Answering a Call

News of tragedy comes at us daily. Usually it gets a moment of sympathy and sometimes a donation; but the need is so large, complex, and remote that we feel powerless to make a difference. Occasionally, we feel moved to do something more.

Reports of violence in the middle east and the plight of so many refugees have affected my wife and I this way. When she told me of her urge to do something, I agreed. We began talking to family and friends, and discovered that many of them also wanted to do something. A meeting was organized and we began to discuss sponsoring a refugee family.

By that first meeting various members of the group already had some information. We identified other resources and assigned persons to ask questions. By the second meeting we had replies and were ready to make decisions. It is still early in the process, but it looks like our refugee sponsorship is about to be launched.

Our group includes church members, nonmember friends and relatives, and colleagues from work. To expedite our efforts, we will be joining as a Constituent Group with an organization which is already registered as a Sponsorship Agreement Holder with the Department of Citizenship and Immigration of Canada. We expect to rely on their guidance and experience because there is more we need to know. Looking forward, what we learn through this initial project could prepare some of us to advise others in future projects.

I am writing about this now rather than waiting until the task is done. We can report this much success. We talked to each other about our urge to act. We organized quickly and formed a group with a mix of skills and resources. We gave ourselves manageable tasks and completed them in good time. None of this has been difficult. Although there are some challenges ahead, we are confident that we will be successful.

We are happy to be actually doing something. Before we began talking, we were deeply disturbed by reports about refugees. Since we have joined with others with a common purpose, we have hope that we can make a difference.

Dennis Ware, Guelph

Sand Pails and Sacraments

                        “Look especially to the sacraments to enrich the spiritual life of the body.
                          Seek for greater understanding of my purposes in these sacred rites and
                          prepare to receive a renewed confirmation of the presence of my Spirit in
                          your experiences of worship”                   D.& C.  158 c

    Centuries ago, on a grassy knoll beyond the busyness of the city, Jesus was found speaking to the people.  Parents requested that their little ones be brought closer to Jesus to be blessed by his touch and his words of blessing.
    Over the years my husband I have shared the ministry of the sacraments of the Community of Christ church many times.  Either or both of us have shared in the Sacraments of Blessing, Baptism, Confirmation, Ordination, Administration for the sick and the sacrament of Communion and Marriage. Most of these Sacraments have been administered within the walls of a church building.
    This day, however, would be a new experience for us. Remembering the above scene recorded in the scripture, we responded humbly to the invitation to share the Sacrament of Blessing with a young couple and their two little children in a outdoor country setting.
    We did not know the family well who would host our assembly nor were we familiar with the setting in which the Sacrament would be observed; but the day unfolded to be rich with blessing upon blessing.
      The spirit blessed us as we were warmly received and accepted as ministers.
Our hosts had lovingly and appropriately created a place of worship in their beautiful back yard.  From the moment we arrived we were all blessed by a spirit of hospitality and generosity.  We were blessed as members of two families greeted one another with joy and melded together in sweet harmony to support and celebrate the blessing of little children precious to all of them. We were blessed as everyone assembled and delighted in cradling infants in their arms throughout the afternoon. We were blessed as we watched a three year old running, exploring and playing freely in the familiar yard of his grandparent’s home.  We were blessed as smiling faces of four generations where captured through the lens of a photographer as they posed under an arbor accented by beautiful wild flowers.
    As ministers in the Community of Christ we were blessed to have the honor of laying our hands upon a infant sleeping in her mother’s arms and to then reach out and touch a wee boy sitting on his father’s knee quietly playing with his sand pail.  We were blessed by the touch of God’s gentle spirit as we prayed words of blessings for both precious children. 
    How fitting to come together surrounded by rocks, trees, grass and gravel roadways to celebrate, to give thanks and to share in the sacredness of the blessing of little children.  We came to share the ministry of the Sacrament of Blessing and witnessed the joy of the Spirit all around us and the day in its entirety became “Sacred”.

submitted by
Ruth Black,