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January 10-February 28 Community of Christ Lessons-Online
January 16 and 30 Exploring a Post-Pandemic Church: Discern, Plan and Act in Hope-Online January 17 Annual World Religion Day Gathering-Online January 18 Creating Connection Book Club-Online February 26, 27 and 28 Nurturing Spirit Retreat-Online February 26-28 CWM Winter Retreat (Junior High)-Online March 5-7 CWM Winter Retreat (Senior High)-Online March 20 and 21 CWM Women's Retreat-Online View full Canada West Events Calendar Dates are subject to change. Please register early to avoid cancellation of your event on Reggie. 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. Mondays Creating Connection Book Club Third Monday of every month at 7PM (BC), 8PM (AB-SK), 9PM (MB). To join please visit the Creating Connection Meetup group. For more details click here. 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. Black Lives Matter
Indigenous Lives Matter Lives of People of Colour Matter Last week I provided information about programs and activities from Canada West Mission Centre coming up in the next two months. You can review that entry here. It includes summary program information and links to more details about each one. I want to repeat the notice for this program coming up this weekend:
Now on with THIS week’s message: Have you noticed that we are in a new year? The theme scripture for this past Sunday from the church’s worship resources was the first five verses of the Bible: 1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. --Genesis 1:1-5, Authorized King James Version What if we were to approach the new year as if it is a new creation? A new beginning? An opportunity to do things differently – and better? This analogy may go sideways sooner than later, but bear with me for just a few more sentences… If we are leaving 2020 behind us and consider it to have been a less-than-ideal year, might we consider 2020 analogous to being “without form, and void” and perhaps even a place of darkness? And can we pray that the Spirit of God might move upon the face of our waters. And, oh, that God might command, “Let there be light!” And that “there (would be) light” to help show us the way through this new year. Surely, we would celebrate that evening and that morning being the divinely promising first day. And surely, we could promise God that we would celebrate that new creation and build the new year so much better than the last as each day succeeded the other. Well – certainly, we can pray. And, most definitely, we can conduct our lives in this new year so as to recognize the points of joy that come our way as we are privileged to enjoy them. And may we give thanks to God for this new beginning and for the blessings that will come from it. You can judge how well that hopeful and well-intentioned analogy worked for you. My intent and my conclusion is that 2021 is now upon us with a “blank slate” ahead for the next twelve months. It is up to us to make it a better year than the last one and, come next December, to be able to look back on it and declare with God that “it was good!” As always, 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 “Something New” Something new is about to happen! We are starting a new journey, and with that comes a lot of challenging roadblocks. We will focus on our new steps forward. We will have fun, play games, and chat about what can be next for us all. Let’s be that Something New!
  Barrie Community of Christ and the Bahá’í Community of Barrie presents:
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. Due to COVID-19, this year’s event takes place by Zoom and Facebook Live this coming Sunday, January 17 at 10 AM PST/ 11 AM MST/ 12 PM CST and 1 PM EST. Never more than this past year has there been a need to help 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 “I AM” (Interconnected, Aware, Mindful), and will include participation and attendance by many faith traditions from the Barrie area, around Ontario, and potentially across the world, united in compassion and hope. 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.  Have you checked out Canada West Mission Centre’s “Virtual Visiting Fellowship”? This is a “program” that has truly become a “community;” actually, two communities! Participants have become real friends in these online communities that include people from across the mission centre and beyond. Two sessions are offered each week. At least one of them will surely fit into your schedule:
Our Mission Centre President, Steve Thompson, plans and facilitates these sessions. We share in some introductions and opening comments to set up our time together. Then we engage in a general discussion with reference to topics that have included current events, articles in various periodicals, as well as hymns or scriptures. 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!   The Unraveling and Reweaving of Creation The series recommenced last Sunday, January 10 when GPNWMC hosted a climate webinar on "Mitigating Climate Crises" with world-class climate scientist Dr. Richard Gammon. Following the webinar, President Veazey dialogued with Dr. Gammon on: “Climate Crisis—Science, Faith, and Prophetic Response.” Join further discussions about these topics on these dates:
For more information about the series please visit the Climate Change Colloquy website.
Information about upcoming Canada West Mission Centre programs for the early part of 2021 has just been released. Click here for details. All of these programs will be offered online. Please consult the details for each program and follow the instructions for registration and fees.
Programming will be announced throughout the year which we hope will meet a variety of interests from general to specific to leadership development. We do not know yet what the new year will hold for us in terms of the opportunity for holding in-person retreats at our campgrounds or congregation buildings. In 2020 we quickly adapted in-person programs to an online format. For 2021 we are using this experience to improve the online program environment and hope you will enjoy the programs to be offered. There is still hope we may be able to offer in-person programs by the summer of 2021 but this is far from certain. Canada West Mission Centre staff will follow the progress on reducing the risks of COVID-19 throughout the mission centre. We will also be following the progress in Washington State and the eventual opening of the Canada/U.S. border in relation to potential events at Samish Campground and Retreat Center. Watch for announcements about summer camps and retreats as we get closer to those months. I encourage you to check out our upcoming programs and to get involved. We all look forward to in-person events again. Until then the online events will give you an opportunity to re-connect with friends and to continue in your faith journey in Community of Christ. Grace and Peace, Steve Thompson Canada West Mission Centre President steve@communityofchrist.ca  Come join us for a monthly “get together” for casual discussion of books from a wide range of genres. Open to all book lovers (some books may not be suitable for younger readers). When: Third Monday of every month at 7 PM (BC), 8PM (AB-SK), 9PM (MB). Our next meetup is on January 18!  Book: The First Lady by James Patterson & Brendan Dubois
“One secret could bring down the government when the President’s memorable affair becomes a nightmare he longs to forget in this page-turner from James Patterson that will keep you up reading all night long. Sally Grissom is a top Secret Service agent in charge of the Presidential Protection team. She knows that something is amiss when she’s summoned to a private meeting with the President and his Chief of Staff without any witnesses. But she couldn’t have predicted that she’d be forced to take on an investigation surrounding the mysterious disappearance of the First Lady — with strict orders to keep it a secret. The First Lady’s absence comes in the wake of the scandalous, public revelation of the president’s affair, so at first it seems as though she is simply cutting off all contact as she recuperates at a horse farm in Virginia. What begins as an innocent respite quickly turns into a twisted case when the White House receives a ransom note along with the First Lady’s finger.”
Meet our host Kelly Duff has loved reading from an early age. In recent years, she has especially loved the opportunities she's had to read stories by brand new authors through her volunteer work with Filidh Publishing; where she assists with preliminary edits of new manuscripts, as well as helps with planning/running book launches and open mic events. She enjoys reading books from many genres, and she looks forward to exploring the worlds of fiction and non-fiction with other avid readers!  SCHEDULE
(All times are in Pacific Time) Friday February 26 5:00 PM Community Dinner - Join when you can! Saturday February 27 7:45 AM Zoom opens, log in now 8:00 AM Welcoming meditation – Vickie MacArthur 8:10 AM Welcome and Introductions to your team – Debra Donohue 8:20 AM Five Rhythms Spiritual Practice and Guided Meditation - Kat Goheen 9:20 AM Break 9:30 AM Journaling – Jeri Mortimore 10:30 AM Listening for the Soul – Shannon McAdam 11:30 AM Lunch 12:30 PM Wonder and Mental Health: Immediate Practices with Powerful Impact – Lana Cullis 1:30 PM Yoga Nidra – Vickie MacArthur 3:00 PM Break 3:30 PM Listening for the Soul – Shannon McAdam 4:00 PM Q&A with Facilitators – Jeri Mortimore 4:30 PM Dinner 5:30 PM Satsang: Singing into Silence – Vickie and Doug MacArthur with Drumming Guest Mary Jean Belrose 7:00 PM Goodnight Sunday February 28 10:00 AM Closing Gathering – Shannon McAdam  While gathering in person is not possible in many locations, these lessons offer resources for online gatherings, sunday school, study groups, or even for personal or family reflection.
Community of Christ lessons are available for children (ages 6–11), youth (ages 12–18), and adults. Weekly lessons connect the Lectionary text with Community of Christ identity, mission, message, and beliefs. Lessons through November 2021 are now available for download. Visit the Lessons page for more information.  President Stephen Veazey will present Community of Christ's Daily Prayer for Peace at 1:00 PM Central Standard Time on New Year's Day.
The video will play on the church's Facebook page. You do not need a Facebook account to watch the video.  The COVID-19 pandemic continues to reduce opportunities for the church to provide in-person pastoral-care ministries and to gather physically for fellowship, worship, and community formation. After extended consideration, the Presidency is providing principles and guidelines for offering the sacraments through online means during the pandemic. These principles and guidelines may be refined in the future as the church lives into its experiences with online ministries.
It is our hope that providing for the sacraments to be shared through online experiences will continue the pastoral-care ministries the church is called to extend into human life, even during this time of physical distancing. It also will provide the church learnings for how to share the sacraments in a world that is becoming more borderless through online connections. May blessings abound as you offer these gifts. 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. 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 or 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 this year: For a list of persons who have passed away last year, please click here. Black Lives Matter
Indigenous Lives Matter Lives of People of Colour Matter Happy New Year to you! I hope that everyone has had a good experience over the Christmas and New Year’s period. Along with you, I look forward to 2021 with expectations of a better year. For today’s message I will highlight the variety of programs and events that are already on our Canada West Mission Centre calendar for the first couple of months. There are MANY of them. Truly, there is a plethora, some would even say a cornucopia, of choices! Full information about all of these programs appears elsewhere in this week’s Weekly Wire. Here is the summary of what is upcoming – click on the links where you can find more details. First, a cancellation announcement followed by a replacement announcement: The Canada West Mission Centre e-Conference (i.e., online conference) scheduled for Saturday, February 6, has been cancelled because of a lack of enough business to conduct that would justify the meeting. Check with me or with your Pastor for more details. In its place an Online Ordination Service is being planned. It will be on the same date, February 6, and will begin at 10 a.m. Pacific Time/ 11 a.m. Mountain Time/ 12 p.m. Central Time. Two persons will be ordained: Brenda Senga (Saskatoon), to the office of Evangelist; and Doug Hayden (Calgary), to the office of High Priest. Both calls were approved at the 2019 Mission Conference in Edmonton. We will be using the principles and guidelines for offering the sacraments through online means provided by the First Presidency last fall. Watch for more details about this service in the coming weeks. Here are three multi-session events that are highly recommended:
All of the following events also are scheduled in the next few weeks. Without providing any details here, follow the links to these events:
There is obviously LOTS of activities from which to choose. I invite you to register now in the events of interest to you. As always, 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  Our "Blue Session" of classes will open for Canadian enrollment December 7-January 8.
The following credit classes are:
Class cost is $7.50 and should be paid before class via eTransfer to: Sam Smalldon cwm_mcfo@communityofchrist.ca To enroll, go to developmetrics.org and click on the "Canadian Registration Form" when registration opens on December 7. Should you have any questions, please contact David Lloyd.  In the December 2020 financial update the Presiding Bishopric shared details about the church’s current economic situation and other information from the December 5 meeting of the World Church Finance Board. The next financial board report will be in June 2021.
Learn more about the church's financial condition.
 Total contributions through November 30 equal $9.95 million. That means to meet the $12 million dollar goal for Worldwide Mission Tithes in 2020, December contributions need to total $2.05 million.
You can still help. If you are able, consider an extra contribution to support mission tithes. If you give weekly, give an extra week’s contribution before the end of the year. If you give monthly, consider adding a contribution. Every extra gift makes a difference and provides hope to many at a time when it is needed most. See just a few of the things your mission tithes support in Generosity at a Glance. |
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Guelph, ON N1K 1S5 Canada Canada West Mission: 877-411-2632 Canada East Mission: 888-411-7537 
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