people of the Temple—those who see violence but proclaim peace, who feel conflict yet extend the hand of reconciliation, who encounter broken spirits and find pathways for healing.” The church continues to find those pathways through its prayers and ongoing programs, Toward Jesus the Peaceful One; a series of internet lectures from Europe, Peaceful Humanity—A New Creation; and the Daily Prayer for Peace, among others. Black Lives Matter
Indigenous Lives Matter Lives of People of Colour Matter For a continuing theme for my remarks in this column I will write for the next few weeks with a brief discussion of some portion of the book, Sharing in Community of Christ: Exploring Identity, Mission, Message, and Beliefs. If you do not have your own copy of the book, you can download a PDF version from the church website here or you can order a hard copy from Herald House, the church publisher, here. Pricing is in U.S. dollars and there will be a shipping charge. I encourage congregations to order a few copies to have on hand to share with visitors who may be interested in knowing more about the church. I also suggest this is a good resource for congregations to purchase for its active member individuals and families. It is an excellent resource for personal study and for group study and discussion. As other issues of current significance arise, I will write about them and then return to this book the following week. For today, here is an introduction to what the book is about and why you might be interested in it. The book uses the phrase “We Share…” to introduce most of the sections of the book. The phrase is intended to be taken with a double meaning as explained in these quotes:
So, the phrase we share defines both what we generally hold in common and what we generously offer to the world. (We Share, p. 9) This brief book is the best current summary of the faith and beliefs of Community of Christ as a global denomination. It serves as a unifying text to provide the same statements to church members around the world. It is available in English, Spanish, and French (both the free download version and the paid hard copy). As suggested above, it can serve as a multi-week focus for discussions in Sunday school classes or for small groups in home-based situations. The book is also a short, inviting, and non-threatening text to share with those who may be curious about the church. In addition to the book there is a series of brochures available that provide the content of specific portions of the book. You can find them here. Come back over the next few weeks as we consider some highlight portions of the book. I pray for you God’s blessings of understanding, hope, and peace in these challenging times. Steve Thompson Canada West Mission Centre President steve@communityofchrist.ca |
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