Are we moving toward Jesus,
the peaceful One?

The 2021 guiding question is the same as the question suggested for 2020: Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One? President Steve Veazey encourages the church to continue considering and meditating on the question in this video: 2021 Guiding Question.

The question was first posed by President Veazey in his closing sermon for the 2019 World Conference. The question was presented in early 2020 with a video recording of those comments: 2020 Guiding Question.

The question puts the responsibility for our relationship with Jesus directly with each of us. I feel that there is a call to movement presented for us. A call to change. A call to do better.

We are often presented with the challenge to “follow Jesus.” This is a good challenge and you could certainly do worse than finding ways to follow Jesus. You follow and you do what he says to do. You follow and you try to live the way he tells you to live. You follow and you watch and learn as you hear him speak through the words of scripture. If you are diligent in following Jesus in your personal prayer and meditation life, perhaps you will hear Jesus’ still small voice speak to you to encourage you to continue following him.

For me, the call to “move toward Jesus” is not quite the same as “following” him. To move towards Jesus might involve overcoming some obstacles to get closer to him. To move towards Jesus might mean getting further away from some less positive influences in our lives. To move towards Jesus might require that we set our compass accordingly and find our way despite the twists and turns of life and those temptations that will distract us from our goal.

Interestingly, the question suggests “moving toward” – it does not assume that we will actually closely approach him or suggest that our movement will necessarily end. We are just challenged to move toward him.

And then there are those last three words: “the peaceful One.” Inherent in those words is the challenge for us to move towards peace in our own lives. For many people this may be as great a challenge as thinking about moving towards Jesus. They also echo the challenge of the peace-related motions on non-violence passed by the 2019 World Conference and the words point us towards preparation for further discussion of peace and non-violence at the next World Conference, now postponed to 2023.

The church has created a series of resources built around this challenge. They include a series of articles in the “Herald” (the church magazine), supporting videos and online discussion sessions, and some Project Zion Podcasts. If you are interested, you can find a comprehensive list of links to these resources here: Guiding Question Page of Resources

I challenge you to consider studying the question and considering your own personal response through this year. I will try to come back to this question regularly through the rest of this year, just to check in and see how you are doing.

If you have any comment or question about this weekly message, please do not hesitate to contact me using the email address provided below.

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
[email protected]

Black Lives Matter
Indigenous Lives Matter
Lives of People of Colour Matter
 
The world has been a challenging thing to make sense of over the past year.
 
So many things and events have caused turmoil, confusion, consternation, debate (both civil and not-so-civil), and even violence. We are now into at least month number 14 of the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides the physical health implications and the social restrictions of the pandemic, we have experienced debate over various conspiracy theories that question the reality of the pandemic. The presidential election in the United States provided many flashpoints of political and social division that resonated for many people here in Canada – on both ends of the political spectrum. And, not the least but just the last I will mention in this list, is the renewed racial upheaval that originated in the U.S. but spilled over into Canada and other parts of the world.
 
Perhaps the most significant incident of that racial upheaval in the last year was the death of George Floyd as he was being taken into police custody in Minneapolis. The trial of the police officer involved has just concluded this week with a guilty verdict on three different charges of murder. The positive public response to that verdict is in stark contrast to the demonstrations in response to his death that often devolved into violence in the streets of many American cities.
 
For this week I have brought back the banner at the top of this letter that I had used for these messages through most of last year and into the first few weeks of this year. This is a reminder that, regardless of that verdict, there is still much work to be done by all of us on the racial reconciliation front.
 
Over the last year I have been disturbed by the stories told by Black persons, Indigenous persons, and other Persons of Colour, of the discrimination that they face regularly, if not daily, in just going about the normal activities of a life in Canada. This should be disturbing to all of us and all of us should be evaluating our own actions and reactions when in any kind of interactions with persons who have a different appearance than us.
 
I feel it is also important to say that I have been equally disturbed by the threatening disrespect that has been experienced by members of police organizations across North America. This has been in response to the high-profile situations of interactions – often violent and sometimes fatal – between the police and persons of colour. There are undoubtedly aspects of police work and police culture that need review and reform.

Meanwhile, those responsible for the negative interactions are a small proportion of the total police community. Most police officers want to do the right thing for all members of the communities they serve. Just as all of us as “civilians” need to do better in our interracial interactions, we need to support our police as they strive to do better too.
 
The curse of systemic racism that exists in many of society’s structures, systems, and organizations cannot be eradicated overnight. It is up to all of us to recognize it when we see it and to do what we can to work for positive reform.
 
The last year, indeed, has been a challenging time in the world. Historically, the world often has only gotten better when it has come through such challenging times. Typically, the world has gotten better when its citizens have insisted that their leaders do better and then demonstrate by example the changes they wish to have happen. May we all work towards, and look forward to, our future better world.
 
In closing let me add that I am sensitive that some readers may not be happy to have worldly or political situations highlighted in a Community of Christ newsletter or blog. I believe that the teachings of Jesus as recorded in scripture insist that we: bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives, and let the oppressed go free. (see Luke 4: 18, 19). To me, these characteristics describe the experiences and life situations of many persons in the Black, Indigenous, and other Persons of Colour communities. Surely, we are called to help remedy them. I will leave it at that lest I get into a much longer sermon. Please contact me if you have concerns or questions.
 
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
[email protected]

Climate disruption has not only created hurricanes, tsunamis and floods that hit the headlines around the world, but continue to impact human populations in a variety of ways. Long droughts have prompted migrations of villages and tribes, while rising sea levels necessitate the permanent evacuation of communities from low elevation islands to higher ground. 
 
Dr. Richard Waugh of Wisconsin University explores the human impact of climate change and climate disruption from low-level islands to the Andes; from Bangladesh to Louisiana. In his research and travels, Dr. Waugh has witnessed climate-caused difficulties in various cultures around the world. Prior to retiring as Professor Emeritus in 2020, Dr. Waugh taught classes on climate change, social geography and human impact, and led an annual extended field trip to key geographic locations with his students. He brings personal experience as well as professional insight to the conversation.
 
Dr. Waugh is also a long-time elder in Community of Christ, and did his doctoral thesis on geography and sacred space.  He has served as a pastor and as a counselor to leadership in the former district and mission center. His articles have been published in The Herald and in the JWHS Journal. 

Join further discussions about Dr. Waugh’s topic on the following dates:​

• Thursday, April 22 (6pm PT, 7pm MT, 8pm CT, 9pm ET)
• Sunday, April 25 (2pm PT, 3pm MT, 4pm CT, 5pm ET) 

Invite your friends to join as well.  All sessions are free and participation in previous webinars and conversations is not necessary to join in this opportunity.  

Please note that you only need to register once for the entire series. To register please click on the button above.

​For more information about the series please visit the Climate Change Colloquy website.

I am sure that for many of you, particularly those who might be of a certain more generous age (such as me), sometimes five years goes by really fast! Well, that is what has happened for Parker Johnson and the Canada West Mission Centre.

Five years ago in February, Parker came to the mission centre on a five-year contract. He was primarily assigned to work with the Calgary congregation and a bit with the mission centre at-large. The mission centre portion eventually was amended to allow him to take on communications responsibilities for Community of Christ across Canada. It has been a positive and exciting time for everyone involved. Parker brings enthusiasm, personal and professional skills, and a commitment to the church and to his faith that has enabled him to have real impact in his various responsibilities.

If you are following the numbers you may have figured out that that five-year contract is coming to an end. At the end of March, Parker will leave his position with the Canada West Mission Centre having most honorably completed the terms of that contract. Parker is not physically going anywhere. He and Preston are still excited to be building their home in Calgary. Parker will still be around and, we trust, involved with the Calgary congregation as are other members and volunteers. You may still see him at church events. He is continuing in his volunteer role as president of Harmony, so you will almost certainly still hear from him in that capacity.

Please join me in thanking Parker for his contributions to the church in Calgary, in Canada West, and, indeed, in the Canadian church, over the past five years. Also join me in wishing him nothing but the best in the future.

Thank you, Parker! Best wishes! And God bless you!
​
Steve Thompson
Canada West Mission Centre President 

• The gospel of Jesus Christ is expressed best in community life where people become vulnerable to God’s grace and each other. 
• True community includes compassion for and solidarity with the poor, marginalized, and oppressed.
• True community upholds the worth of persons while providing a healthy alternative to self-centeredness, isolation, and conformity. 
• Sacred community provides nurture and growth opportunities for all people, especially those who cannot fully care for themselves.
• We value our connections and share a strong sense of trust in and belonging with one another—even if we never have met. 
• Some disciples are called and ordained to particular priesthood responsibilities and ministries for the sake of the community, the congregation, and the world. 
• We are called to create communities of Christ’s peace in our families and congregations and across villages, tribes, nations, and throughout creation.

                                 https://www.cofchrist.org/enduring-principles

Has your definition of “community” changed in the last year?

I am going to go out on a bit of a limb here and make an unresearched assumption that before March of last year we had not given too much broad-based consideration to what an online community might look like. Over the last five or six years, I had participated occasionally with the weekly “Community Place” youth and young adult group based in Ontario, with off-shoots in a number of places around the church. Despite the name, and despite the expressed intention of keeping a “camp community” together between annual senior high camps, I had not really given serious consideration to the concept that this was an “online community.” After all, it was “just” online. Well – we know now what a pre-cursor Community Place has been to what so many of us have experienced during the pandemic.

All of us look forward to the time when we can once again gather in-person without distancing or mask protocols. However, our online communities (and there certainly are more than one for many of us) have enabled us to retain connection with many of our own congregation members. They have also enabled us to become part of communities constituted by persons separated geographically by hundreds or even thousands of kilometers and yet who appear to be right next door in the squares on our Zoom video screens.

We have enjoyed retreats, participated in camps and reunions, and held our mission conference online. We have worshipped online. We have even participated in sacraments online. And we have Community Place to thank for starting the “lobby” (if that is not too political a word for church governance processes) to enable authorized sharing of the sacrament of communion online. From that, as the pandemic progressed, church leadership also provided processes to perform all sacraments (except baptism) in an environment where participants were not able to be in the same physical location. The ability to celebrate the sacraments of the church online in the past several months has only reinforced the concept of community present in our online associations. These events have been sources of true blessing for the participants and for the church at large.

There are likely a few more months in front of us of using our online tools to gather for all of our church purposes and events. We all look forward to gathering in-person as soon as possible so we can truly “see” each other and share in the handshakes and hugs that go with gathering in our communities. Undoubtedly, however, we will take some of our lessons of online community with us into the future. Many people will continue to depend on those tools because of their distance from their “local” congregation. Most congregations will want to provide those electronic participation tools to ensure the participation of as many members and friends as possible can continue.

The “Blessings of Community” outlined above to provide detail to this Enduring Principle have not been ignored in the past year. We have experienced them in different ways. We have managed to honour most, if not all, of them to the best of our abilities in our online communities. May we always be thankful for the insights and learning that have occurred for us despite dealing with an unprecedented pandemic situation.
 
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
[email protected]

One year ago today I wrote to you the sixth weekly “COVID Statement.” At the time we did not know how much longer we would need to be concerned about the pandemic. The first “statement” was dated March 4 and the last “statement” was dated April 22. As of April 29 these columns became “A Moment with the Mission Centre President” and we have tried to deal with many topics since then.

Most of the message from April 8, 2020, seems strangely relevant today. Here is the heart of that message again:

The common first question after “Hello” has become much more heartfelt and honestly intended than had been traditional before our COVID-19 social distancing: “How are you doing?” We are truly interested in the answer to that question. We want assurance that our friends and family are, in fact, staying safe and being well. They wish to know the same of us. Yet we also want to be able to express our support if the answer to the question is the expression of some kind of health issue or personal concern that has arisen in the lives of those we love.

There are families and individuals in Canada West Mission Centre, and elsewhere in the church, who have been directly touched by COVID-19 in the form of illness or job loss. I know of people who continue to struggle with various medical, physical, and personal issues not at all related to the pandemic. And in the unstoppable cycle of life, there are families among us who mourn the loss of loved ones. All of these persons and families are worthy of our prayers of love and support.

So: What have you done to keep your outlook positive in recent weeks? What good news do you seek out to assure yourself that humanity is good and that we will all get through this together? What miracle or beauty in the natural world around you gives you hope and assurance and perhaps even inspiration? What books have you read? What friends have you reached out to by phone or electronically? And, yes, what social media connections have been beneficial for you? What images, stories, or anecdotes have kept you smiling, if not outright laughing? Please email some answers to me ([email protected]), and I may share them in the future.

That last sentence remains an open invitation.

Many provinces are moving, or have moved, back into tighter lock-down situations due to recent increases in COVID-19 cases, and especially increases in the “Variants of Concern.” In-person church services remain restricted and difficult to hold or justify in most areas. Family gatherings remain small, outdoors, and still physically distanced for most of us. We are facing another summer of cancelled church-sponsored in-person camps and reunions.

And yet – and yet – we optimistically look forward to the easing of the pandemic over the next few months. We hope we can return to something resembling “normal” by late summer or early fall.

May you feel God’s presence and blessings as we continue on this journey, now extended to well beyond a year in length.

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
[email protected]

You can still watch the Easter worship online service through the Community of Christ YouTube channel. Click on the button below to watch the service.